Exploring data: the median and the mean, and everything in between
Here is the assignment for this blog. “Write a report on the progress being made in the Western Cape by the BirdPix section of the Virtual Museum.” ...
Author: Les Underhill
Prof Les Underhill was Director of the Animal Demography Unit (ADU) at the University of Cape Town from its start in 1991 until he retired. Although citizen science in biology is Les’s passion, his academic background is in mathematical statistics. He was awarded his PhD in abstract multivariate analyses in 1973 at UCT and what he likes to say about his PhD is that he solved a problem that no one has ever had. He soon grasped that this was not the field to which he wanted to devote his life, so he retrained himself as an applied statistician, solving real-world problems.
Exploring data: The difference between data and an anecdote
If you only have one data point, then you have an “anecdote”. Like the photo below: The information we have is that of a single Chacma...
Virtual Museuming at Mwamba Conservation Centre, A Rocha Kenya
Mwamba is the Conservation Centre of A Rocha Kenya. It is on the coast, and offshore is the Watamu Marine National Park. Just inland is the Arabuko-Sokoke Fores...
… participating in a Tropical Biology Association course in Nairobi
It was a great privilege to be part of the team teaching at a course for the Tropical Biology Association in Nairobi during April. The course was called “...
The BDI visits the Karoo Gariep Nature Reserve …
Within an hour of a dusk arrival at what was then known as the Karoo Gariep Nature Reserve (now the Khoisan Karoo Conservancy) … … we had not only b...
BirdPixing in Yzerfontein
On Sunday morning, 5 May 2019, the grid cell “Yzerfontein” had 15 BirdPix* records for 12 species. This called for an intervention! So I went BirdPi...
Establishing a long-term bird ringing site. Part 2: some birds
Part 1 of this series described the bird ringing site at Fynbos Estate. This property, partly wine farm and partly nature reserve, is in the northwestern corner...
Establishing a long-term bird ringing site. Part 1: the place
Bird ringers in Europe and bird banders in North America will both be familiar with the concept of a “bird observatory”. The concept even has an art...
Dwarf Blue refreshed after 142 years
What are all these citizen scientists focused on? The temperature in the Robertson Valley is a warm 32°C. It is 1pm on 2 March 2019. They are taking photographs...
… and now for something a little bit different … BOPping birds … Birds with Odd Plumage
Since it started in March 2012, 450 records have been uploaded to the BOP section of the Virtual Museum. BOP stands for Birds with Odd Plumage. The BOP lo...