Belair National Park iNaturalist Project has reached 10,000 observations!
Congratulations to the 263 observers who have contributed to this being the first Protected Parks Project in South Australia to reach this milestone, and the 696 identifiers who have provided 17,700 IDs.
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Congratulations to all who have contributed to this milestone. The first observations in SA were uploaded around mid-2011 and had only reached 4,500 by the end of 2017. Since then however the rate has increase dramatically reaching 23,500 by end of 2018, then 66,800 by end of 2019, on to 162,400 by end of 2020, and 282,700 by end of 2021.
We surpassed 100,000 observations in May 2020. It took 9 years to reach that milestone. It took only 12 months to add the second 100,000, and only 10 months to add the third 100,000! We are currently uploading over 300 new observations per day.
Alas, the exponential increase in observations cannot continue forever, and has been dropping year by year. 2018 saw a 520% increase in observations, 2019 a 280% increase, 2020 a 240% increase, and in 2021 a 170% increase. If we estimate a 140% increase this year, we’ll reach 400,000 observations by the end of 2022. And all it would take is 336 observations per day.
Quick Stats:
As of December 2021 a section of the Mount Bold Reservoir has been opened up to the public. A 450 hectare area is now accessible, with more than 13km of walking trails, new carpark, toilets, and picnic facilities, and a new lookout platform.
There are three new walking trails along the southern side of the reservoir. A 1.3km Grade 2 Lookout Trail, and two Grade 5 trails at 5.1km (loop) and 9.4km (one way). See the full details including map on the Reservoirs SA website.
An iNaturalist Collection Project has been established to collect observations from across the Mount Bold Reservoir, even though much of the area is still restricted. This project has been added to the ‘Protected Parks of South Australia’ Umbrella project.
The City Nature Challenge has been running since 2016 when it was started as a competition between Los Angeles and San Francisco to record urban biodiversity using the iNaturalist platform. During a 7-day period, over 20,000 observations were made of 2500 species by over 1,000 participants. In 2017 the number of cities involved grew to 16, in 2018 it grew to 68 cities from various countries. In 2019 a full 159 cities participated and then 244 cities in 2020. Last year 419 cities participated from 44 countries, producing 1.27 million observations from 52,000 participants.
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As of December 2021 the Happy Valley Reservoir has been opened up to the public. New facilities have been established including an expansive carpark on Chandlers Hill Road, multiple walking and cycling trails, BBQ and picnic areas with shelters and a lookout. Fishing is permitted with a permit. Kayaking & canoeing is allowed, launching from the waters edge or pontoon.
There are 4 new walking and cycling trails through and around the reserve. A 2km Southern Loop, a 4km Woodland Loop, an 11km Shoreline Loop and a 10km Boundary Loop. See the full details including map on the Reservoirs SA website.
An iNaturalist Collection Project has been established to collect observations from across the Happy Valley Reservoir Reserve. This project has been added to the ‘Protected Parks of South Australia’ Umbrella project. The reservoir reserve also forms part of the larger Glenthorne National Park.
Australian Thornbills (Genus Acanthiza) are notoriously difficult to identify for the uninitiated. Difficult in the field and more difficult from photos alone. The tips below are a good starting point toward learning to ID the Thornbill species present in SA.
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Congratulations to all who have contributed to this milestone. The first observations in SA were uploaded around mid-2011 and had only reached 4,500 by the end of 2017. Since then however the rate has increase dramatically reaching 23,500 by end of 2018, then 66,800 by end of 2019, and on to 162,400 by end of 2020.
The change in temperature and recent rains have encouraged many Fungi species to begin fruiting, with 619 observations being uploaded so far this month.
Fungi is a hyper-diverse group, with an estimated 275,000 species in Australia with only around 15,000 species formally named. Of those, only the macrofungi (5,000 described) and lichens (4,000 described) are potentially of suitable size to be photographed in the field.
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Epistemic Curiosity 