KZN Boundary Bash

Hi Everyone,

Under downloads(Boundary Bash Pentads)you will find a list of KZN Border pentads that have not been atlased yet. Iain Guthrie, kindly put this list together, he has just had a back op and is house bound for a few weeks, so here is a challenge to all those wonderful atlasers out there who would like to see KZN completely "ATLASED IN" We are going to call this the "Boundary Bash" Iain will keep tabs on how many of these border pentads are done, I think we should aim to have them done by the end of 2009?

There is a link to the species recorded in SABAP1 for the Quarter degree square that pentad is in. These pentads are grouped into borders with Eastern Cape, Lesotho, Free state, Mpumalanga, Swaziland, Mozambique and the Indian Ocean!

Regards, "House bound" Iain

This Weeks Atlassers

This weeks sees a climb to 31 observers submitting 79 cards over the last six days. 22 cards were for new pentads.
This is up from 22 observers, 51 cards and 5 new pentads last week.
I suspect that there was a bit of a lag after the long weekend, ie some cards were only submitted after last Wednesday, when I last did the numbers.
It is very encouraging to see that there are new, and different names on the list, as well as the stalwarts.
Well done everybody.

This Weeks Atlassers

This last week saw a drop in submissions in all three categories, though I may have drawn the stats a day early, as some observers may have not gotten their long weekend returns in yet.
In any event we have one less observer than last week, 38 cards less and 8 new pentads fewer.
On the positive side, we appear to have some new names on our observer list. So a big welcome to them, and many happy hours atlassing.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I am finding it more and more difficult getting to pentads with no cover, either distance or access wise. Put another way, the pentads with no cover are either further away, or ones that I am less inclined to visit, usually because of safety or poor roads.
On a happier note, I find that I have been enjoying my winter birding, what birds are around are definitely showing well, or is it simply a lack of vegetation?

Some Atlas Targets [Again!]

KZN does look healthy. Our provincial average is above 90%, with two areas now having closed out all Quarter Degree Squares. Sisonke [Southern KZN] has not very far to go, being above 95%. North, Zululand and Trogons [South Coast] are all in the 85-90% band, so some work to do there.

This target is really part of the Chamaeleon Challenge [see http://sabap2.adu.org.za/challenge_wc2009_splurb.php]. The thrust of this challenge is to change the colour of pentads on the coverage map [the number of cards returned for each pentad are represented by various colours]. Extra points for the challenge are scored if the colour changes from light to dark greem, i.e. if you return the seventh card for a pentad.
On the provincial level we are drawing away from the March-09 target of 13% [of the pentads with cards having more than seven cards]. We are now a touch under 16%. Northern KZN has the most to do, but is showing encouraging upward movement.

GATHERING FOR KZN ATLASERS & FRIENDS

During July Doug Harebottle (SABAP2 Project Manager) is attending a conference in KZN, after the conference he will be available from 25th July - 29th July.

SO.........this is what the plan is..........................

Saturday 25th July, evening meeting (Some where down the South Coast)

Sunday 26th July there will be a function for atlasers at Umgeni Reserve (WESSA) in Howick. We will have an early lunch braai (bring your own food and drinks). This gathering is to celebrate our achievements in atlasing close to 50% of the 1278 pentads. This will be a time when we can socialise with other atlasers, hear some exciting atlas stories and share experiences. Doug will give us a presentation and feed back on the project, as well as answer any of the questions that folk may have.
Please let me know if you will be able to attend. We will be charging a small fee of R30 per person for the use of the facilities. For those who live close to the venue we may organise to atlas a local pentad !!
Monday 27th and 28th Doug and I will be travelling to Zululand and Eshowe areas. Meetings and venues still in planning stages.
LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE

This week's Atlassers

Here is a summary of the atlas card submissions for the last week.
To summarise: we had 23 observers who submitted 89 cards, 13 of which were for new pentads.
This is against 20 observers last week who submitted 62 cards, 23 of which were for new pentads.



[Wednesday 10 June 2009]

SABAP2 Coverage SHP File

I was thinking about the easiest way of planning an atlas trip, and if one is using a GIS viewer like Christine [or if you are lucky enough, ArcView], it did occur to me that if the most recent coverage and species richness data were available in SHP file format, it would really make life a whole lot easier.
So instead of instead of trying to get back to sleep this morning, I downloaded the pentad shp file off the SABAP2 web site. I also copied all of the Gap Analysis data for KZN off the web and into Excel. I then manipulated these data in Excel to create a dbf file [a format that ArcView uses], joined this onto the pentad shp file and copied to a new shp, and presto the result is alongside.
So if anyone is using GIS for their atlas trip planning, and would like a relatively up-to-date shp file with all the data (plus some quarter coverage info) from the SABAP2 website, contact me.
[The shp file displayed on the image here is only 74KB when zipped].

[Friday 5 June 2009]

SABAP2 Targets

The following graphs are summaries of where the respective KZN Bird Clubs are with respect to achieving the stated SABAP2 targets.

This target is to cover at least one pentad in every Quarter Degree Square in KZN. The idea was to have covered at least one pentad for 60% of the QDS's (equivalent to a 1:50 000 topo map sheet), by the end of March. All areas were already beyond this in January 2009.
Most notable is that this week Port Natal achieved 100% coverage.

This target is to cover one third of the pentads in each QDS. The interim target was to be at 33% at the end of March 2009. Again KZN was at the fortunate position to be above this in January already, though Northern KZN just managed this. What is most encouraging is that is the KZN line (labelled Total) has only been level for three reporting periods between January and now, otherwise we have had a steady upward climb, with Trogons (South Coast) at the top of the tree with 78%.

The last two targets are a little strange in that the wider our coverage is, the poorer we fair, provided we do not follow up and re-visit pentads. SABAP2's interim target for March was to be at 50%.
Only two clubs failed to reach this target, with Northern KZN being most disadvantaged simply because they have a very larg area coupled to the fewest birders. Trogons are an interesting case because they were well ahead, but then dipped below as they expanded their coverage, climbed back up as they do follow ups, and then dip below as their cover broadens again.
Overall as a province we have been on a downward trend as our coverage increases. North, Trogons, Sisonke & Midlands are all only slightly better off now, than they were at the beginning of January.

This target, like the last, is harder to achieve as coverage increases. The interim target was to be at 13% at then end of March. As a province we did achieve the interim target.
What is very encouraging, is that unlike the last target we are on an upward trend, with no club being worse off now than they were at the beginning of the year. I suspect that we can thank those atlassers who are diligently atlas their home and adjacent pentads. (Also thos who plan their atlassing according to the pentad charts, links on the right).
All of these graphs are in the QDS Summary with Project Targets file. A link to this file is on the right.

[Wednesday 3 June 2009]

Who has been atlassing in KZN

The adjacent table lists the observers who have submitted cards for pentads within KZN over the last week. Note that some of these cards are for periods before this last week.

To summarise: 20 observers submitted 62 cards, 23 of which were for new pentads.


[Wednesday 3 June 2009]

Pentad Chart for Kruger National Park

A pentad chart is now available for KNP for those who would like to plan their atlassing within the park.
The format is as per the post below, except that the QDS responsibilty is shown at province level, ie either LP for Limpopo or MP for Mpumalanga, and the park boundaries are shown in a broad dark green line.
If anyone would like a copy please contact me by leaving a comment below.

Using the Pentad Charts

This pentad chart was designed by Peter Spence as an aid to planning atlas trips. It is essentially a map showing pentads grouped by Quarter Degree Squares.
The nine pentads per QDS are surrounded by a dark black line for the boundary of the QDS, which is also equivalent to a 1:50 000 topographic map. The 1:50K map code is shown at the top left of this dark black box, with the name at the top centre and the club in whose area of responsibility the map falls on the top right [where M = Midlands, N = North, P = Port Natal, S= Sisonke, T= Trogons & Z = Zululand].
The dark red line is the degree boundary. In the illustrated example the whole of 2930 is shown.

The pentads are coloured according to how many cards have been returned. White pentads have no cover, yellow pentads one card, orange pentads 2 to 10 cards and dark orange pentads have more than ten cards returned.
In addition, the following data are displayed in each pentad:

• Pentad code in top left;
  
• If the pentad falls on any IBA or PA this is on the top right [IBA's higher priority than PA's];
• Pentad name in bold on the next line;
• The next line reflects the cards returned per quarter. The quarters read: SON :DJF:MAM:JJA. I did try to follow the seasons as best possible.
• The last line reflects the total number of cards for the pentad in bold black on the left, and the total species recorded in bold blue on the right.

The idea is obviously to get to all white pentads first. If this is not possible, try to get to a yellow pentad, preferably during a quarter that has no card. This principle then applies for the next two colour pentads as well.
These charts are generally updated on a weekly basis and can be downloaded from the links on the right.