Ever seen the comic strip Calvin and Hobbs? If you have, you probably remember Calvin ball. My big year is a little like that. I make the rules and I enforce them. I can make new rules at any time.
Well, I have to make a new rule. I submitted a fairly poor photo that I identified as an eastern comma to iNaturalist. Several people corrected me and identified it as a question mark butterfly. So in this case, and if a similar case happens again, I do not count it. Hopefully I will be able to photograph both eastern commas and question marks later in the year. For now I do not have either.
If I identify a butterfly to species before I submit it, by default I will consider it valid unless there is enough disagreement to throw it out. Once enough people agree with the ID the photo is market “research grade” by iNaturalist, and I will consider it valid and verified.
I found a mourning cloak yesterday and submitted the photo. As of now, only the Juvenal’s duskywing has no comments. I currently have seven “valid” species, with six of them also verified.
The roused bear 