City Nature Challenge 2021: City of Cape Town's Journal

May 17, 2021

Awards Evening

In celebration of our performance in the 2021 City Nature Challenge 2021: Cape Town, and for everyone's help in showcasing Cape Town’s incredible biodiversity, we will be hosting an online celebration on Thursday evening.

This will be electronic - probably via zoom - and experimental. So unfortunately, this year we wont be able to accommodate everyone.

If you have been approached to attend (which probably means you are eligible for an award), you may reply below.

If this works, we will do a full blown celebration next time, where hopefully everyone can attend.

If you are approached we would like you to please:

  • review your bio on your profile, to tell us about yourself.
  • include a short motivation and note on why you participated and what you enjoyed about the CNC.
  • contact Eleanor with your details.
  • check your observations and see if there are any questions or comments that may benefit from your attention.

Awards not claimed by Tuesday evening, will be offered to the next person on the listings.

A huge round of thanks to everyone who helped with observations, made identifications, arranged outings and events, the organizing committee, and who all contributed to the success of this fun event. Thank you very much.

See you again next year, or even better in October for the Great Southern Bioblitz.

Posted on May 17, 2021 10:15 AM by tonyrebelo tonyrebelo | 0 comments | Leave a comment

May 12, 2021

And you thought that we were done.

It is time to nominate and decide on the official observation of the City Nature Challenge 2021 for the City of Cape Town.
You can help!!

Please go to
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2021-city-of-cape-town?tab=observations
and chose a handful of observations of the 71,000 for consideration.

More seriously, if you have not already done so, go and find any observations that you found outstanding for nomination.

These (bottom of this page) are the ones currently in the fave list. You can vote for these.
But if you know of any outstanding observations, please FAVE them.

What makes an observation outstanding?

  • Superb photography
  • Difficult to photograph
  • Seldom recorded
  • Exciting observation
  • Unusual situation or context
  • Good documentation of a behaviour or event
  • New species
  • Range extensions
  • I like it!
  • Will make a good screensaver or calendar
  • Unusual angle
    or any other reason that you feel is good enough.
    (people also fave for other reasons, so inclusion here is not solely for outstanding observations: add your vote if you think it is worthy!)

See the current nominations here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?order=random&place_id=any&popular&project_id=city-nature-challenge-2021-city-of-cape-town&verifiable=any

Posted on May 12, 2021 10:46 AM by tonyrebelo tonyrebelo | 3 comments | Leave a comment

May 9, 2021

Done!

A million thanks everyone!

our stats at midnight was:

71,142 observations
4,761 species
1,315 observers
828 identifiers

36,854 Needs ID : 52% (of which: 6,737 have no ID at all: 9%)
25,711 Research Grade: 36%
8,560 Casual: 12%

Very well done. And many thanks

Sleep well until tomorrow. later today.

Posted on May 9, 2021 10:18 PM by tonyrebelo tonyrebelo | 9 comments | Leave a comment

THE FINAL 150 MINUTES

The end is in sight.
I am sure that you are as exhausted as everyone else.

Time to prepare for closure.

Please check your inbox, and make sure that any outstanding items are addressed. That all corrections and changes are reviewed, and that any new IDs are agreed to or refuted.

And then, I think we have done far more than we were asked or expected. Very well done to everyone!
The roll of honour is here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2021-city-of-cape-town?tab=identifiers
&& here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2021-city-of-cape-town?tab=observers

But still, if you have time, the please feel free to tackle the outstanding items.
There are 6939 observations that still need attention:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?page=15&iconic_taxa=unknown&project_id=city-nature-challenge-2021-city-of-cape-town

On behalf of us who will soldier on for the final 150 minutes, sleep well. We will return at noon tomorrow to await the final results.
At present the situation is:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2021-city-of-cape-town
&
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2021

Well done Cape Town!!

Posted on May 9, 2021 07:44 PM by tonyrebelo tonyrebelo | 2 comments | Leave a comment

THE FINAL ID PUSH: TIME TO STOCKTAKE

Well done Cape Town!

our current breakdown is:
70,817 Observations recorded (remember our target was 60,000!)
with
23,933 Research Grade (34%)
Needs ID (55%)
11,863 - need confirmation at species level (17% - so total IDs to species level = 51% !!!)
18,492 - identified above species level (26%)
8,300 - no ID at all (12%)
&
8,238 marked casual (most planted and captive - 12%)

Species: 4,717 (our target was 5,000 - can we get there?

Please dont forget our FAVES: please fave any observations that you think should be considered for observations of the City of Cape Town Nature Challange 2021.

This can be because of outstanding photography, a rare species, a great observation, something unusual, or just because!.

So our focus today is two fold:

1. Get our total IDs up.
Please clear the No IDs bin. - click here

2. Stocktake and hunt down missing species.

If you are a specialist or expert, or have a favourite group, then please take 10 minutes and check your group.
Use this link: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?project_id=city-nature-challenge-2021-city-of-cape-town&view=species

(note the total here is purely species: it does not include subspecies and varieties - these are included in the species counts. It also does not include leaves [dont worry about what this means]).

Now in the species box, put in your genus or tribe or family. This will list all the species recorded and identified in Cape Town during the challenge, in descending order. The rare species will be at the end.

Check for any species that you expect to see. If they are missing, then our next step is to hunt through the unidentified observations and see if they were seen.
To find them, we need to go through those identified to your group, but not at species level. The quickest way is here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?lrank=genus&place_id=any&project_id=city-nature-challenge-2021-city-of-cape-town&quality_grade=needs_id

Again: add your favourite group in the species box and quickly scan down the observations looking for any species missing from the lists. No need to make IDs for common species here: you are looking for the gems. When you get to the bottom of the page, click on the next page and quickly run through your group. ((remember open the gems with a mouse-wheel-click so that they open in a new tab and dont interfere with your scanning the lists).

If your group is done, please clear the Needs ID at species level: confirm the IDs by agreeing, or post a new ID if you think it is wrong. Click
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?verifiable=true&project_id=city-nature-challenge-2021-city-of-cape-town&hrank=species&place_id=any
Again: add your favourite group in the species box and open the tool by clicking on a card.

Good luck. Let us see how far we can get in the last 14 hours that we can make identifications for the challenge!

  • will we clear the No IDs?
  • will we make 5000 species?
  • will we identify 2/3 of our observations to species level (Yes, this is a hard target: Lets Go!)

Well done Cape Town - we are almost there. Our last push!! Let's show everyone how it is done!!

Posted on May 9, 2021 08:14 AM by tonyrebelo tonyrebelo | 5 comments | Leave a comment

May 7, 2021

TIME FOR THE SPECIALISTS

We are now at the stage were we need specialist input.


We still need the basic input to get the IDs to the specialist level, so please continue with these if you prefer:

Please if you have a special group that you know well, please have a look at these now and quickly clear them. If your groups are clear (or you cannot identify the last few), then we really would appreciate help with the basics.

We now have 42,000 observations that need identification or confirmation: these are here
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=city-nature-challenge-2021-city-of-cape-town

These comprize two batches:

  1. Those needing further identification (16,889 observations) - high priority: ***
    https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?hrank=species&place_id=113055&project_id=city-nature-challenge-2021-city-of-cape-town&quality_grade=needs_id
    What we really want our specialists and experts to focus on is unusual, rare and unrecorded (in the CNC 2021) species - our aim is to make our target of 5000 species. Please help!! - so just scan down the page and look for gems that need identification. and then skip to the next page. Open any observation you want to identify in a new tab with a mouse-wheel-click to keep this page open.

  2. Those with IDs that need confirmation (12,335 observations) - low prority:
    https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?quality_grade=any%2Cneeds_id&project_id=city-nature-challenge-2021-city-of-cape-town&hrank=species

  3. (We will ignore reviewing research grade to check IDs - we dont have time now)

So please if you are a specialist. Please click option 1 and then fill in your taxon in the species box, and you are ready to roll.

If you know of a specialist that has not contributed, then please contact them and provide them with the links.

*** Note this is not using the ID tool. This is grid view. ((If you want to formally review the observations in detail, then please us this link
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?quality_grade=any&project_id=city-nature-challenge-2021-city-of-cape-town&lrank=genus&hrank=class))

If you have not used the ID curation tool, please look at this 2min tutorial: https://vimeo.com/246153496

Posted on May 7, 2021 10:44 AM by tonyrebelo tonyrebelo | 7 comments | Leave a comment

May 5, 2021

IDENTIFICATION TIME

Noon Wednesday.
I trust that everyone has now uploaded all their observations. There may be a few outstanding, but time to turn our attention to identification in earnest.

But before that ...
Well done Cape Town
What a magnificent job. During planning we decided that based on past projections we would need:
60,000 observations, 5000 species and 3000 observers to top the leaderboard. Everyone balked at these suggesting that they were far too ambitious.
That will teach them!

  • So we made 60,000 observations!! At noon today it was 61,729 - WELL DONE CAPE TOWN.
    I must confess that when I did my rounds of the Swartveld on Saturday I was extremely doubtful that people would contribute from such a bleak landscape: Only the Autumn Asters and Township Daises were in full flower, and the Swartland was black, and the Strandveld wilted and drab. And yet we done did it! A fantastic job, so give everyone a round of applause.

  • Species-wise we did not make 5000 species, but we are only just into the IDs and we currently have 3,453 species (on the CNC umbrella summary), but 3,880 on our project page. We will use the project page as our summary, and so we are 120 from 4000, so we are certain to make that - perhaps 5000 during one of the driest end-summers (April rainfall anyway) on record, was a little ambitious. But we can make up during the Great Southern Bioblitz when things are actually flowering (although it is late in October, so it will depend on the rains). .
  • Again, we failed to get our observer numbers. We will need to look into this. So an advance notice. 2022 will be about observers. So view the City Nature Challenge 2022 as a recruitment and awareness drive for your society. We managed just 1,268 observers: less than half our target. Still we made 5th place (at present), so not a bad result at all.

And dont forget that we were not alone. Just short of 50,000 observers worldwide contributed over one million observations (1,090,455) in 96 hours! A fantastic contribution to our urban biodiversity! Well done everyone, and hope that you had as much fun as we did.

.

OK: Identifications.

.

Currently we have:

If you are a specialist, then please help with finer level identifications.
Please see the tips below:
They are (we will get more fussy soon: this includes those that need a confirmatory ID) - click on the blue link to help:

Tips

  • Remember to fave any pictures-observations that you think qualify for consideration for observation of the CNC 2021 Cape Town. Everyone should fave at least 10 observations (and it is OK to include a few of your own)!
  • Remember to mark planted and captive observations.
  • Please tell users who posted too many species on an observation to split them. And those who overly split them: please ask them to join them up. And observations without pictures: please ask them to add some pictures. Use the Comments Box for these. Please help us curate the Challenge.
  • The curation tool is really a useful and powerful tool. If you need a refresher on how to use it, then please see here: https://vimeo.com/246153496
  • if there is a tree that needs identifying, add them to the tree project for the tree specialists: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/trees-of-southern-africa
Posted on May 5, 2021 11:06 AM by tonyrebelo tonyrebelo | 5 comments | Leave a comment

May 3, 2021

Monday Musings

Well it is all over for us. Thank you everyone who contributed the great data.
The Americas are still in full swing, but the Western World is now largely done for the City Nature Challenge 2021.

As we retire, we stand:
Observations: 54,177 observations, some 25,000 observations ahead of Washington in second place, and double that of any other city. But they still have their afternoons to catch up.
Species: 3082 species, 40 species ahead of Hong Kong. A tight contest, and an exciting total to watch over the ensuing days.
Observers: 1204 in position 5, over 700 short of San Francisco.

Now it is time for some sleep.
Later today, we will start identifications in earnest, although some of us still have photos to download over the coming week.

If you would like to make an early start on identifications, please use the curation tool.
preview it here: https://vimeo.com/246153496

At this stage we want to move the unidentified observations to a level where our experts can tackle them in Ernest. So please; Birds, or Mammals or Frogs, or Reptiles or Fish is great. Also Fungi (although please flag Lichens as lichens).
However, for plants, please disregard the iNaturalist instructions and do not make a "plant" ID: it does not get to the level needed by our experts. Please rather classify them as daisies, or proteas, or ericas, or grasses, or peas or orchids or whatever family you recognize. If you dont recognize it to family, then just skip it for someone who does. We will keep "plants" as a rubbish bin for stuff that cannot be identified. Dont worry if it might not a perfect ID: for instance the pea experts will know the pea-lookalikes and if not able to identify it, will be able to put it to genus or family if not quite right.
So please use this link:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?page=15&iconic_taxa=unknown&project_id=city-nature-challenge-2021-city-of-cape-town&place_id=any

At present there are 19,291 observations without any ID at all. We would like this to be close to zero by Thursday. Remember, identify as low as you feel comfortable: family, genus, species. If you dont know a plant to family or finer, skip it.

Two other points:

  • if it is obviously planted, please mark it as planted. If you are not certain, do not mark it as planted as it removes the observation from the ID queue.
  • If you see any observation or photo that is outstanding, lovely, exceptional, amazing or tickles your fancy, then please FAVE it. The fave button is in the middle bottom of the left hand panel in the curation tool. We will use the number of faves to guide us in choosing the observation of the 2021 City Nature Challenge for Cape Town. So if you see a deserving observation, please fave it. You may fave as many as you like, so dont hold back. Fave as many as you like.

More instructions will follow anon, but at this stage it is about getting the IDs to family or genus level.

19,291 to go ...

Posted on May 3, 2021 10:31 PM by tonyrebelo tonyrebelo | 3 comments | Leave a comment

May 2, 2021

Sunday Synopsis

Another beautiful day. A little hot for this time of the year, but with a gentle cool breeze.

But the Strandveld and Swartland are dry and desolate. Without any rains, summer has not really progressed to Autumn

And yet Cape Town is doing very well for observations and species. Well done to all our contributors for a fantastic effort.
One more day to go. I hope that you have a fun event planned for tomorrow. I would recommend the high mountains, as the flats look bleak. We have hardly any data from Constantiaberg, The Back Table, Llundudno Corner to the Back Table, Helderberg West Dome, and the high east (Landdroskop and Kogelberg). I know several groups who will be tackling the eastern end, so it seems that everyone has been doing a great job. Well done all.
We dont have enough species identified to evaluate reserve lists yet, but most nature reserves have been visited.

It looks like we may have several BINGOs, but no one has validly called their BINGOs yet.
Have you BINGOd? https://www.inaturalist.org/posts/49177-bingo
Last chance tomorrow to complete your columns and rows.

Our Tally so far:

Birds : 174 species
Mammals: 48 species
Herps: 40 species
Fish: 74 species (a nice jump today)

Molluscs: 112 species (almost doubled both days)
Arachnids: 49 species
Insects: 269 species

Plants:
Mosses: 10 species (doubled)
Ferns: 35 species
Monocots: 339 species
Dicots: 1,399 species

Fungi: 57 species

Our targets were:
60,000 observations - we have 38,000 at midnight
5000 species - we have 2800 species (on our project page - 2498 on the summary bar)
and 3000 observers - we have 1,033 observers.

Have a great last day.

Posted on May 2, 2021 10:55 PM by tonyrebelo tonyrebelo | 0 comments | Leave a comment

May 1, 2021

Saturday Summary

It has been a hectic day. Weather almost perfect.
At this moment we have almost double the observations of our nearest rival, but then we have 12 hours advantage over them, so the gap should be closed when we wake up, but a superb target for others to aim for.
A marvellous effort everyone - very many thanks.
So: we hit 20, 000 observations just before midnight.
And although our page tally shows 2125 species, our banner tally is 1866 - still in top position (ignoring "global project" of course). But our lead her is must slenderer.
We are in position number 4 for observers. Have you taken a friend to one of our open nature reserves? If not, tomorrow will be the perfect opportunity! Take the family and make a picnic of it!

Quite a few complaints about the drought and the heat. A lot of plants that should be flowering are not in evidence anywhere. Are they late? Or will they skip 2021? No excuses: we need to top the species list, so please pull out the stops!
But the weather is nearly perfect for being out and recording and having fun.
The forecast for tomorrow is hotter with a 26*C max, and 28*C on Monday. Make use of the great weather, because from Tuesday it will rain until the weekend. Great weather for identifications! Not so great for going back to school.

I did promise a little troubleshooting, but witching hour has passed, and many of us need a little sleep for the effort tomorrow. Will spend more time on Sunday night, doing a few checks.

Our Tally so far:

Birds : 152 species
Mammals: 37 species
Herps: 34 species (a nice jump today)
Fish: 59 species

Molluscs: 66 species (more than doubled)
Arachnids: 34 species (doubled)
Insects: 188 species

Plants:
Mosses: 4 species
Ferns: 25 species
Monocots: 264 species
Dicots: 1,076 species

Fungi: 33 species

Thank you everyone for an exciting day. If you have data still outstanding, we have a week to upload after the 4 days of observations, so dont despair - there is plenty of time to load your data and make identifications.
Please remember to check events with the convenors and remember the covid19 protocols. Have a great Sunday! Happy hunting!

Posted on May 1, 2021 10:31 PM by tonyrebelo tonyrebelo | 1 comment | Leave a comment

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