Revised KZN Road Mapbook Key

This revised Map Key now includes the One and Quarter Degree Grid Cells for more reference.

Cards-to-Green for KZN

Herewith this fortnight's "Cards-to-Green" map for KZN.
I am also now keeping track of where and who is contributing to the "Cards-to-Green" numbers.
In the fortnight ending 26-09-12 we had 10 cards that contributed to this mini-project. These were as follows:

QDS	Ptd	Cards Old	Cards New	Observer
2829DD	2845_2950	1	2	Alan Manson
2830CD	2850_3015	1	2	Alan Manson
2830CD	2850_3020	1	2	Alan Manson
2831CC	2855_3110	2	3	John & Kim Cox
2831CD	2855_3115	2	3	John & Kim Cox
2831CD	2855_3120	2	3	John & Kim Cox
2929BB	2910_2945	3	4	Alan Manson
2930BA	2910_3035	3	4	Colin Summersgill
2930BC	2920_3035	3	4	Colin Summersgill
2931AB	2900_3115	2	3	John & Kim Cox

The number surveys needed for KZN is tabled below:

Cards to Green Update for KZN

As of 4th July 2012 we had 38 pentads with no data, as we head steadily towards the 100% mark for KZN. This major drop has been mostly attributable to John & Kim Cox's work between Paulpietersburg & Ithala. Alan Manson has also been steadily picking off blank penatds between Pomeroy & Washbank.

It is encouraging that we are also steadily making inroads into the pentads with less than four cards. In the last three fortnights we have averaged 1.2; 1.7 and 1.6 surveys per day respectively, or 17, 24 and 22 cards per fortnight.

It is also noteworthy that we are maintaining a steady rate of submissions per day. The KZN average is 7.8 cards per day. This usually falls off somewhat in winter, but for the fortnights ending 23/05, 6/06, 20/06 and 4/07, we averaged 8.2; 5.7; 7.5 and 5.7 cards / day respectively. What is even more encouraging is that the species per card for the same period were 52.0, 52.5, 53.0 53.6. This is set against an overall KZN average of 56.2.
It would seem that winter has not really deterred neither the atlassers, nor their subjects.

 I am pleased to announce that a map book of KZN with all of the district and local roads is now available. The book comprises 72 pages. A key of the pages is shown to the left, while an example of  page 53 [Midmar and west of PMB] is shown below. [The PDF pages are actually much clearer than this eaxmple].

The maps are based on the SGO's 1:250 000 topo-cadastral maps with road data as sourced from the KZN Dept. of Transport website overlaid. Pentads with labels are included as well as the protected areas.

The district roads and gravel "P"-class road are all labelled.

The pages are available in Adobe's PDF format, which means that all text on the overlays [D and gravel P road numbers, protected area and pentad labels] is "searchable" in Adobe Reader. Size of the files range from 733 to 2,073 KB.

While these maps cannot be used to accurately determine pentad boundaries, they are very useful for planning purposes, especially with regard to the public roads [these latter data were dated November 2010].

Email me or contact me on this blog should you require any of these maps. Thanks to Alan Manson to spurring me on to actually produce this set in PDF format and making it available here.

Quick post of a map with of the pentads with no data.

To sum up:

- 10 pentads between Paulpietersburg and Ithala GR. There are another possible 3 pentads along the Swazi border here as well. There is one pentad east of Ithala, and another 4 to the south-east, heading towards Nongoma. [17]

- 7 pentads at NE iSimangaliso WP [7/24].

- 2 pentads west of Chelmsford on the Free State border. 3 in the Biggarsberg between the N11 and FS border. 5 west of Pomeroy heading towards Wasbank. [10/34].

- 7 pentads around eMondlo, between Nqutu and Vryheid. 2 SE of Utrecht and 1 NE of Qudeni Forest [10/44].

There are singletons along the Lesotho and [old] EC borders:
- 1 SE of RNNP [2828DD - 2845_2855]
- possible 1 just touching KZN in the Cathedral Peak area [2929AB - 2905_2915]
- possible 2 at the junction of the old EC / Lesotho / KZN border [2929CC - 2955_2900, 2955_2905]
- 1 S of Matatiele [3028BD - 3025_2845]
- 1 SE of th one above [3028BD - 3030_2850]
- 1 S of Cedarville, again on the old EC border [3029CA - 3035_2905] [51]

As at today we have 1,296 penatds listed for KZN, of which 1,247 have data, so we have 49 with zero cards. It is quite difficult to determine exactly which are allocated to KZN, but in any event we should be looking at as many pentads with no data as possible. It would of course be great to have a 100% coverage figure for KZN.

Cards to Green for KZN

This is the map of the number of cards needed to turn all of KZN "green" as per the standard ADU coverage maps.
What is noticeable on this map, when comparing to the last one I put up on 18 January, is that last of the red pentads in the southern Nongoma / Mahlabatini area have disappeared, as have the last empty pentads in northern Maputuland.
This is thanks to John and Kim Cox and Richard Johnstone's continued efforts in this area after their expedition in December last year with Trish Strachan. [For a story of these efforts see Richard's post on the SABAP2 website].
Tim Wood and Peter Spence spent some of last week in northern Maptuland, when they managed to finish off the last eight empty pentads in that area. They also managed to do a fair number of second cards as well.
I hesitate to say this, as I have not done a detailed analysis yet, but my feeling is that these two areas are now have better coverage than they received in SABAP1. So well done all involved with this effort.
Alan Manson has managed to chip away at some of the empty pentads in the upper Tugela Basin [around Pomeroy], as well as some in the Berg.
There are plans afoot to try to eliminate the last of the western empty pentads. The idea is to base ourselves at Chelmsford over a weekend and look at doing as much as we can from here, but concentrating on the pentads at Nqutu and south-west of Chelmsford.
We, as the SABAP2 community that is, do have provisional permission to get the the north-eastern section of iSimangaliso Wetland Park, where there are 7 empty pentads. Please contact me for details on how to go about this. It would be really great if we could get an Atlas Bash together to tackle this area.

For depth of coverage, Tim has continued his efforts across the province to cover as much ground as possible,  planning his trips using the Excel Pentad Chart [see on RHS of this blog], to ensure as even as possible seasonal coverage.
The Cox's have also continued their systematic coverage of the broader Richard's Bay area. Their goal is to ensure as wide an area as possible within their reasonable reach, has at least 7 cards. [Though they broke their mold in the last fortnight and covered a fair sized portion from Creighton to Matatiele in southern KZN].
For the rest we have had a continous flow of cards as and when people have been able to contribute, which is really great.
Please note that although our autumn and winter cards may not be as exciting as the summer ones, they are still very valuable to the project. In fact I would say they are very nearly more valuable, as there is usually a distinct and understanderable tailing-off of submissions during winter. I am pleased to report that this does not appear to be the case this year.

ADU 20th Anniversary Celebrations in KZN

The KZN celebration  of the ADU's 20th Anniversary will be held at the Pietermaritzburg Botanic Gardens on Saturday 11 February 2012. The programme is as follows:

ADU T-shirts will be on sale at the venue, or from the ADU's online shop

09:30 Tea and coffee

10:00 Welcome - Doug Harebottle

10:05 Southern African Bird Atlas Project 2 (SABAP2) - Colin Summersgill

10:25 Southern African Butterfly Conservation Assessment (SABCA) - Steve Woodhall

10:45 Birds In Reserves Project (BIRP) - Peter Greaves

11:05 Tea 

11:30 Southern African Bird Ringing Unit (SAFRING) - Dieter Oschadleus/Mark Brown

11:50 Coordinated Waterbird Counts (CWAC) - Doug Harebottle

12:10 Southern African Reptile Conservation Assessment (SARCA) - Johan Marais

12:30 The Virtual Museums - Dieter Oschadleus

12.50 Coordinated Avifaunal Roadcounts (CAR) - Doug Harebottle

13:10 Picnic lunch

14:00 Feedback session

15:00 Wrap-up

For further information and to register look at: http://20.adu.org.za/index.php