The U3A Stilbaai Bird Group has systematically atlased the 75 pentads of the Hessequa municipal area since 2015. This area covers the area from the Gouritz River in the east to the Breede River in the west, and from south to north between the ocean and the Langeberg. In the west the border follows the Breede River to Malgas and then cuts away stepwise in a northerly direction to Grootvadersbosch.
The systematic atlasing evolved over a number of years but has now stabilised in a system where each pentad is atlased twice a year and the area is covered in a chessboard pattern. In year one the first pentad is atlased in summer and winter and all the pentads adjacent to it are atlased in autumn and spring. The ones adjacent to these are then again atlased in summer and winter. In year two this is reversed so that year one’s summer and winter pentads are then covered in autumn and spring etc. This means that over a cycle of two years each pentad is atlased 4 times, once in every season.
The seasons are as follows:
The only exception to the above is the Bird Group’s two home pentads around Stilbaai that are atlased 4 times every season.
This amounts to 178 full protocol cards per year.
Unfortunately the high cost of fuel has now made it difficult to cover all the pentads that are far away from Stilbaai twice a year, and the U3A Stilbaai Bird Group will appreciate any help it can get from visitors to Hessequa for those pentads. The U3A Stilbaai Bird Group plans to do 147 full protocol cards but needs help for the remaining 31 full protocol cards.
Below are links to printable schematic maps of Hessequa with pentads where full protocol cards are required shown in grey. The light grey pentads are those that are planned for the U3A Stilbaai Bird Group (Stilbaai BG) and the dark grey pentads are those where help will be most appreciated. If a visitor does a light grey pentad it will obviously also be helpful.
Please note that the pentad names are those used by the U3A Stilbaai Bird Group, but their numbers are also given.
These maps will be updated on a regular basis to prevent duplication of effort. For more information please email Johan van Rooyen
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| 1 | |
| 2-3 | |
| 4-6 | |
| 7-10 | |
| 11-24 | |
| 25-49 | |
| 50-99 | |
| 100-999 | |
| 1000+ | |
| Adhoc protocol Incidental Additional information |
|
The Coverage map shows the project coverage on a pentad scale. To view a more detailed summary of an area, open the relevant areas coverage map from the top menu.
To view the pentad information, click on the pentad, to open a pentad summary, double click.
Pentad:
A 5 minute x 5 minute coordinate
grid super-imposed over the continent for spatial reference.
