Hi all. I have another rejected appeal but this time it is for a bird observation screen. Now, I thought that this would serve as a valid Wayspot as it is in a nature reserve, on a named walking trail (I admit, I never mentioned this in the description, but I did mention this in the appeal), but it has been rejected. This is the 2nd time I’ve tried to appeal this specific nature/ bird watching screen.
Reasons why I thought it would have been eligible: Exercise - Reaching the screen requires walking the trail network, encouraging outdoor physical activity and longer visits through the reserve.
Social/community value - Bird hides and observation stations naturally become gathering points where walkers, photographers, bird watchers, and families meet, share sightings, and interact with others interested in nature.
Educational value - Wildlife observation points promote learning about local birds, ecosystems, seasonal migration, and conservation.
Distinct point of interest - A constructed bird watching screen/station is a recognizable man-made feature with a clear purpose, not just generic scenery.
I understand that from just a quick glance it does not look like anything interesting or maybe just a generic fence, like the appeal rejection notes have said, but looking at the general area, you can see it is in a nature reserve. Maybe I should have explained in further detail what it is? Thanks all.
I love the inserted text in the “does not meet the Wayfarer criteria”.. is non-distinct" rejection, when Niantic have to insert the label of something that is fairly unique and very distinct.
“generic woven branch fence”, in this case. Which is certainly not generic or indistinct.
I think Niantic have applied the rule of “was the community rejection obviously incorrect”, decided it wasn’t and then looked for a standard clause to be applied for the appeal rejection.
I would resubmit. Your photo and text is good. This seems eligible under Exploration and Social. Not Exercise though - being something you have to walk to does not count, as the POI itself is not focused on Exercise.
Someone needs to tell them to fix the “Watspot” in the copy/paste text. We have seen that a couple of times now.
Very true. I just think niantic themselves dislike me! It keeps getting rejected by the AI, and cant seem to get it past the AI (starting to really dislike this emily) I tried a closer shot but that didn’t work. Maybe I’m just greedy and should give up?
I did not see that! Interesting..
Oh, it’s an ML rejection! I think this is eligible and should get in front of human reviewers, so it’s a case of trying to get ML to not reject the photo. Obviously, you must never re-use a main photo once it has been rejected, as there is a good chance ML will auto-reject when this is done.
Presumably you have tried a photo like this:
If you have spare submission slots, I’d try different variants of this, with different angles and backgrounds (always keeping secondary submissions on hold until the earlier result comes in, or not submitting but having the photos ready). This isn’t spamming a low-quality submission!
I regard them as educational - you wouldnt want people gossiping whilst trying to watch birds. And you have to walk there doesn’t mean it was designed for exercise.
Is this marked on any maps of the reserve, they often are in order to let people to know where to go. If there is use websubmit and its on one of the information boards add a picture circling the location as one of the supplementary
I can see Emily auto rejecting as it looks like twigs and grass…which is what it is meant to 
Perhaps in a few weeks when there have been more visitors and the grass gets trampled it would be good to take some pictures.
In there attempts to get something that blends in it is turning something normally accepted into a difficult one.
Yeah, my first one was almoat identical to this! I thought it wouldn’t have mattered if AI rejected it again, as I thought appealing it would make it go through, but I no longer trust appeals, especially as people have pointed out the spelling mistakes and copy and pastes. Seems like they dont care! Thanks again for the help. Ill just jiggle around the photo and hope it’ll get through eventually.
It certainly is difficult. I knew that ‘having to walk there’ was quite a niche explanation as to why its ‘exercise’. Dont really know why I even said that to be honest! Like you said, hopefully once its been trampled on a few times, it’ll be more identifiable to the ai. Unfortunately there is no pinpoint about this on the maps.
Given that this lies right off of a nature trail, id say this nomination could fit the exercise criteria given this criteria clarification since it is a feature of the trail - Trails & Markers - but given that the wayspot is not specifically a trail marker per se, I can also see it not directly fitting that criteria. If I saw this in my feed, I would likely accept it as if it was a trail marker, so good for socializing since it is on a trail, great for exercise since it again is on a trail, and even better for exploration value since it is a notable landmark for trail-goers.
That is a misunderstanding of the Exercise criteria. To fit this criteria, the POI must specifically encourage exercise.
A trail marker does this.
Something on a trail that you find while walking/cycling/etc, however wonderful that something might be, does not do this.
What’s a Watspot not! Not a good spot! (Ok, bad Strike it lucky quote for those of us from the UK).
that… makes a lot of sense. Maybe I should read up more on the guidelines lol
I agree that i don’t think this meets the socialize criterion since you should really be quiet while watching the birds at this feature. To me, this would only qualify under Explore. And that’s OK. It’s much better to fully meet a single criterion than to try to shoehorn under multiple that don’t work.
