Finding the pentads that still need to be done for SABAP2012 

Bird distributions are on the move. The idea that we can make a "snapshot" of bird distributions over a five-year period is old-fashioned. That's why SABAP2 has a new paradigm – we are making the "movie" of bird distributions, with a "frame" for each year. This year we are doing SABAP2012, the atlas of southern African birds in 2012.

There is a tool on the website to help you find the pentads that have not yet been atlased in 2012.

On the SABAP2 website, click on "coverage maps" and then let the "Google map with coverage" download. Click on the plus sign in the blue box near the top right hand corner of the map. A big blue rectangle appears. The box next to the word "Coverage" has a tick in it – click on the tick and it disappears, and along with it the familiar multicoloured "layer" of coverage disappears, leaving a blank map. Lower down is a box next to "2012 Coverage" – click on the box, and a tick appears. Along with the tick comes a red "layer" which shows all the pentads with at least one checklist in 2012. Now click on the minus sign at the top right corner of the big blue rectangle. It disappears.

Use the plus sign in the top left corner of the Google map to zoom in on the part of the SABAP2 area that interests you. This picture shows what you can expect to see. Click on any pentad, and its code appears in the box called "Selected pentad" just below the map. You can then click "Submit" and you get access to all the details of the pentad you clicked upon.

If the pentad you clicked on is one that is not already shaded red, it has not been visited yet in 2012.

Our initial target for SABAP2012 is currently 5469 pentads, the number of pentads that were visited in 2011.

The number of SABAP2012 pentads is currently 4114. That means we need to visit another 1365 pentads in the remaining 103 days of 2012 to reach the target. About 13 per day.

This new tool will help us find the gaps in the SABAP2012 coverage!! Thanks, Michael, for yet another awesome tool on the SABAP2 website.

Les Underhill
2012-09-19

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