Diario del proyecto Second Annual Kespukwitk Municipal iNat Competition

Archivos de diario de septiembre 2021

12 de septiembre de 2021

The second Kespukwitk competition starts on Sept 18th!

This year the Kespukwitk Municipal iNaturalist Competition will run for 2 weeks. This should provide lots of time for people to get out and participate! Observations of wildlife may be recorded starting on Saturday Sept 18th up until midnight Sunday Sept 26th. Observations, photos and/or sound recordings of wildlife recorded during this time period must be uploaded to iNat by midnight Sunday October 3rd. Please upload observations as soon as you can as this will give identifiers more time to suggest species names. On Wednesday October 6th the final results will be announced. (More information on prizes to follow.)

Each municipal area (or county) participating in this competition has its own iNat project page where local information may be posted. To reach these individual projects simply click on the umbrella project’s leaderboard entry. The umbrella project page will host content relevant to all groups and this year’s competition – we recommend that all participants JOIN this project. Joining is simple and it means that you will be automatically notified when new content has been added to this project page. Join this iNat project today and stay up to date!

This competition starts soon. Are you ready? Cameras ready? Help highlight the biodiversity in your area and/or consider exploring other areas within the region of Kespukwitk. How many observations can you post over the two-week period? How species will you observe?

To browse the observations posted last year (2020) and view the leaderboard click here.

Best of luck to all in this year's competition!

Publicado el 12 de septiembre de 2021 por mkkennedy mkkennedy | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario

14 de septiembre de 2021

Species and ecosystems

In 2020, Canada adopted the Pan-Canadian Approach to Transforming Species at Risk Conservation. In doing so, Canada has shifted from a single-species conservation approach to an approach targeting multiple species and ecosystems. As part of this approach, eleven priority places have been targeted for conservation including Southwest Nova Scotia, or Kespukwitk, one of the seven traditional districts of Mi’kma’ki.

Our iNat competition involves the nine municipalities that are in Kespukwitk today: Annapolis, Argyle, Barrington, Clare, Digby, Lunenburg, Queens, Shelburne, and Yarmouth. This year’s bioblitz will run for 2 weeks. Participants may participate in group activities or they may venture out on solo explorations. People of all ages are encouraged to get outdoors and explore the area and to share observations of wildlife.

The real objective of the bioblitz is to highlight the biodiversity that is all around us! How many species can participants find? How many ecosystems can people explore?

To view observations posted to iNat that fall within the Kespukwitk not filtered by date or season click here.

To view species observed during the 1st Kespukwitk Municipal iNaturalist Competition (2020) click here.

Publicado el 14 de septiembre de 2021 por mkkennedy mkkennedy | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

Registration for iNaturalist Walks and Competition in Kespukwitk

This year, the Second Annual Kespukwitk iNaturalist Competition runs from Sept 18-26!

Anyone can participate by simply using iNaturalist in southwest Nova Scotia but this registration form must be completed to be eligible for prizes and to register for walks.

Prizes will be gift certificates to local restaurants and will be given out by random draw to participants who collect at least 50 species.

Publicado el 14 de septiembre de 2021 por mkkennedy mkkennedy | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

17 de septiembre de 2021

iNaturalist Walks in Kespukwitk

During our Kespukwitk Municipal iNaturalist Competition we will be hosting walks in each municipality to get you outside and familiar with Nova Scotia’s spectacular wildlife. We will explore the area in a group as we observe, discuss and share stories about the wildlife we see. These walks are open to all, including families, and do not require any previous knowledge or special vehicle requirements to access. If you would like to join us, you must register here.

During the walk, we will include a brief introduction to the species identification and recording app, iNaturalist. We recommend everyone download the app to their phone and create an account before arriving. (You may also opt to upload photos online at iNaturalist.ca after the walk.)

Click either or both of these links to learn how to use iNaturalist getting started and making an observation.

A few of the organized activities are posted below. Check Facebook for updated info on additional walks.

Saturday Sept. 18: 10:00am Our partners at Clean Annapolis River Project are hosting a guided walk in the sand barrens. (rain date September 25).

Monday, Sept. 20: 10:00 – 11:30 AM interpretive walk at Meteghan Beach (Clare Municipality). Dan Robichaud, our municipal representative, will be joining our staff to share their knowledge and experience of the area’s ecology and wildlife.

Monday, Sept. 20: 5:30 – 7 PM: interpretive walk at Pubnico Coastal Trail (Argyle Municipality). Join our staff on the beach to as they share their knowledge and experience of the area’s ecology and wildlife. Click here to learn more about the Pubnico Coastal Trail.

Tuesday, Sept. 21: 5:30 – 7 PM interpretive walk at Van Tassel Lake Trails (Digby Municipality). Our staff will be joined by Jeff White, our local representative, to share their knowledge and experience of the area’s ecology and wildlife.
Click here to learn more about the Van Tassel Lake Trail.


Don't forget to register for individual walks and be eligible for prizes during the competition! Remember that anyone can contribute to this project by simply posting observations to iNaturalist - you do not have to be part of an organized walk. You can explore your backyard and areas in your neighbourhood. You can also visit the areas blitzed during the group walks before or after these organized events.

Have fun and stay safe.

Publicado el 17 de septiembre de 2021 por mkkennedy mkkennedy | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

18 de septiembre de 2021

The competition has started

At one second after midnight last night the competition started. As of 10am this morning only a few observations have been posted but this doesn't mean that people aren't out recording observations!

Remember that although observations must be recorded within the 2-week time frame but they don't need to be uploaded in the field. It is possible to upload when your return home at the end of the day when you have your feet up. It is also possible to batch upload if you go online to iNaturalist.ca

If you are feeling competitive then go outdoors and find a good spot and then stand still and look all around. How many species of wildflowers, trees, shrubs, insects, birds do you see? If you see mushrooms do you also see slugs? Are there ants and/or bees on plants? If you see a spider what is its web attached to? If you are bitten by a mosquito then after you swat it take its photo.

When you share an observation remember that you can include/combine multiple photos and/or sound recordings. Make the first photo in the group the best photo as this is the one that the iNat software will use to suggest names.

Remember to only agree to a suggested name if you recognize it - not all suggestions are correct!

Also review the names suggested by others and learn over time - you may initially post an observation and call it plant but you should soon be able to recognize species such as Rosa rugosa and differentiate it from multiflora and wild rose. Example.

Publicado el 18 de septiembre de 2021 por mkkennedy mkkennedy | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

Highlight local municipality species

During a bioblitz 'competition' the objective is to post as many observations as possible - of different species from different locations observed at different times and dates by different people.

It is possible to upload observations of species such as squirrels in your backyard once a day for every day of the two week blitz but this might get a bit boring not just for you but for the person helping review/identify observations. I would recommend sharing observations where the squirrel is behaving differently or in different locations in your yard - on a tree, on your deck, on your roof, taunting your cat, eating cones, etc.

When sharing observations of mallards and other birds upload separate observations for the different genders - the male bird would be one observation and the female another. Upload a third observation for juveniles. Can you tell male/female/juvenile robins apart?

Perhaps find a group of seagulls and upload one example of all the various life/molt stages. Don't go too crazy tho as not every gull in Southwest Nova needs is own individual iNat post! Consider including a note to indicate counts - example there were 25 herring gulls at the location versus 2 great black-backed gulls.

What would make the blitz more interesting is to think about your area and try to post observations of species that you believe represent the municipality. Perhaps share observations of various species of Christmas trees - Combine in one observation closeups of needles, of the bark, as well as a shot showing the entire tree from further away. Take a photo of a lobster - take a couple of photos and include one that shows if the lobster is male or female. What about photos of clams or seaweed or whales or apples? Don't forget bear scat and deer tracks.

What ecosystems are in your area? What are the dominant species?

Consider including a ruler or a coin or your hand to provide size/length info. This is one opportunity where you could include a photo of your dog - have then stand/sit next to a tree for scale! Don't use people for scale.

Use your imagination. In addition to posting observations of common species try to make the content being shared from your municipality 'interesting'. Challenge other areas to follow your lead. If you see that another participant has posted a species then try and find this in your area as well and then in addition post another new species and watch if others then go off in search of 'your' species.

Have fun - stay safe.

Publicado el 18 de septiembre de 2021 por mkkennedy mkkennedy | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

21 de septiembre de 2021

We're doing great!!

We’re now three and a half days into our 9 day iNaturalist competition and things are going great!

  • In Lunenburg, our community rep, Rachel Kendall, led a group of all ages as they explored a wetland and collected lots of iNaturalist observations!
  • In Annapolis, Dr. Nick Hill and the Clean Annapolis River Project led a facinating exploration of the sand barrens ecosystem!
  • In Clare, we learned how to make beer from seaweed from our community rep, Dan and we saw over 150 bank swallow burrows!
  • In Argyle, we were joined by members of the Nova Scotia Invasive Species Council and we saw a bunch of Green Crabs!
    Don’t forget, there are still walks being held in Digby, Yarmouth, Shelburne, Barrington and Queens! Sign up here: https://forms.office.com/r/YRBqM9wg7P

On top of the success of these walks, we’ve also been collecting awesome data! As of this post, just under 100 people have helped us collect nearly 1750 observations and 700 species, including some rare and invasive ones! Some stand-outs are Black Ash, Eastern White Cedar and even some Monarch Butterflies!

So far, Lunenburg is leading the way with 233 observed species while Digby (196) and Annapolis (172) are in second and third. At an individual level, Mark Dennis has already observed 102 species by himself followed closely by Heather Haughn (100) and Jeff White (83)!

If you’d like more information about one of the walks, please email us at Nick.Knutson@merseytobeatic.ca!

Thank you so much to everyone who’s out there collecting observations! What a beautiful week!

Publicado el 21 de septiembre de 2021 por nickknutson nickknutson | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

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