Here at the Church of Lamp, I have LAMPED pretty regularly since around 2020. In 2023, I LAMPED 42 times (at least by my quick count). I was lucky enough to be able to LAMP at some special spots this year, including Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, which is absolutely wonderful. Over the past four years, I’ve been pretty fastidious about uploading all of my insect and wildlife imagery to iNaturalist. I adore the site, which is useful for amateur naturalists like myself, but its data and images are also used in papers and scientific research. In short, they can help science! It also enables me to organize and track my own observations, and find observations/images later on(!). Screenshots also enable me to neatly display my finds for a given year; you’ll see a number of screenshots from my iNat page below. You’ll note that many aren’t IDed to species, and others may well have incorrect IDs. If so, please let me know! I’ve done my best to ID my finds, but there are thousands of moth species (maybe 12k in North America alone), and I’ve only seen 300-some. In other words, there’s enough to LAMP FOR A LIFETIME. #goalz
My Butterfly and Moth Observations
| Year | Observations | Species |
| 2023 | 468 | 189 |
| 2022 | 485 | 216 |
| 2021 | 449 | 192 |
| 2020 | 187 | 128 |
| ALL TIME (so far) | 1593 | 409 |
Note: I usually LAMP in the same location, uh, my house, so I encounter many of the same species each year. They are affectionately known as “the regulars.” Think Norm on Cheers. So don’t add up the total species each year, as some are repeats.
