Logging bird sightings

By Frank Neill

The New Zealand Bird Atlas project, and how people can log bird sightings, was outlined at a meeting at Glenside’s Halfway House yesterday (1 March).

The project’s manager, Keegan Miskimmin, gave the talk.

Keegan is an ecologist, a member of Wildlife Management International and a former Newlands resident.

He visited Glenside while in Wellington for a couple of weeks working for Predator Free.

During his talk, Keegan presented the bird data recorded in Glenside and surrounding suburbs. He gave a brief rundown of the Atlas project, where it is at now and what the current data is saying.

He then talked about the work that Claire Bibby, the President of the Glenside Progres- sive Association, has already been doing at the Glenside reserve.

He also set people up to log their own bird sightings – which can be done incognito.

Wildlife Management International, which is based in Blenheim, “is involved in multiple seabird research monitoring projects, community groups, and predator control,” Keegan says.

“My company co-ordinates the New Zealand Bird Atlas project on behalf of Birds New Zealand.

“The New Zealand Bird Atlas is a fiveyear citizen science project looking to map the distribution and abundance of all bird species in New Zealand with the long-term goals of using this data to help inform conservation management decisions and observe trends of both our native and introduced species,” Keegan says.

Please get in touch if you have a question or concern 029 971 8944 | diane.calvert@wcc.govt.nz

Please get in touch if you have a question or concern 029 971 8944 | diane.calvert@wcc.govt.nz www.dianecalvert.nz | /dianecalvertnz www.dianecalvert.nz | /dianecalvertnz

Authorised by Diane Calvert, dianecalvert.nz

Wellington 6035.