If you hadn't already heard about it, this is advanced warning that an on-line Moth Atlas covering our three counties of Berks, Bucks & Oxon is in the process of construction by Jim Wheeler (County Moth Recorder for Norfolk) with help from our own CMRs and it will be similar in format to those which Jim has already created for a number of other counties. There is plenty of work still to be done so the Atlas will not being going "live" for some months yet, although hopefully it will be available for use during this coming season. The site will initially cover only our macro-moths, but the micros will be added as soon as the data for all three counties has been tidied up to an acceptable level.
The Atlas will be available for anyone to use and the images here are presented just to give a flavour of what will be on offer.
Once a particular species has been selected, as in Orange Swift on the screen-grab above, a map is provided giving the locations of records pre- and post-2000 to tetrad level. For a small contribution towards the not inconsiderable annual running costs, we hope that you will all take out a "Golden Cinnabar" membership which will give access to more detailed data at the county level, including individual records down to 1km square resolution.
Everyone in our area should find the Atlas to be of great use and we would hope that it will provide those who are recent converts to moth recording with a much better idea of whether a particular species is likely to be found locally or not! Each species account will also indicate whether or not a photograph of the moth will be required for a record of it to be accepted, or indeed if the moth itself might need to be retained for dissection.
Funding for the initial creation of the web-site has kindly been provided by BC Upper Thames Branch.
Hi Dave, hadn't heard about this but am really looking forward to seeing it when live. You're probably OK for photos but let me know if any of mine can be of use.
ReplyDeleteHi Nigel,
ReplyDeleteSpecies accounts and photos are what we are working on at the moment. There will be a facility for anyone to add photos when the site goes live but I may well get back to you (and others) before that if there are gaps which I think you may be able to fill, so thanks for the offer!
Brilliant news!
ReplyDeleteVery much looking forward to it. The other sites based on this software (Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambs, West Mids, ...) are very useful for checking a photo, phenology, species descriptions and similar species. As you say it will be particularly useful to see local distribution information.
ReplyDeleteThis will be an excellent facility for those of us recording in the Upper Thames region. It's probably worth noting that records will not be added directly to the website (see note on first screenshot) but will be taken from the verified data submitted through existing recording systems such as iRecord. As Nigel notes, some of us have photos that we would be happy to see used, although I guess that these will also have to go through some form of verification.
ReplyDeleteHadn't heard of this, looking forward to it.
ReplyDelete