Monday, May 11, 2009

Superb Atlassing Efforts

I received an email recently from a fellow atlasser Tony Archer, # 10437, (see his SABAP2 stats here: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/data_summary_observer.php?Obs=10437), informing me of a trip he was planning into the western areas of North West.

His target was to atlas at least one pentad in each untouched Half Degree Grid Cell left in the North West, and as the Coverage map shows, ( http://sabap2.adu.org.za/coverage_map_mapped.php), he has done an amazing job.

There are now only 3 HDGC without a atlassed pentad, 2 of which overlap into neighbouring provinces (Go to the coverage map and select 'Empty Half Degrees" and refresh)

This great atlassing effort from Tony has pushed the North West's coverage to 21.7, ie 322 out of 1486 pentads atlassed.

Well Done!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Late Migrant Surprises!!

By now, as the SABAP2 LAMP challenge is proving, the majority of migratory birds have headed to greener pastures. There are naturally those birds that feel that South Africa's Winters aren't THAT bad, and choose to stay.

Nonetheless, while atlassing pentad 2520_2705 yesterday, I was quite surprised to see a single Jacobin's Cuckoo over our companies Game Farm yesterday.

This was followed up today by a single White Stork circling over the Kwena Gardens Crocodile Sanctuary.

Roll on Winter, and I'm already on the lookout for the beautiful Fairy Flycatcher that will start moving into our area soon.

Happy atlassing!!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

North West reaches 20%

I was very impressed to see that the North West province has now reached 20.4% coverage. This equates to 303 of the 1486 pentads overlaying the province having been atlassed at least once.

To reach this percentage, 1008 cards have been submitted, constituting 59 507 records, with an average of 59 species per card.

To date, the highest species count on a card in the North West is still 143.

Of the 303 North West pentads:

- 6 pentads have over 25 cards submitted
- 8 pentads have 16 - 24 cards submitted
- 14 pentads have 11 - 15 cards submitted
- 13 pentads have 7 - 10 cards submitted
- 27 pentads have 4 - 6 cards submitted
- 89 pentads have 2 - 3 cards submitted
- 146 pentads have been atlassed once.

On the species diversity front, North West stands as follows:

- 35 pentads have a species count of between 106 and 140 species
- 22 pentads have a species count of between 141 and 180 species
- 14 pentads have over 181 species recorded

Well done to all atlassers who have had a hand in these stats!!!