News

Reminder: citizen science survey

Published on by Manu SaundersLeave a comment

Dear Wild Pollinator Counters,

A few weeks ago, we invited you to participate in an online survey on the personal experiences of citizen science participants – that means YOUR experiences.

Have you had a chance to complete the survey? If not, you only have a few days left. Take the opportunity and tell us what you think about our project!

If you have already completed the survey, thank you very much! We appreciate your time and feedback.

This is the link to the survey:

http://www.umfragen.uni-kiel.de/index.php/712751?lang=en

Thank you for your time!

Survey: Citizen Science Research

Published on by Manu SaundersLeave a comment

We are contributing to research on biodiversity citizen science projects, run by colleagues in Germany. If you have ever participated in one of Wild Pollinator Counts, please consider answering this short survey about your experiences. We will share results here when they become available.

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Dear Wild Pollinator Counters,

We would like to invite you to participate in an online survey by Kiel University (Germany) on the personal experiences of citizen science participants – that means YOUR experiences.

Your answers will help researchers to better understand what participants get out of their involvement in citizen science projects. This will help researchers to develop projects in such a way that they are better tailored to the needs of their participants.

The survey will take about 20 minutes to complete.

Projects that involve volunteers in scientific research go by many different names. In this survey, the term ‘citizen science’ is used.

This is the link to the survey:
http://www.umfragen.uni-kiel.de/index.php/712751?lang=en

Enjoy completing the questionnaire!

***You must be 18 years or older to participate in this survey.***

Hylaeus bee by Emma Croker
Picture: Emma Croker

Autumn 2019 results: our biggest count yet!

Published on by Karen Retra1 Comment

Big thanks to everyone who participated in our 10th Wild Pollinator Count in autumn. With 629 submissions from 266 localities, this was not only our biggest autumn count (previous record was 363) but it surpassed our all-time record as well (600 submissions from last spring).

See the locations from which submissions came on this interactive map. We’re delighted to note all states and territories are represented.

In total, 5,806 insects were recorded across our submission categories:

Number as %
Bees – European honey bees 3,283 56.5%
Bees – Blue-banded bees 274 4.7%
Bees – Other bees 865 14.9%
Beetles – Ladybird beetles 128 2.2%
Beetles – Other beetles 103 1.8%
Butterflies and moths 340 5.9%
Flies – Hover flies 199 3.4%
Flies – Other flies 468 8.1%
Wasps – European wasps 34 0.6%
Wasps – Other wasps 112 1.9%
Total 5,806

Insects reported

As well as recording more insects than previous rounds (thanks in part to the increase in observations submitted), this count included more honey bees as a percentage of sightings (57%) than previous autumn counts (for example, they were 46% of last autumn’s observations). Blue banded bee percentages were fairly similar this autumn (about 5%) to last (at 6%). However ‘other bees’ came in this year at about 15%, yet made up 27% a year ago. These are mostly, but not always, native bees. We again had some bumble bee records from Tasmania this round, and they fall in this same category. Continue reading “Autumn 2019 results: our biggest count yet!” →

Last chance to count

Published on by Manu SaundersLeave a comment

Autumn Wild Pollinator Count ends this weekend – Sunday 21 April is the last day you can do a 10 minute count.

Thank you to everyone who contributed! We hope you enjoyed getting outside and looking for insect pollinators in your backyard or local park.

Don’t forget, the only way to make sure your count is included in our dataset is to submit your observations via our submission form. The form will remain open until April 29 to give you time to get your observations in. We will post a results summary in May.

If you missed out this time, our next count will be in spring: 10-17 November 2019.

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It’s autumn count time!

Published on by Manu Saunders2 Comments

The wait is over…Autumn Wild Pollinator Count starts this weekend. You can do a count anywhere in Australia, any time between 14 to 21 April 2019 (Sunday to Sunday). Please submit your observations via our online submission form.

If you’re new to Wild Pollinator Count, find out how to count here. Also check out our frequently asked questions and don’t forget the identification resources page, including our guide to identify the differences between bees, flies and wasps.

Looking for some inspiration or reminders of what you might see during a count? Be sure to check out some of the photos contributed during our recent counts (spring 2018 and autumn 2018).

If you use iNaturalist, we’ve started a project for Wild Pollinator Count on that platform so feel free to join it and add any photos to the project. Note that you should still submit your observations via our website to be included in the results for this count period.

And don’t forget to tag us on social media with the hashtag #OzPollinators!

WPCApr19_mosaic

 

 

Autumn Wild Pollinator Count: our 10th count anniversary!

Published on by Manu SaundersLeave a comment

It’s almost time to count pollinators again! The autumn 2019 Wild Pollinator Count is on from 14-21 April 2019. The rules haven’t changed – take a 10 minute break any time during the count week to watch some flowers and record what you see. You can submit an observation from anywhere in Australia.

After the hottest summer on record, it’s still pretty hot and dry in many places. This might be good weather for cold-sensitive pollinators, but it also means there may not be much flowering in your part of the country. Remember, we don’t care if the flower you watch is a native species or a weed, as long as you can tell us what it is (common name is fine). If you’re not sure of the plant but still want to submit the observation, you can describe it in the notes, or email a photo so we can try and validate it when we summarise the data.

We can only take observations that happened during the count week (14-21 April). But if you don’t get to a computer that often, we will leave the submission form open after the 21st to give everyone time to submit observations. Results will be posted here on the blog in early May.

This April is also our 10th count! We started off in November 2014, with only 33 observations submitted. And we’ve been overwhelmed with how quickly people have jumped onboard for wild pollinator conservation – our most recent count in November 2018 had over 600 observations. Thank you to everyone who has contributed over the years, whether once or many times!

If you’re new to Wild Pollinator Count, we are an independent non-profit citizen science project run voluntarily. Our main objectives are to raise awareness about native pollinators and insect conservation. Your observations are contributing to long-term data on plant-pollinator interactions around Australia and we really appreciate you taking time to contribute! We hope you enjoy spending time with nature and learning more about the little animals that we overlook every day!

Check out How to Count and the Resources page for more information and identification tips, as well as the Frequently Asked Questions. And don’t forget our official social media hashtag is #OzPollinators!

If you’re curious about how Wild Pollinator Count started, you can read more here.

Apr19WPC_hover

 

 

 

 

 

Spring 2018: Results are in!

Published on by Manu SaundersLeave a comment

Thank you to everyone who submitted observations to Wild Pollinator Count for Spring 2018.

We broke all our count records! Just over 600 observations of more than 6700 insects were submitted to Wild Pollinator Count from 182 unique locations. We covered all states and territories, except the Northern Territory. Continue reading “Spring 2018: Results are in!” →

Last chance to count!

Published on by Manu SaundersLeave a comment

It’s wonderful to see how many people have jumped on board to count pollinators with us this spring. Thank you to everyone who’s already submitted a count. We hope you enjoyed discovering the forgotten pollinators in your backyard!

It’s the last weekend to contribute to the Spring 2018 Wild Pollinator Count. You can do a 10 minute count any time until Sunday evening. We will leave the submission form open until 25 November to give everyone enough time to get online and submit counts, but remember we can’t include any counts done after Sunday 18 November. We’ll post a summary of results on the blog by early December.

If you’re new to Wild Pollinator Count and want to keep up to date, join our e-news list via the link on the right of the page.

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Time to start counting!

Published on by Manu SaundersLeave a comment

Spring Wild Pollinator Count starts now: Sunday 11 November 2018!

You have until next Sunday the 18th to do a 10-minute count. Pick any day when the weather is warm and sunny and find a flower to watch. Click here for instructions on how to do your count.

And don’t forget to submit your observations via our online form to contribute to our long-term data on plant-pollinator interactions across Australia.

You can do as many counts as you want during the count week. We will leave the submission form open until November 25 to allow you time to upload your observations. Results will be posted here on the blog in early December.

Hope you enjoy the spring count and we’re looking forward to seeing your observations!

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Native halictid bee on a billy button flower head.

Springtime Count 2018

Published on by Manu SaundersLeave a comment

It’s almost time for our Spring 2018 Wild Pollinator Count! This year, the count will run 11-18 November. Connect with us on social media with the official hashtag #OzPollinators.

It’s really easy to join in, wherever you are in Australia – just pick a warm, sunny day during the official count week, find a flower to watch for 10 minutes, and then submit your observations via our online form. Just follow the instructions on the How to Count page. As usual, the form will stay open for one week after the 18th, to allow you time to get your observations in.

The sprinter weather here in Armidale hasn’t been ideal for pollinator spotting so far. But there have been plenty of fly pollinators active on all the early-spring flowering plants. I’m looking forward to seeing what insects are out and about visiting flowers in a few weeks.

Here are some handy tips for how to tell the difference between bees, flies and wasps visiting flowers. And don’t forget you can download our Pollinator Guide here, as well as plenty of other resources and answers to some FAQ.

Happy Spring Counting…And if you miss out this time, we’ll be counting again in April 2019!

If you’re new to Wild Pollinator Count, we are an independent project run by scientists focused on pollinator conservation in Australia – find out more about us here.

Nov18 WPC tag