We are pleased to announce that ClimateWatch technical partner, Gaia Resources has won an award in the Environment and Sustainability category for the ClimateWatch recording system at the WA Spatial Excellence Awards in August.
Dr Tim Entwisle is the Executive Director of the Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney. He is a member of the ClimateWatch Community Engagement Panel and is a keen blogger (see Talking Plants). Here Tim talks to us about his interest in seasons and how ClimateWatch can help us become more ‘in tune’ with our seasons.
In my role as the Director of Science Partnerships with Earthwatch, I often find myself in front of an audience speaking about our ClimateWatch program. One of the great things I say about it is that you can collect data anywhere, anytime: on a bush walk, in your backyard, even on your way to work. I hope I sound convincing but to be honest, I for one have never collected a record on my way to work.
Most people know the Australian Magpie, an infamous black and white bird well-known for swooping passers-by during its breeding season. In fact, about 9-12% of magpies will swoop aggressively and are nearly all males!
The female Southern Bullfrog can lay up to 4,000 eggs at one time. They have special flaps of skin on their fingers which are used to carry air bubbles from the surface of the water into the foam nest containing the eggs.
There has been a very encouraging response to ClimateWatch with nearly 2,000 records being submitted into the database already! Here's a list of the most popular species being recorded:
Butterflies are emerging up to 10 days earlier in spring than they did 65 years ago.
AS MELBOURNE warms, the city's butterflies are emerging at least 10 days earlier in spring than they did in 1945, according to research that reveals for the first time a causal link between increasing greenhouse gases, the city's warming environment and the timing of a natural event.
Using emergence data on the common brown butterfly dating back 65 years, researchers from Melbourne University said the findings were unequivocal.
You don't need to be out and about in your local park or bushland reserve to be a ClimateWatcher. As Jan Maitland discovered, some of the indicator species may be right at your doorstep!
Mrs Maitland lives in the Hills Shire, about 35 kilometres to the north-west of Sydney.
Weighing in at only 6-9 g this small, but very active, fantail provides hours of entertainment as it tumbles, twists, loops, dives and almost turns itself inside out in the pursuit of insect prey.
One of the earliest known phenological records for the Flame Robin in Victoria is its arrival at Scott's Creek, Coden - from 1897 to 1902. Its arrival date ranged from the 29 March to the 9 April1.
A little later in the century, its arrival date at Albert Park Lake ranged from the 23 March to the 4 April (from 1991 to 1994) 2.