A Red-headed Woodpecker at Otsego Marsh in April 2025 (photo by Jim Otto).
iNaturalist is the largest community science project in the world: 9,783,000 participants have made 304,192,000 observations of 559,900 species! Many people enjoy learning about all species (including nonnative ones), collecting data, and sharing it with others. Jim Otto, a longtime Goose Pond volunteer, began photographing living organisms and recording his observations on iNaturalist. It did not take him long to get hooked.
Jim is a project administrator for “Biodiversity of Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance’s Columbia Co. Properties,” which he created on May 27, 2024 with three project areas: Goose Pond Sanctuary (730 acres), Erstad Prairie (60 acres), and Otsego Marsh (116 acres). Recently, Goose Pond land steward Emma Raasch mapped out and added Wildland, LLC, a 158-acre private property protected with a permanent easement held by Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance and owned by Mark and Susan Foote-Martin. In our little piece of the world, within the 1,064 acres of the project, 122 participants have made 4,594 observations of 1,372 species.
About iNaturalist
iNaturalist helps you identify the plants and animals around you while generating data for science and conservation. Get connected with a community of millions scientists and naturalists who can help you learn more about nature! What’s more, by recording and sharing your observations, you’ll create research-quality data for scientists working to better understand and protect nature. So if you like recording your findings from the outdoors, or if you just like learning about life, join us!
Vision: iNaturalist's vision is a world where everyone can understand and sustain biodiversity through the practice of observing wild organisms and sharing information about them.
Mission: iNaturalist’s mission is to connect people to nature and advance biodiversity science and conservation. Read our Technology Principles.
How it works: 1. Record your observations, 2. Share with fellow naturalists, and 3. Discuss your findings.
Sidebar content courtesy of iNaturalist.
Red-spotted admiral photo by Jim Otto.
This is a “team project” with staff, volunteers, and visitors who enjoy submitting their photos into iNaturalist. Every entry has a data point with a photo and other data. All entries within the mapped boundaries are included in our project data.
Anyone can explore iNaturalist data for the properties in this project. The data is shown in many different ways. If you search for species at Goose Pond Sanctuary you will find that 784 species are listed: 28 fungi, 279 plants, 297 insects, 24 arachnids, 5 amphibians, 2 reptiles, 117 birds (the Goose Pond bird checklist is at 271 species, so there is a long way to go to get all the birds documented in iNaturalist), 18 mammals, and 9 other animals. It will be interesting to see how many species of all the different groups will be on the list by the end of 2026 (our goal is to see if we can reach 1,500) and by the end of this decade.
Though observations may not be identified to the exact species, anyone that is part of iNaturalist can also help identify any of the millions of entries that are not yet determined. When two or more people (and at least 2/3 of the community identifiers offering an ID) agree on a species-level ID or lower, it is listed as “research grade.” Seek by iNaturalist is another free app that helps you identify what you found and photographed.
Golden-eye lichen at Goose Pond Sanctuary in September 2025 (photo by Jim Otto).
Over the years, Jim has enjoyed volunteering to help conduct surveys of various kinds of organisms at SoWBA’s Columbia County lands: birds, dragonflies/damselflies, bees, and more. He shared:
There are so many more kinds of plants, fungi, and other critters out there! One just must slow down and look. When I’ve taken a closer look at the big bur oak trees at the Goose Pond Sanctuary savanna, I’ve found the tiny acorn weevil, and a clump of plant galls created by the clustered midrib gall wasp. At Otsego Marsh, I discovered Hawkos Pond to be home to the brook stickleback; the woods, golden oyster mushrooms (a nonnative species) and a variety of birds, including the Barred Owl. At Erstad Prairie, I’ve found many species of damselflies, and a rather feisty eastern foxsnake! There are so many species to be added to our project. This year, I will look for night insects using a UV light. I also hope to ID some of the snails that inhabit sanctuary wetlands. To quote Calvin from the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon: “There’s treasure everywhere!”
Jim’s observation of a golden oyster mushroom, a nonnative and invasive species, at Otsego Marsh on May 26, 2025 (photo by Jim Otto).
That observation of the golden oyster mushroom last spring was the first time it was documented in our project area. Since then, we learned that it was brought to North America for eating and distributed by mushroom sellers. Once it becomes established, it appears to greatly expand. Aishwary Veerabahn, a Leopold Research Fellow from the UW–Madison Arboretum, is studying this species, which appears to negatively impact native fungi. This summer, we are going to try and remove it from Otsego Marsh.
This is just one example of how community scientists can provide important information related to habitat restoration and management decisions on Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance’s sanctuary lands. In addition to the project Jim started, Emma recently established a project area for Hillside Prairie Sanctuary (Dane County). Faville Grove Sanctuary (Jefferson County) also has a iNaturalist project with an impressive 9,236 observations of 1,640 species!
Thanks to everyone who has provided data for our project. We encourage you to become a community scientist of the world by joining iNaturalist. We hope to host a workshop in the field or on Zoom to help you get started in the coming months, so keep an eye on our events calendar.
Written by Mark and Susan Foote-Martin, Goose Pond sanctuary managers, with major contributions from Jim Otto, longtime volunteer and community scientist.
Cover image by Jim Otto. The bright orange bloom of a wood lily at Erstad Prairie, taken on June 9, 2024.
