Some of you will probably be aware that Margaret and I have been running a little personal challenge to try and see and photograph all the species of bird, mammal, reptile and frog that have ever been recorded in the Western Cape (our home province) within the actual province. We started at the beginning of 2010 and are now heading to the end of our 5th year of doing it. There was no time limit set to the challenge, but it was just something to give us some direction in the field, so that we didn’t get into a rut and visit the same places over and over again, but rather got to see more of our province and reacquaint ourselves with some of the species that we had not seen in a while. It is also amazing to think that, between these four groups of animals, there are 950 species to track down in the province, so it’s not exactly a “small” challenge! We’re now at over 70% of all the birds and frogs available, but we still have some work to do on the mammals and reptiles. Overall, our of the 950 possible species, we have to date seen 633 of them of which we have photographed 606. Those of you that spend time in the field taking photos will know how tough it can be to get photos of absolutely everything that you encounter in the field... If you’d like to see a little more about the challenge and what we have seen and photographed so far, please feel free to pop through to our website at hardaker.co.za/challenge.htm and have a look around. You will be amazed at what we have already managed to find so close to home. All sightings and photos have been within the boundaries of the Western Cape since the beginning of 2010. And just to confirm that, although we do this for our own enjoyment, all records are submitted to the various projects being run by the Animal Demography Unit (SABAP2, MammalMAP, ReptileMAP and FrogMAP), so that the data can actually be of some use to better the understanding of these creatures as well as the steps needed to conserve them. I would encourage all of you to try something like this – don’t always plan your trips to far flung places to see biodiversity. If you put your mind to it, you will be so completely surprised at what you can find with just a little bit of effort right on your doorstep. Here’s to the next 5 years of our challenge and hopefully filling in a few more of this gaps that we still have...:)
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 11:43:27 +0000