Adding tech to your trek

References while hiking were formerly limited to bulky field guides, but with smartphones we now carry the breadth of humanity’s natural knowledge in our front pockets, combined with an instrument capable of easily capturing written, audio and photographic records in the field. A recent blog at the Natural Wildlife Federation’s website (blog.nwf.org) recommends 14 Apps That Will Revolutionize Your Walk in the Woods. For birders, WildLab Bird is free and identifies 200 species, while the paid iBird Plus logs nearly 1,000. There are apps for identifying plants (Leafsnap), animal tracks (MyNature), and more, as well as ways to share your observations with the world (iNaturalist, Project Noah).