5000 Observations !
Well, a suitable time to post. Almost exactly one year on from 2,500 observations, there are now just over 5,000 observations. Thank you to everyone for contributing valuable data to this project.
In the same time (i.e. over the last year), an additional 30 people have posted observations. However, almost no extra species added to the project, so we have to work harder to get photos of those HK moth species not yet represented on iNat. There's the challenge for the year ahead....
Still a long way to go though - in the UK, there are 18 MILLION observational records as data for the national moth recording scheme. That works out at an average of about 150,000 observations per county, and the size of Hong Kong is comparable to many of the UK counties. So we need more people out in the field documenting the moths, please . . . . And, I am doing my best to get the Hong Kong moth book (An Illustrated Guide to the Moths of Hong Kong) published in 2016. Please understand that this is a BIG project, with no external funding and done entirely in my own time. What's coming - a "summary" of some 2,400 species, many (nearly 1000 species) illustrated in live habitus photos, some life history information (upwards of 400 species with larval stage photos), nearly 100 plates of moth specimens, covering almost all the known HK species, arranged in a 3 volume (in slip cover) A4 format folio, vol 1 with introduction and micro-moths, vol 2 covering the macro-moths and vol 3 has the plates, checklist and other appendices and index. Takes a lot of preparing to ensure taxonomic accuracy, minimal (or no) misidentifications, getting distribution and status correctly evaluated...... (and more)....
All the iNat data has helped refine the first edition of IGMHK, and will thus assist with future conservation efforts for moths in HK (and probably further afield) thereafter....
Comments
Congratulation!!!
This milestone is not only for the moth lovers, but setting a good example to anyone who care about the wildlife in Hong Kong. I'm looking forward some other specialists in different field can set up more research projects such as HK Beetles, HK Birds, HK Fishes or HK Plants in the future. What's the point to spend time on wildlife, taking thousands of pictures but bury them only your hard disk? Transforming the finding into useful data is WAY better than just showing off your pictures in Facebook. I really hope that more people would become a naturalist and together we can build up a central and public database for the fauna of Hong Kong.
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