Roe deer (Image: kathrynhp148 / GAP) |
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Not very hot on the heels of our December 2024 newsletter, we once again begin with a sheepish observation that it's been rather a long time since our last missive. However, to segue neatly away from that before we even have time to apologise, a little word-association takes us readily from sheepish to sheep, from sheep to lambs, and from lambs to gambolling in the spring sunshine. Yes, indeed: spring has sprung, the sun is out, and the natural world is once again thrusting itself into our consciousness! What better way to celebrate the green of bud-burst than with another MammalWeb newsletter? In this one, we have news of a new project for those of you who have camera traps and are particularly keen to contribute hedgehog data; we have an update on the competition that we ran in January; we have a brief heads-up about another forthcoming competition; and we have news relating to some site developments. “Surely, that’s enough?”, we hear you cry! Well, yes – and no. In fact, we also have news of another award that MammalWeb has collected on your behalf, as well as our usual spotters league - and an opportunity to contribute to another garden wildlife project. Intrigued? Then read on … |
Do you have a camera trap in your garden? You can contribute to hedgehog research! |
“Spot a hog” is a new citizen science project, hosted on MammalWeb, that aims to test the potential of monitoring hedgehogs in gardens using cameras owned by the public. |
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The hedgehog population in the UK has been undergoing an historic decline and, to identify reasons for this decline and to plan conservation actions, we need data of high quality from across the country. A citizen science approach provides an opportunity to monitor a habitat especially important for hedgehogs, as gardens can serve as a refuge for the species in urban environments.
Researchers at Nottingham Trent University are looking for people who own and can install a camera trap for 30 nights in May 2025, following specific instructions to ensure a uniform approach. They will apply a novel method of density estimation that requires calibrating the camera before the survey. Density is considered the ‘gold standard’ in wildlife monitoring but a calibration step is required to enable its estimation from camera trap footage. |
Calibrating the camera trap (Image: P. Pawlikowska) |
All camera trap models can be used but, to ensure standardisation of the survey, participants will be asked to select certain settings on their cameras.
After the data collection, participants will be asked to upload all the footage, including the calibration images, to the ‘Spot a hog’ project on MammalWeb. The images will then be available for spotting – so, if you would like to join the project but don’t have a camera trap, please check here on how to become a spotter: Spotting – Spot a hog
For more information, including step-by-step instructions and video tutorials, please visit the project’s website. |
MammalWeb Activity, December to March |
It's great to see some new names and some familiar names in this table - but kudos to Lynda for topping the table, yet again, with a gargantuan spotting effort! All those listed have put in a huge effort to help us monitor our precious wildlife. Well done, all of you - and thank you to everyone who submitted classifications during this period! |
Christmas competition update |
Thank you to everyone who classified images and videos in late December and early January, as part of our Christmas competition. We're thrilled to announce the winners: first prize, Nera Cornell from Aberdeen; second prize, Primrose19 from North London; and third prize, Samantha N. from Bournemouth. They won £150, £100 and £50 worth of vouchers, respectively, to spend on Field Study Council Biodiversity Courses and/or Publications. Moreover, between them, they rather satisfyingly gave us the warm glow of knowing that our contributors span the country! |
Congratulations to the winners (Image: ChatGPT) |
Watch this space for an NHMP-themed competition coming in May! |
In the last newsletter, we promised that the indefatigable Helen would be hard at work, this year, trying to improve the user experience. We can confirm that, indeed, she has been. Much of that work has been invested in improvements that are necessary but prosaic (including updating the background software, to keep up with modern browsers). However, several of you will have noticed that the speed of the site has become a lot more stable. It's still not as fast as we'd like, and work on that is ongoing (not least, on the fundraising side - because faster sites cost more money). However, Helen has found time to implement a few long-requested changes, including the "sequence information" button (so you can give us the details of sequences that you want to tell us about), and the colour inversion button (which now works in full screen mode). |
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The "sequence information" button (orange ellipse) and the colour inversion button (yellow ellipse). Colour inversion (as seen here) or greyscale inversion (for nighttime images) can help to isolate the animal in an image, especially in underexposed pictures. The inversion button now works in fullscreen mode as well as in-frame mode. |
Improvements are ongoing. Another frequently requested change is an overhaul to the way that project progress is displayed. Progress charts and statistics have not been updated since the introduction of AI classifiers, and they are no longer fit for purpose. We hope that coming months will see radical improvements in this respect. |
Another award for MammalWeb! |
We're thrilled to report that MammalWeb was recognised at the County Durham Environment Awards for 2024, winning the "Volunteer Group of the Year" award! Once again, this is fantastic recognition for every one of our contributors, who make MammalWeb what it is. Well done to all of you! Hot on the heels of our recognition by the National Biodiversity Network, it is also proof that awards are like buses ... |
Members of the MammalWeb team were at the awards ceremony to collect the Volunteer Group of the Year award on behalf of all our contributors. Left-to-right: Phil Stephens, Graham Smith, Jim Cokill, Sammy Mason and Russell Hill. |
Multi-species images are rare on camera traps. Of course, when you put out bait to attract animals, the chances go up - but we were still fascinated by these images sent in by Barry from Enfield! We have since understood that the species pictured were resident at the Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service facility there, which partially explains things. Nonetheless, it's intriguing to see these animals in such close proximity, seemingly without conflict.
We know that some readers will contact us to express dismay at the rescue of non-native (and invasive) muntjac. When it comes to wildlife there is, of course, a spectrum of views - from conservation to welfare and every combination in between. By showing these images, we do not promote the muntjac's invasion, or downplay its impacts on native species. However, we do find it intriguing that they are seemingly unbothered by our largest remaining native terrestrial carnivores.
Do you have unexpected camera trap photos to suggest for our newsletters? We'd love to hear from you about them, so feel free to get in touch! |
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Non-native muntjac feeding alongside native carnivores and a bird of prey (Images: Barry) |
BTO's Garden BirdWatch: help needed with camera trap images |
In our previous newsletter, we reported on progress with the BTO Garden BirdWatch North East Pilot Project. We’re thrilled, now, to announce the pilot project's completion of field work! With cameras set up in 45 gardens across County Durham, Sunderland, Darlington, Teesside, and Newcastle, this collaborative effort has captured an incredible 300,000 photos of garden wildlife.
These images, featuring a fascinating mix of mammals and birds, have been uploaded to MammalWeb and are now available for classification under the BTO GBW NE Pilot sub-project. The sheer volume of data presents an exciting challenge, and we need your help to classify them! Every classification contributes to a deeper understanding of garden wildlife and helps uncover the hidden stories of nature in our own backyards. Thank you for your support—we couldn't do it without you! |
Images from the BTO Garden Birdwatch North East pilot (Images: Afthab / BTO contributors) |
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