Sightings

2026-05-02 · Source: Simon Willison's Weblog · Field: Technology & Digital — Software Development & Engineering, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning · Depth: Intermediate, quick

Summary

Simon Willison has integrated a new "Sightings" feature into his blog, accessible at /elsewhere/sightings/, to display wildlife photos primarily sourced from iNaturalist. This development follows a successful prototype and coincides with his acquisition of a Canon R6 Mark II camera, leading to an increase in bird photography. The feature was built on a mobile device using Claude Code for web, extending his existing "beats system" for syndicating external content. All syndicated sightings, including those back-populated over a decade from iNaturalist, are visible on the blog's homepage, date archives, and within site search results, allowing users to find specific animal photos like lemurs from 2019.

Key takeaway

For bloggers looking to enrich their content with external media, you should consider implementing a syndication system to automatically pull and display content from platforms like iNaturalist. This approach allows you to centralize your diverse digital footprint, making your external contributions discoverable through your primary blog and enhancing your site's search capabilities for visitors.

Key insights

External content can be seamlessly integrated into a personal blog using a syndication system.

Principles

• Syndicate external content to enrich blog archives.
• Mobile-first development can be effective for blog features.

Method

Extend an existing content syndication system (e.g., "beats system") to pull and display external content like iNaturalist sightings, then back-populate historical data.

In practice

• Use iNaturalist for wildlife photo sharing.
• Explore Claude Code for web for mobile development.
• Integrate external content into site search.

Topics

• Blog Feature Development
• iNaturalist Integration
• Content Syndication
• Wildlife Photography
• Canon R6 Mark II

Code references

• simonw/simonwillisonblog

Best for: AI Engineer, Software Engineer

Related on AIssential

• iNaturalist Sightings — A web tool aggregates iNaturalist observations from multiple accounts, grouping them by proximity.
• We need RSS for sharing abundant vibe-coded apps — Vibe-coded apps accelerate development, making apps personal, frequent, and suitable for RSS-like syndication.
• State of the blog, mid-2026 — The author's blog, Interconnects, intentionally cultivates a niche, high-quality audience to foster an open AI ecosystem and provide frontier model clarity.
• Behind the Blog: Dangerous Memes — Journalists can recreate sensitive visual content to protect sources, especially when internal company tools are involved.
• Living the indie web life — The indie web emphasizes personal control, direct expression, and community-driven connection over third-party platforms.
• New course website! — The blog archive details post frequency and distribution across years and months from 2012 to 2026.

Open in AIssential →

Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Simon Willison's Weblog.