What Do You See? Field ID Tips - Part 2

What's App?

In this three-part series, I explore ways you can increase your observation mojo and resources to help you in identifying what you see as you hike.

In this blog post, I am going to share my go-to apps that I use in the field. Part 3 will look at the other more traditional methods I use as well.

Each season, I re-acquaint myself with what I encounter. The further into the season I go, the more I remember - although hiking companions hear me muttering identifications as I practice on every hike. And, for what I don't know, my AI-powered apps and photos help me make the identification in the field.

Here's what I use:

iPhone 16 Pro Max photo app

This iphone version has a really excellent camera system and editing options that allow you to crop, straighten and photoshop any shot. It also has a pretty good identification feature that gives you a first ID of flowers and fauna on the trails. I click on the bug or plant icon and I get a quick result that I can then add to the notes field.

This is a great "out-in-field" way to capture what flowers I am seeing while I am hiking. I also use it to record what I am seeing from trail-to-trail and day-to-day. And its "live" photo feature really helps me when I am doing close photography for bees and other insects. I can go back and scan the 8-10 pictures in the "moving" photo to select the best shot for ID purposes.

Since I update my phenology journal after each hike, it also helps me easily refer back to what I've been encountering.

I like to cross reference the ID with other apps, field guides and websites I use once I'm back home to make sure the phone has the correct ID. Then I can type the verified identification in the photo notes line. Pretty sweet!

Seek by iNaturalist

This app is a pretty huge delight on the trail. You just aim your camera at the plant, insect, amphibian, mammal, mollusk, reptile, bird, arachnid, fish (or other species). The app will often identify it on the spot. It then pops it into your observations which includes the date observed, its taxonomy, seasonal observations based on other users, range map of observations near year, similar plants and a short snippet from wikipedia (be sure to donate to them). If the identification isn't returned, you can forward the photo to the iNaturalist community for an ID. 

I have three hesitations. It does not reliably identify fungi. Second, it takes it time when initially opening and loading so if you are after a fast ID on a quick moving bird or insect, you are often out of luck.  You can upload photos later so that helps. My final hesitation is that it doesn't remain open as an app which adds to frustration when quick ID is needed for fauna and you have to re-open the app yet again (although I am sure my phone battery is grateful)..

 

PictureThis

I actually pay for this flower identification app for alot of its features. It is pretty darn good at flower identification accuracy. It is easily used to check IDs from my phone photos after the hike (or even on it, if I have cell service). I appreciate that feature because its two quick clicks from the photo to my confirmed id.

The identification includes a range of names for the flower including its scientific name. It has a FAQ area that often includes interesting tidbits that I can use when I am doing interpretive hiking programs. They include characteristics of the plant, sometimes poems and symbolism, its taxonomy, range, where it is native, cultivated, considered invasive, garden use, and care guide.

It also saves my observations in "My Snap History" so I can refer back when I am about to guide a hike that I have scouted for flower and plant IDs. I can do my prep quickly and easily! All this info really helps me learn the plant better so the cost is worth it to me.

Merlin Bird ID

Of course, you all yell!

I have learned more bird song/call identification from this app than ever before. Created by the magical folks at Cornell Lab of Ornithology, this is most hikers' favorite app.

I really appreciate the sound ID, since birds often escape my eyeballs (except when I am with MN Master Naturalist friends and bird gurus Janet Malotky and Steve Dietz when all birds appear before my eye and binoculars).*

With Merlin, you can track not just what you are hearing, but locate the bird by following its sound to actually see them. Plus the app let's you hear recordings of birds to help you attune your hearing to the birds you are likely to hear at various times of the year.

Bee Machine

While it is a bit fussy and slow in the field if you don't have good connectivitiy, it is a whiz at identification. I chalk that up to its pedigree - the developers worked closely with Kansas State University and a number of citizen science groups like the amazing Wisconsin Bumblebee Brigade (check out their Facebook page for additional generous identification help).

There is a wait for identification in the field so I primarily use it as an identification source, post-hike. It will load up to five photos of the bee you wish to identify, ask you to add the location of the sighting by using an interactive map and then, after a short pause while it examines the photos, returns an identification. 

What I appreciate about this app is that it provides a "percentage of confidence" rating on each individual photo of the same bee with a final aggregated confidence score for the identification. If the score is low, I see if I can take better photos next time that show the bee's headm back, and as much of the thorax as I can. 

While it will take me awhile before I am confident in my bee id skills, Bee Machine helps me get there!

AllTrails

Finally, you only have to hike with me for 4 minutes before you discover my sense of direction is absolutely nonsensical. If it's not a loop or an out-and-back, you may find me wandering 5 years later. It's why I heavily scout hikes I lead. I want to make sure no one follows me into the land of the lost!

For me the AllTrails app works swell. Like all crowd-sourced apps, you have to be on your toes - one person's hike doesn't always match another's or has weird names that don't really quite match the trails you are on. You can pre-download the map you want to use as the guide as long as you are aware you may want to hike that trail or trail system slightly differently.

On the good side though, you can just set the app to navigate and it will often display the trails you are on with names. While it sucks up battery while on the trail tracking your whereabouts, it has kept me on the straight and narrow every time I have used it.

I appreciate that it tracks mileage and elevation and that you can save your hike if you choose to. I use the app alot not just on the trail but for the blog to remind me of information. You can choose to review your hike after you are done or just look at the info and delete it.

What are YOUR go-to apps that help you stay on the trail, identify or make your hikes easier while you're hiking? Feel free to let me know in the comments or the next time you see me on the trails!  

Watch for Part 3, where I'll be sharing a few of my non-app sources for identification work! 

Other posts in this series:
 - What Do You See? Field ID Tips (Using Your Senses) - Part 1      9/10/26
 - What Do You See? Field ID Tips (Hitting the Books) - Part 3        9/18/26