#ecologicalmonitoring — Public Fediverse posts

https://www.europesays.com/ie/647732/ A UK solar farm began generating electricity in 2013; 12 years later its biodiversity had risen 41 per cent | World News #BiodiversityIncrease #BroxtedEstateSolarFarm #EcologicalMonitoring #Éire #Environment #HabitatManagement #IE #Ireland #RenewableEnergyAndWildlife #Science #SolarEnergyGeneration #SuffolkWildlifeTrust #UKSolarFarm

Most of my afternoon today was spent in #QGIS with one of my Masters students Dee Patel.

We're preparing my long-term bird monitoring data around Christchurch, NZ, for analysis. Today we gridded up my four standard bike transects into 1 km sections, surrounded by approximately 1 km square polygons.

Dee's particularly interested in how the conversion of farmland to urban housing affects birds.

Next Dee will be doing some clever analysis of my distance sampled bird counts to estimate the density of each bird species in each grid cell in each month over the past 12–23 years (depending on the route). She'll then compare those densities with land use changes from the NZ land cover database.

It's going to be interesting to see what patterns emerge.

#EcologicalMonitoring #birds #nz #ecology #LincolnUniversityNZ

Most of my afternoon today was spent in #QGIS with one of my Masters students Dee Patel.

We're preparing my long-term bird monitoring data around Christchurch, NZ, for analysis. Today we gridded up my four standard bike transects into 1 km sections, surrounded by approximately 1 km square polygons.

Dee's particularly interested in how the conversion of farmland to urban housing affects birds.

Next Dee will be doing some clever analysis of my distance sampled bird counts to estimate the density of each bird species in each grid cell in each month over the past 12–23 years (depending on the route). She'll then compare those densities with land use changes from the NZ land cover database.

It's going to be interesting to see what patterns emerge.

#EcologicalMonitoring #birds #nz #ecology #LincolnUniversityNZ

Most of my afternoon today was spent in #QGIS with one of my Masters students Dee Patel.

We're preparing my long-term bird monitoring data around Christchurch, NZ, for analysis. Today we gridded up my four standard bike transects into 1 km sections, surrounded by approximately 1 km square polygons.

Dee's particularly interested in how the conversion of farmland to urban housing affects birds.

Next Dee will be doing some clever analysis of my distance sampled bird counts to estimate the density of each bird species in each grid cell in each month over the past 12–23 years (depending on the route). She'll then compare those densities with land use changes from the NZ land cover database.

It's going to be interesting to see what patterns emerge.

#EcologicalMonitoring #birds #nz #ecology #LincolnUniversityNZ

Most of my afternoon today was spent in #QGIS with one of my Masters students Dee Patel.

We're preparing my long-term bird monitoring data around Christchurch, NZ, for analysis. Today we gridded up my four standard bike transects into 1 km sections, surrounded by approximately 1 km square polygons.

Dee's particularly interested in how the conversion of farmland to urban housing affects birds.

Next Dee will be doing some clever analysis of my distance sampled bird counts to estimate the density of each bird species in each grid cell in each month over the past 12–23 years (depending on the route). She'll then compare those densities with land use changes from the NZ land cover database.

It's going to be interesting to see what patterns emerge.

#EcologicalMonitoring #birds #nz #ecology #LincolnUniversityNZ

Most of my afternoon today was spent in #QGIS with one of my Masters students Dee Patel.

We're preparing my long-term bird monitoring data around Christchurch, NZ, for analysis. Today we gridded up my four standard bike transects into 1 km sections, surrounded by approximately 1 km square polygons.

Dee's particularly interested in how the conversion of farmland to urban housing affects birds.

Next Dee will be doing some clever analysis of my distance sampled bird counts to estimate the density of each bird species in each grid cell in each month over the past 12–23 years (depending on the route). She'll then compare those densities with land use changes from the NZ land cover database.

It's going to be interesting to see what patterns emerge.

#EcologicalMonitoring #birds #nz #ecology #LincolnUniversityNZ

@Brad_Rosenheim Yes, there's a significant increase in korimako across this route and all my city routes, especially in the hills. Here's a snapshot of my first and most recent July runs up in the hills by the city. The difference is striking, especially in the native forest.

More trees + older trees + pest control = more forest birds

#birds #korimako #Anthornis #bellbird #nz #EcologicalMonitoring

@Brad_Rosenheim Yes, there's a significant increase in korimako across this route and all my city routes, especially in the hills. Here's a snapshot of my first and most recent July runs up in the hills by the city. The difference is striking, especially in the native forest.

More trees + older trees + pest control = more forest birds

#birds #korimako #Anthornis #bellbird #nz #EcologicalMonitoring

@Brad_Rosenheim Yes, there's a significant increase in korimako across this route and all my city routes, especially in the hills. Here's a snapshot of my first and most recent July runs up in the hills by the city. The difference is striking, especially in the native forest.

More trees + older trees + pest control = more forest birds

#birds #korimako #Anthornis #bellbird #nz #EcologicalMonitoring

@Brad_Rosenheim Yes, there's a significant increase in korimako across this route and all my city routes, especially in the hills. Here's a snapshot of my first and most recent July runs up in the hills by the city. The difference is striking, especially in the native forest.

More trees + older trees + pest control = more forest birds

#birds #korimako #Anthornis #bellbird #nz #EcologicalMonitoring

@Brad_Rosenheim Yes, there's a significant increase in korimako across this route and all my city routes, especially in the hills. Here's a snapshot of my first and most recent July runs up in the hills by the city. The difference is striking, especially in the native forest.

More trees + older trees + pest control = more forest birds

#birds #korimako #Anthornis #bellbird #nz #EcologicalMonitoring

Here's an animated movie of the accumulating korimako observations over the past 18 years along my fortnightly 10.1 km run route in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ.

https://flic.kr/p/2soCFTA

#wildcounts #EcologicalMonitoring #birds #Christchurch #Ōtautahi #NZ #Flickr #animation #map #qgis #bellbird

Here's an animated movie of the accumulating korimako observations over the past 18 years along my fortnightly 10.1 km run route in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ.

https://flic.kr/p/2soCFTA

#wildcounts #EcologicalMonitoring #birds #Christchurch #Ōtautahi #NZ #Flickr #animation #map #qgis #bellbird

Here's an animated movie of the accumulating korimako observations over the past 18 years along my fortnightly 10.1 km run route in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ.

https://flic.kr/p/2soCFTA

#wildcounts #EcologicalMonitoring #birds #Christchurch #Ōtautahi #NZ #Flickr #animation #map #qgis #bellbird

Here's an animated movie of the accumulating korimako observations over the past 18 years along my fortnightly 10.1 km run route in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ.

https://flic.kr/p/2soCFTA

#wildcounts #EcologicalMonitoring #birds #Christchurch #Ōtautahi #NZ #Flickr #animation #map #qgis #bellbird

Here's an animated movie of the accumulating korimako observations over the past 18 years along my fortnightly 10.1 km run route in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ.

https://flic.kr/p/2soCFTA

#wildcounts #EcologicalMonitoring #birds #Christchurch #Ōtautahi #NZ #Flickr #animation #map #qgis #bellbird

This week was the 18th birthday of fortnightly run route through southwestern Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ. This is my 10.1 km route where I've been counting and mapping all the birds and butterflies and assorted other species.

I started the route on 9 July 2008, while on parental leave, pushing my baby daughter around in a buggy during her afternoon nap. I wanted her to be able to know how the city's nature changes over her lifetime. I've been doing it ever since (and have added three other routes to cover other parts of the city).

In celebration of the route's 18th birthday, here are all the korimako (NZ bellbirds) I've seen and heard. Korimako have been a huge success story for the city. The native forest regeneration and pest control happening in the city's Port Hills have led to booming numbers of korimako, and the native tree plantings in the city have been attracting birds out from the hills.

As my run route has shown, within the city the korimako are mostly in areas of native tree plantings and in gardens with mature bird nectar plants (especially kōwhai, banksia, eucalyptus, and harakeke). Korimako are still largely absent from the areas of housing that don't have any of these.

(We still need many more native trees in the city if we want more native birds.)

#wildcounts #EcologicalMonitoring #birds #Christchurch #Ōtautahi #NZ #nature #ecology

This week was the 18th birthday of fortnightly run route through southwestern Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ. This is my 10.1 km route where I've been counting and mapping all the birds and butterflies and assorted other species.

I started the route on 9 July 2008, while on parental leave, pushing my baby daughter around in a buggy during her afternoon nap. I wanted her to be able to know how the city's nature changes over her lifetime. I've been doing it ever since (and have added three other routes to cover other parts of the city).

In celebration of the route's 18th birthday, here are all the korimako (NZ bellbirds) I've seen and heard. Korimako have been a huge success story for the city. The native forest regeneration and pest control happening in the city's Port Hills have led to booming numbers of korimako, and the native tree plantings in the city have been attracting birds out from the hills.

As my run route has shown, within the city the korimako are mostly in areas of native tree plantings and in gardens with mature bird nectar plants (especially kōwhai, banksia, eucalyptus, and harakeke). Korimako are still largely absent from the areas of housing that don't have any of these.

(We still need many more native trees in the city if we want more native birds.)

#wildcounts #EcologicalMonitoring #birds #Christchurch #Ōtautahi #NZ #nature #ecology

This week was the 18th birthday of fortnightly run route through southwestern Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ. This is my 10.1 km route where I've been counting and mapping all the birds and butterflies and assorted other species.

I started the route on 9 July 2008, while on parental leave, pushing my baby daughter around in a buggy during her afternoon nap. I wanted her to be able to know how the city's nature changes over her lifetime. I've been doing it ever since (and have added three other routes to cover other parts of the city).

In celebration of the route's 18th birthday, here are all the korimako (NZ bellbirds) I've seen and heard. Korimako have been a huge success story for the city. The native forest regeneration and pest control happening in the city's Port Hills have led to booming numbers of korimako, and the native tree plantings in the city have been attracting birds out from the hills.

As my run route has shown, within the city the korimako are mostly in areas of native tree plantings and in gardens with mature bird nectar plants (especially kōwhai, banksia, eucalyptus, and harakeke). Korimako are still largely absent from the areas of housing that don't have any of these.

(We still need many more native trees in the city if we want more native birds.)

#wildcounts #EcologicalMonitoring #birds #Christchurch #Ōtautahi #NZ #nature #ecology

This week was the 18th birthday of fortnightly run route through southwestern Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ. This is my 10.1 km route where I've been counting and mapping all the birds and butterflies and assorted other species.

I started the route on 9 July 2008, while on parental leave, pushing my baby daughter around in a buggy during her afternoon nap. I wanted her to be able to know how the city's nature changes over her lifetime. I've been doing it ever since (and have added three other routes to cover other parts of the city).

In celebration of the route's 18th birthday, here are all the korimako (NZ bellbirds) I've seen and heard. Korimako have been a huge success story for the city. The native forest regeneration and pest control happening in the city's Port Hills have led to booming numbers of korimako, and the native tree plantings in the city have been attracting birds out from the hills.

As my run route has shown, within the city the korimako are mostly in areas of native tree plantings and in gardens with mature bird nectar plants (especially kōwhai, banksia, eucalyptus, and harakeke). Korimako are still largely absent from the areas of housing that don't have any of these.

(We still need many more native trees in the city if we want more native birds.)

#wildcounts #EcologicalMonitoring #birds #Christchurch #Ōtautahi #NZ #nature #ecology

This week was the 18th birthday of fortnightly run route through southwestern Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ. This is my 10.1 km route where I've been counting and mapping all the birds and butterflies and assorted other species.

I started the route on 9 July 2008, while on parental leave, pushing my baby daughter around in a buggy during her afternoon nap. I wanted her to be able to know how the city's nature changes over her lifetime. I've been doing it ever since (and have added three other routes to cover other parts of the city).

In celebration of the route's 18th birthday, here are all the korimako (NZ bellbirds) I've seen and heard. Korimako have been a huge success story for the city. The native forest regeneration and pest control happening in the city's Port Hills have led to booming numbers of korimako, and the native tree plantings in the city have been attracting birds out from the hills.

As my run route has shown, within the city the korimako are mostly in areas of native tree plantings and in gardens with mature bird nectar plants (especially kōwhai, banksia, eucalyptus, and harakeke). Korimako are still largely absent from the areas of housing that don't have any of these.

(We still need many more native trees in the city if we want more native birds.)

#wildcounts #EcologicalMonitoring #birds #Christchurch #Ōtautahi #NZ #nature #ecology

I just uploaded my NZ garden bird survey for the year. Today's the last day to take part. You just need to spend an hour in your garden and, to quote the survey website,

> Look for birds for ONE hour in your survey area.
> For each species record the HIGHEST number seen (or heard) at one time.

My tally here in Ōtautahi is 6 korimako, 5 blackbirds, 1 piwakawaka, 1 karoro (it flew by), 1 kererū, 1 magpie, 50 silvereyes (at least, they're hard to count at our sugar water feeders), 3 house sparrows, 3 starlings, 3 black shags (flew by).

Here's a female blackbird enjoying our water bath during my survey.

https://gardenbirdsurvey.nz/

#birds #NZGardenBirdSurvey #nz #ecologicalMonitoring

I just uploaded my NZ garden bird survey for the year. Today's the last day to take part. You just need to spend an hour in your garden and, to quote the survey website,

> Look for birds for ONE hour in your survey area.
> For each species record the HIGHEST number seen (or heard) at one time.

My tally here in Ōtautahi is 6 korimako, 5 blackbirds, 1 piwakawaka, 1 karoro (it flew by), 1 kererū, 1 magpie, 50 silvereyes (at least, they're hard to count at our sugar water feeders), 3 house sparrows, 3 starlings, 3 black shags (flew by).

Here's a female blackbird enjoying our water bath during my survey.

https://gardenbirdsurvey.nz/

#birds #NZGardenBirdSurvey #nz #ecologicalMonitoring

I just uploaded my NZ garden bird survey for the year. Today's the last day to take part. You just need to spend an hour in your garden and, to quote the survey website,

> Look for birds for ONE hour in your survey area.
> For each species record the HIGHEST number seen (or heard) at one time.

My tally here in Ōtautahi is 6 korimako, 5 blackbirds, 1 piwakawaka, 1 karoro (it flew by), 1 kererū, 1 magpie, 50 silvereyes (at least, they're hard to count at our sugar water feeders), 3 house sparrows, 3 starlings, 3 black shags (flew by).

Here's a female blackbird enjoying our water bath during my survey.

https://gardenbirdsurvey.nz/

#birds #NZGardenBirdSurvey #nz #ecologicalMonitoring

I just uploaded my NZ garden bird survey for the year. Today's the last day to take part. You just need to spend an hour in your garden and, to quote the survey website,

> Look for birds for ONE hour in your survey area.
> For each species record the HIGHEST number seen (or heard) at one time.

My tally here in Ōtautahi is 6 korimako, 5 blackbirds, 1 piwakawaka, 1 karoro (it flew by), 1 kererū, 1 magpie, 50 silvereyes (at least, they're hard to count at our sugar water feeders), 3 house sparrows, 3 starlings, 3 black shags (flew by).

Here's a female blackbird enjoying our water bath during my survey.

https://gardenbirdsurvey.nz/

#birds #NZGardenBirdSurvey #nz #ecologicalMonitoring

I just uploaded my NZ garden bird survey for the year. Today's the last day to take part. You just need to spend an hour in your garden and, to quote the survey website,

> Look for birds for ONE hour in your survey area.
> For each species record the HIGHEST number seen (or heard) at one time.

My tally here in Ōtautahi is 6 korimako, 5 blackbirds, 1 piwakawaka, 1 karoro (it flew by), 1 kererū, 1 magpie, 50 silvereyes (at least, they're hard to count at our sugar water feeders), 3 house sparrows, 3 starlings, 3 black shags (flew by).

Here's a female blackbird enjoying our water bath during my survey.

https://gardenbirdsurvey.nz/

#birds #NZGardenBirdSurvey #nz #ecologicalMonitoring

This coming week, everyone in NZ is invited to take an hour off to hang out with the birds.

Tomorrow (Saturday 27 June) is the start of this year's New Zealand Garden Bird Survey. We've got a week to set aside an hour in our gardens to tally up all the bird species we can see and hear.

You don't need to count every bird through the hour. You just note the maximum number of each species you can observe at one time. So, if blackbirds come and go and the most blackbirds you see at once is three on your lawn, you enter "3".

The survey has been running since 2007 and is an important assessment of how the birds in our gardens are doing. The more people get involved, the more we learn. Plus, it's fun.

https://gardenbirdsurvey.nz/

#NZGardenBirdSurvey #birds #EcologicalMonitoring #nz

This coming week, everyone in NZ is invited to take an hour off to hang out with the birds.

Tomorrow (Saturday 27 June) is the start of this year's New Zealand Garden Bird Survey. We've got a week to set aside an hour in our gardens to tally up all the bird species we can see and hear.

You don't need to count every bird through the hour. You just note the maximum number of each species you can observe at one time. So, if blackbirds come and go and the most blackbirds you see at once is three on your lawn, you enter "3".

The survey has been running since 2007 and is an important assessment of how the birds in our gardens are doing. The more people get involved, the more we learn. Plus, it's fun.

https://gardenbirdsurvey.nz/

#NZGardenBirdSurvey #birds #EcologicalMonitoring #nz

This coming week, everyone in NZ is invited to take an hour off to hang out with the birds.

Tomorrow (Saturday 27 June) is the start of this year's New Zealand Garden Bird Survey. We've got a week to set aside an hour in our gardens to tally up all the bird species we can see and hear.

You don't need to count every bird through the hour. You just note the maximum number of each species you can observe at one time. So, if blackbirds come and go and the most blackbirds you see at once is three on your lawn, you enter "3".

The survey has been running since 2007 and is an important assessment of how the birds in our gardens are doing. The more people get involved, the more we learn. Plus, it's fun.

https://gardenbirdsurvey.nz/

#NZGardenBirdSurvey #birds #EcologicalMonitoring #nz

This coming week, everyone in NZ is invited to take an hour off to hang out with the birds.

Tomorrow (Saturday 27 June) is the start of this year's New Zealand Garden Bird Survey. We've got a week to set aside an hour in our gardens to tally up all the bird species we can see and hear.

You don't need to count every bird through the hour. You just note the maximum number of each species you can observe at one time. So, if blackbirds come and go and the most blackbirds you see at once is three on your lawn, you enter "3".

The survey has been running since 2007 and is an important assessment of how the birds in our gardens are doing. The more people get involved, the more we learn. Plus, it's fun.

https://gardenbirdsurvey.nz/

#NZGardenBirdSurvey #birds #EcologicalMonitoring #nz

This coming week, everyone in NZ is invited to take an hour off to hang out with the birds.

Tomorrow (Saturday 27 June) is the start of this year's New Zealand Garden Bird Survey. We've got a week to set aside an hour in our gardens to tally up all the bird species we can see and hear.

You don't need to count every bird through the hour. You just note the maximum number of each species you can observe at one time. So, if blackbirds come and go and the most blackbirds you see at once is three on your lawn, you enter "3".

The survey has been running since 2007 and is an important assessment of how the birds in our gardens are doing. The more people get involved, the more we learn. Plus, it's fun.

https://gardenbirdsurvey.nz/

#NZGardenBirdSurvey #birds #EcologicalMonitoring #nz

Phew. This has been what's felt like my busiest teaching semester ever and lots of little things have had to be parked. One of those things has been curating all the wildcounts ecological surveys I do. That's where I make lots of geotagged audio notes of every time I see or hear a set of species that I consistently observe. Today I forced a brief pause in my end of semester marking to catch up and import my recent surveys from my phone onto my computer. This way I can get the transcriptions running while I mark exams.

Between 24 March–4 June, I made 6.2 GB of audio notes on my phone, 3,8702 observations in total, from 159 route surveys and 498 site surveys. I'll let the transcriptions run over the next week so they'll be ready for me to clean when marking is done.

(This is my long-term slow science project to document the changes in biodiversity where I live over the decades when I'm working as an ecologist.)

#EcologicalMonitoring #wildcounts

Phew. This has been what's felt like my busiest teaching semester ever and lots of little things have had to be parked. One of those things has been curating all the wildcounts ecological surveys I do. That's where I make lots of geotagged audio notes of every time I see or hear a set of species that I consistently observe. Today I forced a brief pause in my end of semester marking to catch up and import my recent surveys from my phone onto my computer. This way I can get the transcriptions running while I mark exams.

Between 24 March–4 June, I made 6.2 GB of audio notes on my phone, 3,8702 observations in total, from 159 route surveys and 498 site surveys. I'll let the transcriptions run over the next week so they'll be ready for me to clean when marking is done.

(This is my long-term slow science project to document the changes in biodiversity where I live over the decades when I'm working as an ecologist.)

#EcologicalMonitoring #wildcounts

Phew. This has been what's felt like my busiest teaching semester ever and lots of little things have had to be parked. One of those things has been curating all the wildcounts ecological surveys I do. That's where I make lots of geotagged audio notes of every time I see or hear a set of species that I consistently observe. Today I forced a brief pause in my end of semester marking to catch up and import my recent surveys from my phone onto my computer. This way I can get the transcriptions running while I mark exams.

Between 24 March–4 June, I made 6.2 GB of audio notes on my phone, 3,8702 observations in total, from 159 route surveys and 498 site surveys. I'll let the transcriptions run over the next week so they'll be ready for me to clean when marking is done.

(This is my long-term slow science project to document the changes in biodiversity where I live over the decades when I'm working as an ecologist.)

#EcologicalMonitoring #wildcounts

Phew. This has been what's felt like my busiest teaching semester ever and lots of little things have had to be parked. One of those things has been curating all the wildcounts ecological surveys I do. That's where I make lots of geotagged audio notes of every time I see or hear a set of species that I consistently observe. Today I forced a brief pause in my end of semester marking to catch up and import my recent surveys from my phone onto my computer. This way I can get the transcriptions running while I mark exams.

Between 24 March–4 June, I made 6.2 GB of audio notes on my phone, 3,8702 observations in total, from 159 route surveys and 498 site surveys. I'll let the transcriptions run over the next week so they'll be ready for me to clean when marking is done.

(This is my long-term slow science project to document the changes in biodiversity where I live over the decades when I'm working as an ecologist.)

#EcologicalMonitoring #wildcounts

Phew. This has been what's felt like my busiest teaching semester ever and lots of little things have had to be parked. One of those things has been curating all the wildcounts ecological surveys I do. That's where I make lots of geotagged audio notes of every time I see or hear a set of species that I consistently observe. Today I forced a brief pause in my end of semester marking to catch up and import my recent surveys from my phone onto my computer. This way I can get the transcriptions running while I mark exams.

Between 24 March–4 June, I made 6.2 GB of audio notes on my phone, 3,8702 observations in total, from 159 route surveys and 498 site surveys. I'll let the transcriptions run over the next week so they'll be ready for me to clean when marking is done.

(This is my long-term slow science project to document the changes in biodiversity where I live over the decades when I'm working as an ecologist.)

#EcologicalMonitoring #wildcounts

After recent media stories about butterfly declines in New Zealand, centred around one transect in Nelson, it's heartening to see in Stacey Lewthwaite's graphs that kahukura and monarch butterflies have not declined around Christchurch. That's in the last two decades along my 78 km of transects.

#EcologicalMonitoring #butterflies #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #NZ

After recent media stories about butterfly declines in New Zealand, centred around one transect in Nelson, it's heartening to see in Stacey Lewthwaite's graphs that kahukura and monarch butterflies have not declined around Christchurch. That's in the last two decades along my 78 km of transects.

#EcologicalMonitoring #butterflies #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #NZ

After recent media stories about butterfly declines in New Zealand, centred around one transect in Nelson, it's heartening to see in Stacey Lewthwaite's graphs that kahukura and monarch butterflies have not declined around Christchurch. That's in the last two decades along my 78 km of transects.

#EcologicalMonitoring #butterflies #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #NZ

After recent media stories about butterfly declines in New Zealand, centred around one transect in Nelson, it's heartening to see in Stacey Lewthwaite's graphs that kahukura and monarch butterflies have not declined around Christchurch. That's in the last two decades along my 78 km of transects.

#EcologicalMonitoring #butterflies #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #NZ

After recent media stories about butterfly declines in New Zealand, centred around one transect in Nelson, it's heartening to see in Stacey Lewthwaite's graphs that kahukura and monarch butterflies have not declined around Christchurch. That's in the last two decades along my 78 km of transects.

#EcologicalMonitoring #butterflies #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #NZ

Here's some good news about local birds here in NZ.

Today I've been editing the final draft of a MSc thesis by Stacey Lewthwaite. Stacey has been applying her data skills to my 20+ year dataset of species counts between Christchurch and Lincoln. The bulk of her thesis has focused on looking at the phenology shifts (in abundance, flowering, singing) associated with climate change.

I don't want to steal much of Stacey's thunder just yet but I wanted to share these two good news graphs. These are the numbers of korimako (NZ bellbirds) and ducks (mallards/greylard hybrids) that I've counted per bike ride over the past two decades.

Both species have got *considerably* more abundant over this time period.

For korimako, we think it's because of the forest regeneration and mammalian predator control in their breeding grounds in the nearby Port Hills, done by City Council rangers and Summit Road Society volunteers. For the ducks, we think it's the planting of flood retention wetlands around the fringes of the city plus the increase in farm irrigation.

So, while we hear a lot of scary doom and gloom about nature in the media, some species are thriving because of our actions. Let's do more of that.

#EcologicalMonitoring #nz #nature #birds #LincolnUniversityNZ

Here's some good news about local birds here in NZ.

Today I've been editing the final draft of a MSc thesis by Stacey Lewthwaite. Stacey has been applying her data skills to my 20+ year dataset of species counts between Christchurch and Lincoln. The bulk of her thesis has focused on looking at the phenology shifts (in abundance, flowering, singing) associated with climate change.

I don't want to steal much of Stacey's thunder just yet but I wanted to share these two good news graphs. These are the numbers of korimako (NZ bellbirds) and ducks (mallards/greylard hybrids) that I've counted per bike ride over the past two decades.

Both species have got *considerably* more abundant over this time period.

For korimako, we think it's because of the forest regeneration and mammalian predator control in their breeding grounds in the nearby Port Hills, done by City Council rangers and Summit Road Society volunteers. For the ducks, we think it's the planting of flood retention wetlands around the fringes of the city plus the increase in farm irrigation.

So, while we hear a lot of scary doom and gloom about nature in the media, some species are thriving because of our actions. Let's do more of that.

#EcologicalMonitoring #nz #nature #birds #LincolnUniversityNZ

Here's some good news about local birds here in NZ.

Today I've been editing the final draft of a MSc thesis by Stacey Lewthwaite. Stacey has been applying her data skills to my 20+ year dataset of species counts between Christchurch and Lincoln. The bulk of her thesis has focused on looking at the phenology shifts (in abundance, flowering, singing) associated with climate change.

I don't want to steal much of Stacey's thunder just yet but I wanted to share these two good news graphs. These are the numbers of korimako (NZ bellbirds) and ducks (mallards/greylard hybrids) that I've counted per bike ride over the past two decades.

Both species have got *considerably* more abundant over this time period.

For korimako, we think it's because of the forest regeneration and mammalian predator control in their breeding grounds in the nearby Port Hills, done by City Council rangers and Summit Road Society volunteers. For the ducks, we think it's the planting of flood retention wetlands around the fringes of the city plus the increase in farm irrigation.

So, while we hear a lot of scary doom and gloom about nature in the media, some species are thriving because of our actions. Let's do more of that.

#EcologicalMonitoring #nz #nature #birds #LincolnUniversityNZ

Here's some good news about local birds here in NZ.

Today I've been editing the final draft of a MSc thesis by Stacey Lewthwaite. Stacey has been applying her data skills to my 20+ year dataset of species counts between Christchurch and Lincoln. The bulk of her thesis has focused on looking at the phenology shifts (in abundance, flowering, singing) associated with climate change.

I don't want to steal much of Stacey's thunder just yet but I wanted to share these two good news graphs. These are the numbers of korimako (NZ bellbirds) and ducks (mallards/greylard hybrids) that I've counted per bike ride over the past two decades.

Both species have got *considerably* more abundant over this time period.

For korimako, we think it's because of the forest regeneration and mammalian predator control in their breeding grounds in the nearby Port Hills, done by City Council rangers and Summit Road Society volunteers. For the ducks, we think it's the planting of flood retention wetlands around the fringes of the city plus the increase in farm irrigation.

So, while we hear a lot of scary doom and gloom about nature in the media, some species are thriving because of our actions. Let's do more of that.

#EcologicalMonitoring #nz #nature #birds #LincolnUniversityNZ

Here's some good news about local birds here in NZ.

Today I've been editing the final draft of a MSc thesis by Stacey Lewthwaite. Stacey has been applying her data skills to my 20+ year dataset of species counts between Christchurch and Lincoln. The bulk of her thesis has focused on looking at the phenology shifts (in abundance, flowering, singing) associated with climate change.

I don't want to steal much of Stacey's thunder just yet but I wanted to share these two good news graphs. These are the numbers of korimako (NZ bellbirds) and ducks (mallards/greylard hybrids) that I've counted per bike ride over the past two decades.

Both species have got *considerably* more abundant over this time period.

For korimako, we think it's because of the forest regeneration and mammalian predator control in their breeding grounds in the nearby Port Hills, done by City Council rangers and Summit Road Society volunteers. For the ducks, we think it's the planting of flood retention wetlands around the fringes of the city plus the increase in farm irrigation.

So, while we hear a lot of scary doom and gloom about nature in the media, some species are thriving because of our actions. Let's do more of that.

#EcologicalMonitoring #nz #nature #birds #LincolnUniversityNZ

@rnzbot_nz This article is referring to a short report on the website of the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust (link below). It shows a concerning decline in butterflies since 2009 along a monthly transect through the streets of Nelson walked by Kiran Thodiyll Kanakambujan.

Comparing with iNaturalist observations, the decline is at least consistent with the rise in observations of exotic paper wasps in the area. These are big predators of caterpillars, as the RNZ article notes.

We need a lot more monitoring like this. While the news headline boldly pronounces a significant decline in New Zealand's butterflies, that's not my impression from surveying butterflies in and around Christchurch city. I think it depends a lot on location. Worryingly, European paper wasps are just starting to ramp up in numbers in Christchurch while they've been abundant in Nelson for a decade.

If you want to contribute to standard butterfly monitoring, the Trust recommends butterfly-monitoring.net.

https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Kiran-Brief-Report-Nelson-Transect.pdf

https://butterfly-monitoring.net/

#insects #insectSurvey #entomology #butterflies #nz #EcologicalMonitoring

@rnzbot_nz This article is referring to a short report on the website of the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust (link below). It shows a concerning decline in butterflies since 2009 along a monthly transect through the streets of Nelson walked by Kiran Thodiyll Kanakambujan.

Comparing with iNaturalist observations, the decline is at least consistent with the rise in observations of exotic paper wasps in the area. These are big predators of caterpillars, as the RNZ article notes.

We need a lot more monitoring like this. While the news headline boldly pronounces a significant decline in New Zealand's butterflies, that's not my impression from surveying butterflies in and around Christchurch city. I think it depends a lot on location. Worryingly, European paper wasps are just starting to ramp up in numbers in Christchurch while they've been abundant in Nelson for a decade.

If you want to contribute to standard butterfly monitoring, the Trust recommends butterfly-monitoring.net.

https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Kiran-Brief-Report-Nelson-Transect.pdf

https://butterfly-monitoring.net/

#insects #insectSurvey #entomology #butterflies #nz #EcologicalMonitoring

@rnzbot_nz This article is referring to a short report on the website of the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust (link below). It shows a concerning decline in butterflies since 2009 along a monthly transect through the streets of Nelson walked by Kiran Thodiyll Kanakambujan.

Comparing with iNaturalist observations, the decline is at least consistent with the rise in observations of exotic paper wasps in the area. These are big predators of caterpillars, as the RNZ article notes.

We need a lot more monitoring like this. While the news headline boldly pronounces a significant decline in New Zealand's butterflies, that's not my impression from surveying butterflies in and around Christchurch city. I think it depends a lot on location. Worryingly, European paper wasps are just starting to ramp up in numbers in Christchurch while they've been abundant in Nelson for a decade.

If you want to contribute to standard butterfly monitoring, the Trust recommends butterfly-monitoring.net.

https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Kiran-Brief-Report-Nelson-Transect.pdf

https://butterfly-monitoring.net/

#insects #insectSurvey #entomology #butterflies #nz #EcologicalMonitoring

@rnzbot_nz This article is referring to a short report on the website of the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust (link below). It shows a concerning decline in butterflies since 2009 along a monthly transect through the streets of Nelson walked by Kiran Thodiyll Kanakambujan.

Comparing with iNaturalist observations, the decline is at least consistent with the rise in observations of exotic paper wasps in the area. These are big predators of caterpillars, as the RNZ article notes.

We need a lot more monitoring like this. While the news headline boldly pronounces a significant decline in New Zealand's butterflies, that's not my impression from surveying butterflies in and around Christchurch city. I think it depends a lot on location. Worryingly, European paper wasps are just starting to ramp up in numbers in Christchurch while they've been abundant in Nelson for a decade.

If you want to contribute to standard butterfly monitoring, the Trust recommends butterfly-monitoring.net.

https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Kiran-Brief-Report-Nelson-Transect.pdf

https://butterfly-monitoring.net/

#insects #insectSurvey #entomology #butterflies #nz #EcologicalMonitoring

@rnzbot_nz This article is referring to a short report on the website of the Moths and Butterflies of NZ Trust (link below). It shows a concerning decline in butterflies since 2009 along a monthly transect through the streets of Nelson walked by Kiran Thodiyll Kanakambujan.

Comparing with iNaturalist observations, the decline is at least consistent with the rise in observations of exotic paper wasps in the area. These are big predators of caterpillars, as the RNZ article notes.

We need a lot more monitoring like this. While the news headline boldly pronounces a significant decline in New Zealand's butterflies, that's not my impression from surveying butterflies in and around Christchurch city. I think it depends a lot on location. Worryingly, European paper wasps are just starting to ramp up in numbers in Christchurch while they've been abundant in Nelson for a decade.

If you want to contribute to standard butterfly monitoring, the Trust recommends butterfly-monitoring.net.

https://www.nzbutterflies.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Kiran-Brief-Report-Nelson-Transect.pdf

https://butterfly-monitoring.net/

#insects #insectSurvey #entomology #butterflies #nz #EcologicalMonitoring

I spent Thursday morning this week at Ōruapaeroa-Travis Wetland, the largest freshwater wetland in Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ. Once destined for more housing, the local community's protests led to the city buying up the land and restoring it for nature.

I'm helping PhD student Tommy Copeland to monitor the invertebrates of the wetland. Tommy's both repeating traditional survey methods used in a survey in the mid-1990s, and trying out new methods.

Enter Victor Anton from Wildlife.AI, a NZ-based non-profit dedicated to using artificial intelligence tech to improve conservation. On Thursday Victor gave Tommy one of their first field-ready prototypes of a new camera system with app control and built in machine learning image recognition. Tommy's going to be trialling it to see how he, with the Travis community group, can monitor invertebrates with this camera system.

Stay tuned.

https://wildlife.ai/

#EcologicalMonitoring #Conservation #invertebrates #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #nz #TravisWetland #WildlifeAI

I spent Thursday morning this week at Ōruapaeroa-Travis Wetland, the largest freshwater wetland in Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ. Once destined for more housing, the local community's protests led to the city buying up the land and restoring it for nature.

I'm helping PhD student Tommy Copeland to monitor the invertebrates of the wetland. Tommy's both repeating traditional survey methods used in a survey in the mid-1990s, and trying out new methods.

Enter Victor Anton from Wildlife.AI, a NZ-based non-profit dedicated to using artificial intelligence tech to improve conservation. On Thursday Victor gave Tommy one of their first field-ready prototypes of a new camera system with app control and built in machine learning image recognition. Tommy's going to be trialling it to see how he, with the Travis community group, can monitor invertebrates with this camera system.

Stay tuned.

https://wildlife.ai/

#EcologicalMonitoring #Conservation #invertebrates #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #nz #TravisWetland #WildlifeAI

I spent Thursday morning this week at Ōruapaeroa-Travis Wetland, the largest freshwater wetland in Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ. Once destined for more housing, the local community's protests led to the city buying up the land and restoring it for nature.

I'm helping PhD student Tommy Copeland to monitor the invertebrates of the wetland. Tommy's both repeating traditional survey methods used in a survey in the mid-1990s, and trying out new methods.

Enter Victor Anton from Wildlife.AI, a NZ-based non-profit dedicated to using artificial intelligence tech to improve conservation. On Thursday Victor gave Tommy one of their first field-ready prototypes of a new camera system with app control and built in machine learning image recognition. Tommy's going to be trialling it to see how he, with the Travis community group, can monitor invertebrates with this camera system.

Stay tuned.

https://wildlife.ai/

#EcologicalMonitoring #Conservation #invertebrates #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #nz #TravisWetland #WildlifeAI

I spent Thursday morning this week at Ōruapaeroa-Travis Wetland, the largest freshwater wetland in Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ. Once destined for more housing, the local community's protests led to the city buying up the land and restoring it for nature.

I'm helping PhD student Tommy Copeland to monitor the invertebrates of the wetland. Tommy's both repeating traditional survey methods used in a survey in the mid-1990s, and trying out new methods.

Enter Victor Anton from Wildlife.AI, a NZ-based non-profit dedicated to using artificial intelligence tech to improve conservation. On Thursday Victor gave Tommy one of their first field-ready prototypes of a new camera system with app control and built in machine learning image recognition. Tommy's going to be trialling it to see how he, with the Travis community group, can monitor invertebrates with this camera system.

Stay tuned.

https://wildlife.ai/

#EcologicalMonitoring #Conservation #invertebrates #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #nz #TravisWetland #WildlifeAI

I spent Thursday morning this week at Ōruapaeroa-Travis Wetland, the largest freshwater wetland in Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ. Once destined for more housing, the local community's protests led to the city buying up the land and restoring it for nature.

I'm helping PhD student Tommy Copeland to monitor the invertebrates of the wetland. Tommy's both repeating traditional survey methods used in a survey in the mid-1990s, and trying out new methods.

Enter Victor Anton from Wildlife.AI, a NZ-based non-profit dedicated to using artificial intelligence tech to improve conservation. On Thursday Victor gave Tommy one of their first field-ready prototypes of a new camera system with app control and built in machine learning image recognition. Tommy's going to be trialling it to see how he, with the Travis community group, can monitor invertebrates with this camera system.

Stay tuned.

https://wildlife.ai/

#EcologicalMonitoring #Conservation #invertebrates #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #nz #TravisWetland #WildlifeAI

I've been counting birds on my bike work commute between Christchurch and Lincoln, NZ, since 2003. On Friday, I counted my *first ever* Kōtuku Ngutupapa, Royal Spoonbill, on the route.

It was feeding in a paddock that had been recently scraped clear preparing it for a housing subdivision, but in the meantime had filled with water after a heavy rain. There are also restored wetlands nearby that I hope was what attracted it in. Perhaps there will be more.

#birds #nz #spoonbill #EcologicalMonitoring #wildcounts #UrbanEcology

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/340743507

I've been counting birds on my bike work commute between Christchurch and Lincoln, NZ, since 2003. On Friday, I counted my *first ever* Kōtuku Ngutupapa, Royal Spoonbill, on the route.

It was feeding in a paddock that had been recently scraped clear preparing it for a housing subdivision, but in the meantime had filled with water after a heavy rain. There are also restored wetlands nearby that I hope was what attracted it in. Perhaps there will be more.

#birds #nz #spoonbill #EcologicalMonitoring #wildcounts #UrbanEcology

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/340743507

I've been counting birds on my bike work commute between Christchurch and Lincoln, NZ, since 2003. On Friday, I counted my *first ever* Kōtuku Ngutupapa, Royal Spoonbill, on the route.

It was feeding in a paddock that had been recently scraped clear preparing it for a housing subdivision, but in the meantime had filled with water after a heavy rain. There are also restored wetlands nearby that I hope was what attracted it in. Perhaps there will be more.

#birds #nz #spoonbill #EcologicalMonitoring #wildcounts #UrbanEcology

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/340743507

I've been counting birds on my bike work commute between Christchurch and Lincoln, NZ, since 2003. On Friday, I counted my *first ever* Kōtuku Ngutupapa, Royal Spoonbill, on the route.

It was feeding in a paddock that had been recently scraped clear preparing it for a housing subdivision, but in the meantime had filled with water after a heavy rain. There are also restored wetlands nearby that I hope was what attracted it in. Perhaps there will be more.

#birds #nz #spoonbill #EcologicalMonitoring #wildcounts #UrbanEcology

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/340743507