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🍄🔥📸The Firecup fungus…

This little bunch of cup fungi caught my eye on the underside of a log. Its deep red-orange colour stood out, despite its small size. (See the last slide for the scale)

🆔 I think this may be an Arachnopeziza – thanks to those who helped with …the provisional ID.

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#scottishfungi #citizenscience #mycology #macrophotography #macrofungi #olympusphotography #OMsystem #dungfungi #scottishnature
#naturephotography #macro #macrofungi #closeupphotography #hiddennature

It’s here 🎉 April is Global Citizen Science Month! scistarter defines Citizen Science as “a collaboration between scientists and those of us who are curious, concerned and motivated to make a difference!” It can help people of all ages and backgrounds make an impact on issues they care …about. I’ll be sharing my favorite resources all month long, starting with a #bookrec 📕

In Diary of a Citizen Scientist sharmanaptrussell shares her experience studying tiger beetles, and so much more! Whether you’re a seasoned #citsci or just getting started, you’ll be inspired. I learned about so many amazing projects, from The Mastodon Matrix program in NY that invites school children on a real-life fossil hunt to National Geographic’s project using online crowdsourcing to uncover the tomb of Genghis Khan! In the world of community science there is truly something for every interest ~ Unleash your curiosity and find hope 💓 Swipe for my favorite quotes from the book and recent observations (The book ends with a call to action: Tell me what you find 😊)

#citizenscience #sharmanaptrussell #chasingtigerbeetles #diaryofacitizenscientist #citizensciencemonth #sparkcuriosity

"How many sticks does a female superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) use to make her nest? Hundreds! I know this because I’ve observed a lyrebird make and use her nest for several months. I did it out of personal interest and recorded my observations on the global citizen science …database, iNaturalist.

iNaturalist was formed in the US by the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society. People contribute to the database by recording species they’ve observed in nature, helping scientists, resource managers and others to better understand a region’s biodiversity. Observations can be made by anyone, not just trained naturalists. The observation is then reviewed and verified by the iNaturalist community.

iNaturalist Australia is linked with CSIRO’s Atlas of Living Australia, granting it considerable scientific credibility. According to its website, 109,000 citizen scientists across Australia have recorded 9.9 million observations of 60,000 species, and those numbers are growing every day. I’ve been contributing to iNaturalist Australia for several years and have recorded more than 10,000 observations of more than 2000 species. Most of them have been on the far South Coast of New South Wales and contribute to an iNaturalist sub-project named the Atlas of Life in the Coastal Wilderness." – Matthew Higgins

Have you ever participated in citizen science? Let us know in the comments below!

#ausgeo #citizenscience #seeaustralia #inaturalist #weekendread

New for 2025 is the Community Mycology Area Sponsored by mycopunks ☠️

Drop in at your own leisure to chat or try your hand at key skills required to reach Myco goblin level 2,3 and 4

Clone a species you’ve found on site, pour agar, prepare a slide for microscopy and much …much more.

Free WiFi will be available for you to upload your inaturalistorg records whilst you sip sentiaspirits
🍹

Many more contributors TBA 🫶

We’ll see you in the woods.. and the community mycology area ✌️#allthingsfungifestival2025

It's #WorldFrogDay! 🐸

One of the signs of spring we're asking you to track is frogspawn 🔍

We take a look at how to identify frogspawn, where to find it, and how to tell it apart from toad spawn 🤔

Head to the link in our bio to add your frogspawn …sighting to our website and help us track spring’s vital signs 🔗

#WoodlandTrust #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #SignsOfSpring #Spring #SpringWildlife #Frogs #FrogsOfInstagram #Amphibians #AmphibiansOfInstagram #CitizenScience froglifers arc.trust.official

Alt text:
1. A common frog in a pond next to frogspawn. Text reads "It's World Frog Day." Photo: John Bridges / WTML.
2. A common frog peeking out of water with vegetation on its head. Text reads "You’re likely to spot frogspawn soon. What does it look like, and does it look similar to toadspawn?" Photo: Luke Dray / WTML.
3. Frogspawn eggs on the surface of water. Text reads "Frogspawn is laid in gooey clumps, with clusters of jelly containing thousands of embryos." Photo: Christine Martin / WTML.
4. Frogspawn eggs on the surface of water. Text reads "As eggs mature they swell and float to the water’s surface. They can merge to form a jelly mat on the pond’s surface." Photo: Andrew Howe / Getty Images.
5. Toadspawn eggs in stringy lines on the surface of water. Text reads "By contrast, toadspawn floats in stringy lengths. Look for it wrapped around vegetation in water." Photo: Doug McCutcheon / Alamy Stock Photo.
6. Two mating frogs in a pond surrounded by frogspawn. Text reads "Frogspawn can appear in ponds from January. By March you should be able to spot frogspawn across the UK." Photo: Andrew Howe / Getty Images.
7. A common frog in a pond next to frogspawn. Text reads "If you don’t have a garden pond, head to your local park or wood and look for ponds that may have frogspawn." Photo: Andrew Howe / Getty Images.
8. A common frog in a pond on top of frogspawn. Text reads "Record the frogspawn you see. Head to woodlandtrust.org.uk/vitalsigns" Photo: John Bridges / WTML.