Jeff Adams sent out a nice note to everyone involved in Snake Days. For those that missed it, the event is a great opportunity to meet some knowledgeable herpers and see some very cool reptiles and amphibians. Here is the note:

With SnakeDays 2013 behind us, we would be remiss to not extend a big THANKS to the sponsors that gave generously with their time, money, and merchandise. You are an important part of this event and we couldn’t do it without you. There was an excellent response this year with a diverse group of over 100 attendees during our lectures on Saturday. Particularly encouraging was the strong presence of Texas Parks and Wildlife field biologists and law enforcement officials.

Additionally, we were able to see tangible results from our donation to TPWD last year in the form of Texas Horned Lizard research and the Herps of Texas project through iNaturalist. Data collection is made easy through the iNaturalist app available on any smart phone. It is a simple and powerful tool that helps you record geo-located data points for any reptile or amphibian you find. This is yet another way we can do our part as citizen scientists and make the most of time spent in the field. If you haven’t checked out this project, take a few minutes and have a look.

Planning for SnakeDays 2014 is already well underway and we look forward to your continued support in the years to come. It was great to see all who made the trek to Sanderson and for those that weren’t able to be there, we hope to see you next year!

Join us for SnakeDays 2014
May 30th - June 1st 2014
Visit us at www.snakedays.com or find us on Facebook (snakedays)

Thanks to the Snake Days event and TPWD, you can now document observations by recording sounds! Sounds are a great way to post observations of frogs that you can hear, but can't photograph. Even if you can get a photograph of the frog, the call can be helpful for identification. With some species, such as Gray Treefrogs, the calls are essential to identification. In addition, sound recordings not only document the species, they are a great way to document an amphibian community by documenting the number of calling individuals of different species at a particular place and time. This is an exciting tool, and we are looking forward to what we might hear.

Currently, you have to upload your recording to SoundCloud, and then add the recording to the observation online. SoundCloud has a great app that you can use to record sounds with your smartphone, but you can also upload any recording from any device to your SoundCloud account. We hope that sounds will eventually be incorporated into the iNaturalist mobile app, but for now the easiest way to document sounds is with the SoundCloud app.

Suggested steps for adding a sound to an observation:

1. Sign up for a SoundCloud account: www.soundcloud.com

2. Download a sound recording app.
   -For Android you can use the Soundcloud App: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.soundcloud.android&hl=en
   -For iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audiocopy/id719137307?mt=8

3. Record a sound in the field. Be sure to name it with a unique name and location. The app does not automatically record the date, time, and location.
4. Add an iNaturalist observation to record the date, time, and location. Be sure to note the unique name of the sound recording.
5. When you get back to your computer, link your iNaturalist account to SoundCloud. There is a link to connect to SoundCloud when you edit your profile. If you are not linked to SoundCloud, you will be prompted to link to SoundCloud when you add a sound to an observation.
6. Edit your observation, and click on “Add sounds” in the upper right hand corner.
7. You should see a list of your sounds on SoundCloud. Click on the box next to your sound recording, and then “Save observation” at the bottom of the page.

Remember, you can post sounds in addition to photographs or based on sounds alone. Either way, we are excited about this new tool and looking forward to hearing some sounds!

We are seeing observations with a range of locational accuracy, a measurement of the location’s precision. Some people are posting observations from with very general locations (over 1 km), while others are posting observations that are mapped to within 5 or 10 meters of the actual observation. No matter what your accuracy is for an observation, it is important to assign the accuracy so we know how the data can be used. An observation lacking an assigned accuracy has very limited value.

The observations that you provide are used for a variety of conservation purposes. Some do not require a high degree of accuracy, like county lists. Other projects, like distribution modeling, require an accuracy of 30 meters or less. Observations without an assigned accuracy will not be used for environmental review, conservation planning, or distribution modeling.

Fortunately, it is easy to assign accuracy with iNaturalist. If you record the location with the iNaturalist app, then it assigns the accuracy automatically. However, if you assign the location using the metadata from a photo, or by manually mapping it through the web interface, then you need to add the accuracy by editing the observation.

The accuracy field, labeled “Acc (M)”, is located directly below the coordinates, and just above the map. Just enter the distance in meters that includes the entire area where the observation could have taken place. When you assign accuracy, a red circle around the point will appear. You can click on the circle and drag it in or out based on the map and it will automatically adjust the accuracy. It is also possible to edit accuracy for multiple observations using the batch edit tool.

If you are concerned about mapping a precise location, you may want to adjust the geoprivacy setting. You can learn more about geoprivacy here: http://www.inaturalist.org/pages/help#geoprivacy