A first interesting trend is emerging from the data that I have collected for SABAP2 - the second bird atlasing project in Southern Africa.
(Click on graph to enlarge)
The accompanying graph shows the averages of species observed in different months after the first 11 months of the project.
A difference of 16.8 species is seen between the highest (summer) and lowest (winter) averages. The migratory birds had left and the change in weather conditions as well as seasonal migration can all be possible explanations for the development of this trend.
The data of 103 field sheets is included in the calculation of the averages - no surveys had been done at the very beginning (July 2007) and June 2008 will be the last month of the first year.
The surveys were done in 57 different pentads - from the Western Cape (including the West Coast, Swartland and Karoo), Eastern Cape (from the sea towards Aliwal North on the Orange River), North West Province and different parts of the Free State.
The project is still in the very early stages and this trend is by no means a picture of the whole project. What is reflected here, are my own observations from data in my personal database.
Please return to the blog to witness the moves and trends developing over time or visit http://sabap2.adu.org.za/index.php for up to date information on SABAP2.
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