Go... and Stop... and Go...

When Sam and I go on walks, our walks are usually peppered with frequent delays. These interruptions can be due to any number of things, ranging from: catching Pokemon while playing Pokemon Go!, to swatting away flies from our mouths and eyes, to stopping to try and breathe (mostly me), and stopping to catch Pokemon. We can now add using the iNaturalist app to our list of delays.

This app was recommended to us (meaning, to Sam) by one of my sisters. 

The idea is, with the app installed, you use your phone's camera to identify - and possibly photograph - different plants, birds or other wildlife (I'm assuming "bugs"qualify as "wildlife").

Once the app loads, which can be a while, you aim it at your subject and it will then work on narrowing down a classification - and hopefully, a specie - for whatever it is you're pointing it at. This specie identification can sometimes take awhile and frequently, it will end in only a classification before you finally give up.

When the app has trouble, it will suggest you try scanning your subject from different angles. Assuming you have the time to wait, this usually isn't a big deal... at least, it's not a big deal with things like flowers or plants or mushrooms. It's more of a problem when it comes to identifying things like birds or bugs or other wildlife - things that run or fly away. 

Often (meaning pretty much always), these creatures are unwilling to sit and wait while you and your app search for the right angle and they're long gone before the final identification is made. It can, at times, be frustrating.

But it can also be rewarding. For the times it does work, which is far more often than not, it's been fun. Sam keeps at it and he enjoys it. And this means I enjoy it, too.