A Summer Challenge
As you can probably imagine, I spend a lot of time outside. Whether that’s walking, exploring or just soaking in the sights, you can be certain to find me doing something outdoorsy. It’s great and I see so much; be it birds, beasties or plant-life – there is always something to admire. Whilst I might have a handle on my mammal identification and be able to say what’s what in the avian world, there are so many things that stump me.
I’m frequently baffled by butterflies, flummoxed by flowers and ignorant about insects!
It’s not great, it’s actually really frustrating.
I know that you don’t necessarily have to be able to name something to enjoy its beauty but being a self-confessed nature nerd, I do like to have a handle on these things. By knowing the name, I can easily read up about it and delve into its natural history and find out cool facts that I can recall to others. The more we know about a creature, the more we know about it’s needs and the more likely we can inspire others to care about it as well. The knowledge of names is power.
I don’t want to carry on being clueless, so I’ve decided do something about it. I’m setting myself a challenge.
My Summer ID Challenge
Each week, no matter where we are, whether it’s on the road, on a campsite or at our summer base, I will try to locate 3 (at least) things that I don’t know what they are and identify them. It can be a variety of things each week; one week it might be all of the same subject or it could be a mix. It doesn’t matter it just has to be something that I’m not sure of what it is.
What will I be IDing?
For this challenge I will be focusing solely on flowers, insects, butterflies and moths. Whilst there are still plenty of birds, I need help IDing, I definitely have a better handle on them then I do the above. These are the creatures that I find fascinating but am clueless about and really want to increase my knowledge of them.
How will I be IDing things?
By hook or by crook – that’s how. The plan is to get photo evidence and then use field guides, books, the internet, apps, Facebook groups, friends, family, strangers. I will basically just be asking lots and lots of questions, tuning into my super sleuth skills and recording my findings.
Each post will contain a photo of whatever it is, where I found it, some basic background information and how I solved the mystery.
Where can I find the ID challenge?
I’m aiming to post my findings weekly, as well as my regular travel and wildlife posts. So as to not clog up the main blog feed with this challenge I have made My Summer ID Challenge, it’s very own page on the website. You can find it in the main menu or just click HERE.
There will also be various updates on my Facebook and Instagram page, so be sure to head on over and give us a follow to find out what mysteries we’ve found. It would also be great to see some of your finds – please feel free to share them.
If you do decide to follow my challenge then I would be super grateful for your feedback, any advice, ID tips. Also, if you’ve noticed I’ve made a mistake in the identification process then please shout out – we only learn by making mistakes and we’ve all got to start somewhere.
