Sue Ann Kendall – Page 4 – Nature Along the El Camino Real

Check Out the New iNaturalist

April 9, 2025 Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall2 Comments

by Sue Ann Kendall

Last Thursday, I headed out to observe wildlife at the Nails Creek Unit of Lake Somerville State Park. My usual method of observing is to take pictures of what I find, then upload the photos to iNaturalist for identification and to document what’s out there. (I also have Merlin Bird ID going most of the time, to catch the birds flying around.) I had a nice walk out by the lake, where I saw many ducks, hundreds of White Pelicans, and some plants I hadn’t seen before. What a lovely afternoon!

Of course, I fired up iNaturalist on my iPhone when I got back to my campsite. To my surprise, there was a notice saying that I should download the new iNaturalist right now, because it has all sorts of wonderful new features (not available on Android yet).

I downloaded iNaturalist Next, as it’s called now, like a good user, but I went ahead and identified my photos on the old app, which still works just fine. I then read all about the new version, which you can, too, by going to their blog. It’s a good idea to do that before starting to use the new one.

Beautiful Prairie Nymph (*Herbertia lahue)* I saw at the park.

The next day I tried out the new version. I was especially intrigued by the new feature that lets you point to a plant or other living thing and get suggested identifications. So, if you just want to check on something or resolve an argument with your friends about what something is, you can do it without uploading to the database. This is like the Seek app many people use.

After some trial and error, I was happy to figure out that you can take a photo from within the app, get a suggested ID, confirm it (or select another option if you know better), then upload it right then. Off you go to the next intriguing plant. This really saves a lot of time going back in and uploading later.

The top option is the one that gives suggestions.

I have to say it’s not the most intuitive interface ever created (I’m qualified to judge, because I supported users of an application with a horrible UI from 2011-2025, so I know one when I see one). However, once I figured out how to do what I wanted to do, it was just fine. I was also happy to see a pop-up with instructions on how to make the new version work a bit more like the old one, for us creatures of habit, and a reasonable tutorial on the blog post. Here are a few tips I’ve come up with so far:

Take your pictures carefully. You’ll see possible IDs coming up as you aim the camera at something, if you move slightly or annoy the app in some magical way I don’t understand yet, it might go back to identifying by family or worse. So be sure to snap at the right time to get the ID you want; otherwise you have to go back in and edit the observation, which works like the old iNat.
Note that the photos the app takes are an odd rectangular shape. If you are going to use photos taken with the app for other purposes, you’ll want to go in and crop them to a more useful aspect ratio.
I also find that it’s harder to focus on your organism from within the app than using the phone camera app. I frequently got frustrated trying to get a good image, especially of insects. A couple of times I just took a phone photo and identified the insect or plant later. If you are careful to only upload nice, sharp pictures to iNat, you might just want to get the suggestions in the app, but take pictures separately.
One of the good new features is being able to upload a lot of photos at once (up to 20) for identification. You can group photos of the same organism to go in one observation, but read the instructions first, because I found it to be challenging when I started out. Once you get it, it’s fun.

Example of the shape of photos. It was the closest plant to me, *Smilax bona nox.*

Overall, I think I’ll like this new app just fine. The only thing I really miss is that I liked the more compact list of your observations on the Me tab in the old one. And I think there are some issues with traditional projects that need to be resolved, for those of us who use a lot of projects. New features, like viewing other users’ profiles on the phone, make up for any issues I have. I loved that their example was Sam K.

It’s spring, though, and plants are blooming, so get out there and identify some of what you see on this new app. I’ll be waiting for reviews from some of our Super Users.

Birding along Country Roads with Merlin

March 6, 2025 Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall1 Comment

by Sue Ann Kendall

One of my favorite pastimes is seeing how many birds I can identify in new places. I’ve found that taking along my favorite electronic helper, Merlin Bird ID is very helpful and also allows me to contribute to the eBird database. This may even get me some volunteer hours as a Master Naturalist, though I admit I do it for fun even when I’m on my property or out of state. Want to join me? Here are some hints.

Before You Start

Before you head out, be sure to download Merlin Bird ID onto your phone and get your account set up. It’s free! Charge your phone up, too. Then get your hat, notebook, binoculars, spare batteries, and water. You may spend longer with the birds than you expect to. It’s hard to stop!

You can go anywhere you want, but I prefer county roads with little traffic and a variety of habitats. Going past water may get you some herons, ducks, or a kingfisher. Fields and prairies are good for sparrows, meadowlarks, starlings, and hungry raptors. Woodlands have woodpeckers, owls, songbirds and more. I find the best birding in places with open space that are near cover (brush or woods). I often park at a friend’s house and take off from there.

Caracara eating pizza off the road – the middle of the road is a good place to find scavengers.

Once I get to the area where I’ll be birding, I do an important thing in Merlin – I set the location for bird recommendations to where I am. That’s important, because Merlin suggests birds likely to be where you are. That may not matter if you’re just a mile or two from your house, but if you’re in another part of Texas or even farther away, you’ll want to know what’s likely to be there. You can use the list of birds found under the “Explore” option in Merlin to check what’s likely to show up so you’ll know what to look for (for example, does your locale have Ravens or only Crows? Does your area have Tufted Titmice or Black-crested?).* In the example below, I was making sure there are still Sandhill Cranes around this time of year at my house.

Another important preparation is to tell your phone to send your calls to voicemail. Every time you get a call, it stops the Merlin recording. I usually use an iPhone setting that lets important calls through, but not spam. Just save the recording if a call interrupts.

Bird Walking

Now you can start your bird walk. Start Merlin on Sound ID as soon as you hear a bird. It’s a good idea to stand still while listening, so your footsteps don’t interfere and so the app can identify sounds more easily. Be ready to photograph any birds you see, because Merlin can identify birds from photos as well as sound. Remember that not every bird is going to make sounds, so be on the lookout for those vultures (Black have white wing tips and Turkey have the “thunderbird” shape on the underside of their wings).

This is a Black Vulture, which was easier to ID in person.

You may also hear birds that Merlin doesn’t register – for example, I just heard Sandhill Cranes flying overhead, but they were very high in the sky, so they didn’t get picked up by the phone microphone. I did get a photo of them, but even if I hadn’t, I could count them since I know what they sound like. Owls are also notoriously hard for Merlin to identify.

What I do on these walks is stop whenever I hear a bird or birds and let Merlin record them. You may not get very far if the birding is good, but move on when you’ve heard everything in the area. It’s so much fun watching birds show up on the app! I also look around to see if I can see or photograph the bird. Soon you will know what birds are around you by their calls and songs with Merlin’s helpful training. I love this in the summer when the trees are leafed out. I finally got to see Painted Buntings last year thanks to Merlin. And I’ll never forget the sound of passing Eastern Bluebirds and Lesser Yellowlegs as they go overhead out of sight.

I usually listen for 20-30 minutes, then save the recording. Those files aren’t too big and I can review them later to record them. You can select a bird Merlin identifies and click “this is my bird” to save it in eBird. Give the location a good name, so you can later figure out where you were. Good examples are the name of a trail, road name, landmark, state park name, etc. Record them as you see them, because if you try to add them later, you’ll not have the right location and you’ll have to find where you were manually. You can make an eBird checklist when you get home, if you like, though.

On a long walk you might end up with two or three recordings, and a bunch of photos, which you can put on Merlin or in iNaturalist, too. You might get a surprising number of species if you’re patient. Use Merlin to read more about birds that are new to you. It will describe the bird and show you its range, which can be surprising.

The more you walk around with Merlin open and listening, the more you’ll learn about the birds wherever you are. I’ve learned all about the birds where I travel, and conveniently use Merlin to add them to a life list Merlin tracks. If you’ve got a few minutes to spare, take a walk down a country road with Merlin!

Just for your information, here’s what I usually do. At home I only put new birds or birds seen at an unusual time in eBird, since I’ve recorded them many times. I have a notebook where I write down the birds I see and hear on Merlin every day and I track sightings monthly on a spreadsheet, which then goes in my blog. It’s fun to see which birds show up in different seasons. I’m a little obsessed, but everyone needs a hobby, right?

*A page from my notebook listing birds I saw on one day. I do use abbreviations, but I know what they are!*

*Be sure to set your location back to your home base when you return. I realized this morning that Merlin was looking for birds at Inks Lake, not Milam County.

Why Is Common Mestra So Common This Year?

October 27, 2024 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

By Sue Ann Kendall

The Common Mestra (Mestra amymone) is a butterfly I’ve been seeing very often this autumn. I went on and on about it the first time I saw one. Since …
Why Is Common Mestra So Common This Year?

Wild Wings Taking Flight!

October 13, 2024June 12, 2026 Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall2 Comments

by Sue Ann Kendall

The Wild Wings Bird Sanctuary project is taking off! Our committee members are making so many contributions that it’s hard to keep track.

This is the final logo.

We held a committee meeting last week and got to work on getting our logo and signage planned out, decided to get some sturdy seating, and have planned fun new ways to encourage people to come and enjoy this peaceful oasis for themselveds.

*Bonus donkey sightings encourage visitors.*

We envision quarterly iNaturalist bioblitzes, evening bird walks, and monthly guided observations. This will be fun! And we decided on our official hours, which will be Thursday through Sunday, 8 am to noon. Visits can be arranged by texting a number we’ll share soon, as well.

*The current seating now has concrete pavers under it, so it’s more steady, and it’s been moved away from the feeders for better observation.*

At our monthly official observation day, Sue Ann and Ann heard or saw 25 different bird species. New birds included an American Kestrel and Broad-winged Hawk. Ann observed a Peregrine Falcon a few weeks ago, as well. They took the opportunity to take photos for the 2024 Texas Pollinator Bioblitz on iNaturalist, since there are lot of pollinators hanging around the sanctuary. It was also the best day to record birds, because it was the Big Day on eBird. Sue Ann made sure to record all the birds Merlin found, so they would go into the eBird count.

Be sure to check out our October Observations page to see what birds we saw and heard, and to check our totals page for a list of all 43 bird species we’ve observed since August.

But that’s not all. Committee member Gene Rek has volunteered to build some Leopold Benches, whish were devised by naturalist Aldo Leopold especially for bird watching. They are simple to build and very sturdy, which we have agreed we need to have for public seating. We are aware of liability issues, since we will be making the sanctuary available on the Texas Birding Trail soon. Sue Ann also has some heavy, durable benches she will donate, so Wild Wings will be all set for seating.

Birding at the Bird Station

August 10, 2024 Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall4 Comments

By Sue Ann Kendall

I’d promised myself that I’d make another visit to the bird station our chapter is working on to see what birds are there this time of year. Even though I wasn’t feeling too well, I figured I could sit in the shade for an hour, so off I went to the special area behind Bird and Bee Farm near Milano, home of our Wildscape project (and chickens and turkeys!)

Rio Grande Turkeys and the Wildscape entrance.

There have been some improvements to the site, as Cathy Johnson posted earlier this week. I enjoyed checking out the new raised beds, charming seating, and a beautiful birdbath watered by a tinkling rain chain.

Last time I visited was three weeks ago, when I identified eleven birds. This week I found seventeen! When you sit quietly, the birds forget about you and go about their business catching bugs and picking delicious morsels off the cedar elms.

I got to see Northern Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Eastern Bluebirds, and precious Blue-gray gnatcatchers feeding themselves. Not seen, but very well heard were a Swainson’s and Red-tailed Hawk. Other hidden friends were Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and Blue Jay.

Two juveniles surprised me. One was a young Cardinal who landed very. Eat me and proceeded to find multiple morsels to eat.

Watch it chow down.

You can tell it’s a juvenile by its black beak. It’s growing in adult feathers, so doesn’t look too great.

The other juvenile was a real puzzle. It was enjoying the water chain and easy to photograph, but I couldn’t ID it. It had pretty eyes but not many markings. I ran my photos through Merlin Bird ID and it got no results. But when I tried iNaturalist, the result came up Painted Bunting. It didn’t look like the female, who is rather green, but as I paged through the pictures, I saw the juvenile. Bingo! It has the wing and beak markings I saw, and the same eye ring. So, there we go. I didn’t see or hear any adults

Here are today’s birds:

American Crow
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Blue Jay
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Eastern Bluebird
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Mockingbird
Painted Bunting
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-tailed Hawk
Rock Pigeon
Swainson’s Hawk
Tufted Titmouse
Turkey Vulture
Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Of course I checked out the plants, so that if I get the area declared an official spot on iNaturalist, the observations can go there. A few were really pretty, especially the berries.