Just after the switch to DK4, Mark Sumner used the new group function to start a group he called Backyard Science. He explained it all in the first group entry. Hopefully, he won't object to our republishing that first diary:
The Importance of Backyard Science
Mark Sumner. February 14, 2011
The most sophisticated computer models in the world have a hard time predicting the exact consequences of climate change. With every passing winter, voices from the media shout that climate change isn't real. How can the world be getting warmer? It snowed! In January!
But there is a way to directly document the changes to our world, and it depends on you. Well, on you... and you... and you and you and you.
Throughout history, people have noted the dates of natural events -- the blooming of cherry trees, the first daffodil to poke out from under the slushy ground, the return of familiar birds, animals, and insects. For more than a century now, people have been collecting these dates regularly. It's called Phenology, and it's one way that regular people everywhere can record the impact of changes to our world without even owning a lab coat.
For this group, I intend to offer regular observations of my own neighborhood, and a place to report the changes that you're seeing. Don't restrict yourself to first frosts and changing leafs. Report that odd beetle you saw (there are enough entomologists around here that there's a very good chance someone can help you identify it), mention the fox in your front yard, the box turtle that struggled across your drive, and even the giant millipede that invaded your shower. Taken individually, these observations may have little value (though they're often interesting starts for a conversation). Taken together we can build up an image of the world that has real value, both now and for the future.
Open your eyes, start taking notes, and just consider this a convenient place to dump anything in nature that gets your attention.
The next day Mark introduced what has become the heart of the Backyard Science group,
The Daily Bucket:
The Daily Bucket -- a generic container for pitching in your daily observations. Is there something new sprouting on the hill? A funny lizard spotted on the garden wall? An unsual bird at the feeder? Drop it in the bucket. Give a date and a place in the same message if it all possible, to make the post as valuable as it can be for those trying to dig out the data...
Mark Sumner. February 15, 2011.
In the past year the group has grown to 27 members. We've published about 340 diaries. Many are Daily Buckets. Some are detailed accounts of some aspect of the natural history of a specific place. All provide valuable information to the patterns that are slowly unwinding in our own neighborhoods.
As of today we're moving into the second year of Backyard Science. We've recorded a full year of information and can now go back and directly compare one year's observations to the next. This is a start.
Let's take this day to look back at what we were seeing a year ago and compare it to what we're seeing today. If you weren't involved a year ago, just jump in with today's observations. They'll be an important resource when we celebrate the second anniversary of Backyard Science.
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As always, please note your location - as close as you are comfortable revealing.
Thank you, Mark.
I arrived mid-year. It was always a pleasure to stop in and compare the bucket ingredients to my backyard. Then, I was invited to join. Enjoyed it even more since then. As noted above, we are doing phenology. There is a good web site dedicated to it.
http://www.usanpn.org/
Thursday, I will have more on the subject in my daily bucket.
Thanks, Mark, for starting this group.
jim in IA