Some apps that can help you on your journey as a Master Naturalist!
Texas Master Naturalist List of Nature Apps
Birding
Merlin ID Bird App – Android and Apple – FREE
What’s that bird? Merlin Bird ID helps you solve the mystery in 5 questions, or with a photo of a bird. First, Merlin asks you a few simple questions. Then, almost like magic, it reveals the list of birds that best match your description. Pick your bird, then delve into more photos, sounds, and ID tips about your bird!
If you have a photo, Merlin can help there as well. Take a photo, choose from your camera roll, or snap the viewfinder of your zoom camera, and Merlin’s powerful AI will suggest an identification almost instantly.
Merlin is fun and easy to use—whether you’re curious about a bird you’ve seen once or you’re hoping to identify every bird that comes to your feeder. The answers are waiting for you with this free field guide app from the renowned Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/merlin-bird-id-by-cornell/id773457673?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.labs.merlinbirdid.app
Field Guides
iNaturalist – Android and Apple – FREE
iNaturalist helps you identify the plants and animals around you. Get connected with a community of over 400,000 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.
Tree Book – Apple – FREE
TreeBook has 100 of the most common trees in North America as a helpful resource guide. It’s a great way to start learning how to identify trees as a beginner and isn’t so large it takes up too much space on your phone.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/treebook/id340811192?mt=8
Pocket Ranger -The Official New York Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Guide
Download DEC’s free app for watchable wildlife species information, and locate a viewing spot near you using advanced GPS mapping features. Find it here
Invasives
iMapInvasives – Apple and Android – FREE
iMapInvasives Mobile helps you report invasive species locations to your online iMapInvasives account by using your mobile device camera and GPS. You need to have an active iMapInvasives account for a participating state or province for observations to sync. To request a free account, visit www.imapinvasives.org/login.html
iMapInvasives provides an on-line, GIS-based data management system to assist citizen scientists and natural resource managers working to protect natural resources from the threat of invasive species. Find out more about the iMapInvasives Network at www.imapinvasives.org/index.html
Citizen Science
iSeeMammals – Android and Apple – FREE
Help researchers study black bears with iSeeMammals! Use the app to 1) take photos of bears and their sign (tracks, scat, hair, and markings), 2) track a hike, and 3) set up and monitor fixed/trail cameras. Your contributions will inform bear management in New York. Help pages offer identification tips and suggestions for collecting and submitting quality data.
iSeeMammals is a citizen science project that currently focuses on black bears in New York. Hikers, hunters, trackers, naturalists, and just about anybody who spends time in nature can collect data on the presence and absence of black bears. This data will be used to estimate the distribution, occupancy, and other population patterns of bears across large landscapes.
Visit iseemammals.org to explore galleries of photos submitted by other iSeeMammalists, participate in contests, and learn about black bear ecology and management.
Project BudBurst
Help scientists understand the impact of climate change! Project BudBurst collects data on the timing of leafing, flowering, and fruiting of plants throughout the year to help scientists investigate the impact of climate change on different species. Users create lists of plants to track and then enter data and images to document the phenological stage of those plants on a regular basis. The app provides support to citizen scientists by offering recommendations for plants to track, information on local species, and lists developed by conservation organizations and other entities of interesting plants.
http://budburst.org/