On Saturday 12 September I decided to set the tape for the rugby and have an atlas day for my 300th card (the certificate for which arrived immediately on submission - very efficient!). As I would be on my own I decided to do some fairly leisurely atlasing round my favourite pentads in the Paarl/Philadelphia area. I targeted three but in the end did a fourth as it was such a glorious day although the last was not very productive and a cold wind came up. No great rarities but 82 species and 198 records in all for the day in the wheatland monoculture wasn't bad. Several factors were typical and provided food for thought.
1. An absolute rule in atlasing is that whenever you change pentads, among the first birds seen in the second one there will be new species even right next door!
2. In winter/spring the second pentad (ie usually from about 10am to 12pm) produces about as many birds as the first. After that the numbers decline. In summer the decline is earlier. A start time on the results would be useful for comparisons.
3. 2-3 hours is ideal for the wheatland type pentads but "complicated" pentads require much more - my 2 or 3 local ones require at least 4 hours each and the number of birds per hour remains fairly constant as one covers new habitats.
4. The number of new birds falls right off after about 3 or 4 surveys in the wheatland type pentads. For interest the following show my results on Saturday:
Pentad |
No. of cards before Sat |
No. of species before Sat |
No. of species on Sat |
New species on Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
3335_1850 |
4 |
88 |
55 |
2 |
3335_1840 |
11 |
104 |
55 |
1 |
3335_1835 |
9 |
98 |
48 |
1 |
3340_1835 |
31 |
125 |
40 |
0 |
The number of people doing the survey affects the result. I did 3335_1840 2 weeks earlier with 3 other birders and got 66 species with less migrants (2 new species). More eyes and ears are better! To drive, spot and record alone must mean missing some.
6. Knowledge of the pentad means a lot. In the SE Somerset West pentad (3410_1855) my first efforts fell far short of recent ones now I have permission to visit 3 farms. Conversely my efforts at 3340_1835 fall far short of those of the regular atlaser in that pentad who may also visit farms - I only do the public roads (and admittedly normally late in the day).
7. Raptors are still scarce in the area. 2 Yellow-billed Kites, 2 Jackal Buzzards, 1 Black-shoudered Kite and an African Fish Eagle for the 9 hour day. Roll on the arrival of the Steppes!
8. Suddenly all the Southern Red Bishops are brilliant males!
9. Thanks to Michael Brooks - I don't know what he did but the Gap Analysis suddenly has become much quicker to access. What a difference!
| Observers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 780 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cards submitted: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 37795 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pentads covered by category: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Total number of records: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022623 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total number of incidental records: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 152264 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Latest submission: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010-07-31 08:46:37 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Update posted: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010-07-31 09:54 |
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SABAP2 is a joint project of the
Animal Demography Unit
(Department of Zoology, University of Cape Town),
BirdLife South Africa,
&
South African National Biodiversity Institute