We encourage you to use iNaturalist to track your observations. This avoids forking the data, which helps everyone. It also gives you access to all of the quite amazing resources that are provided by the iNaturalist ecosystem. If you have existing records in this system and would like to move them to iNaturalist, email us to discuss how we can assist migration of your observations.
In records, it is generally useful to capture information about the number of specimens that were observed. For situations where the number of specimens observed was large, this is often an estimate. To give some idea of the precision of this estimate, records a also allow you to capture information about how accurate a count is. This accuracy data is captured by a number that is an indication of the range within which the actual number of specimens observed is. For example, with a count of 100 and a count accuracy of 10, the record is indicating that between 90 and 100 specimens were observed. If the count accuracy value is zero, then the specimen count is exact.
It can be useful to quickly find those records where the observed specimens were reproducing. This information can be captured as part of the record details. Check if at least some of the observed specimens were reproducing.
In situations where Gaia Guide does not have a description of the recorded specimens, the observer may still have a clear idea of what the recorded specimens are called: either a scientific name or a common name. In this case it can be very helpful to capture that information from the observer to assist in future identification of the observed specimens. It can also be helpful in extending the field guides in Gaia Guide to have more complete coverage. When capturing a new record, if you have a name that you associate with the observed specimens, this is where you can record it.