Tag: Orchid Observers (#OrchidObservers)

Posted on

Final task for ALL Orchid Observers project volunteers | Orchid Observers

We are so grateful for your contribution to the project and have one last, very important task for you. We need all Orchid Observers participants to complete a short survey about your level of experience at plant identification and online transcription/classification before taking part, to understand how knowledge and information was shared amongst volunteers within the project. We’d be really grateful if you would spare 10 minutes to complete the survey by 31 July 2016.

The pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis)
The pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis) adds a splash of colour to the alkaline grasslands of high summer. Keep an eye out for it in June and July.
The lesser butterfly-orchid (Platanthera bifolia) can be identified by its parrallel pollinia. © Mike Waller.
The lesser butterfly-orchid (Platanthera bifolia) can be identified by its parrallel pollinia. © Mike Waller.
Keep an eye out for the frog orchid (Coeloglossum viride) which is found across the UK. © Fred Rumsey.
Keep an eye out for the frog orchid (Coeloglossum viride) which is found across the UK. © Fred Rumsey.
The bog orchid (Hammarbya paludosa) is the tiniest of the UK orchid species. © Mike Waller.
The bog orchid (Hammarbya paludosa) is the tiniest of the UK orchid species. © Mike Waller.
The bog orchid (Hammarbya paludosa) is our smallest UK species.
The bog orchid (Hammarbya paludosa) is our smallest UK species. It usually grows on mountain peat bogs and can be found from July to August.
The beautiful bird's-nest orchid, (Neottia nidus-avis) in woodland
The beautiful bird’s-nest orchid, (Neottia nidus-avis) in woodland
Green-winged orchids (Anacamptis morio) at Stonebarrow Hill
Green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio) at Stonebarrow Hill

It is part of our ongoing research into citizen science as a tool for scientific research but also for skills development and knowledge exchange. Orchid Observers was a new and innovative type of project combining outdoor recording and online transcription activities – it was the first of its kind.

Continue reading “Final task for ALL Orchid Observers project volunteers | Orchid Observers”

Posted on

Results so far | Orchid Observers

The Orchid Observers project is closing at the end of July (so if you can help us out with the last few classifications then you have just a few days left!). We’d like to say a huge thank you to all of the volunteers who photographed orchids, identified photos online or transcribed and classified our museum specimens. Your time, expertise and enthusiasm is really valued, so thanks for being part of the Orchid Observers team.

Photo of a bee orchid flower with thank you in a speech bubble coming from a 'mouth'-like shape on the flower.
A big thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help us with the Orchid Observers citizen science project!

The project had two main research questions:

  1. Firstly, the climate science research: Are orchid flowering times being affected by climate change?
  2. Secondly, the social science research: How do volunteers interact and share ideas and knowledge with one another, within a project that combines both outdoor and online activities?

The second question was of particular interest to our funders, the Arts and Humanities Research Council. We are asking all Orchid Observers volunteers to answer a short survey to help us address the second question, so keep an eye out for that coming soon. Here I’ll update you on the science research outcomes and how we are analysing the data you’ve collected.

Continue reading “Results so far | Orchid Observers”

Posted on

Get a free Orchid Observers ID guide! | Orchid Observers

With the very last of the British orchids now in flower (Autumn lady’s-tresses), its your last chance this year to get hold of our orchid ID guide to learn where to find it and how to identify this beautiful species. If you don’t spot any flowers, you can still help out by identifying photos uploaded by others or by transcribing historical herbarium sheets from our collection.

Photo showing a few of the guides laid out on a table
Get your copy of the Orchid Observers guide for free while stocks last!

Printed copies of our 34-page Orchid Observers Identification Guide are now available free of charge while our stocks last. This beautiful guide is illustrated with photographs of all 29 wild orchids included in the study, as well as species distribution maps and details on flowering times.

If you would like a printed copy, please email orchid@nhm.ac.uk with your full postal address and we will pop one in the mail to you! They’ll be sent out until we run out of our stock, so if you don’t manage to get your hands on one of our printed copies, the guide is also available to download as a PDF.

Posted on

Wild orchids in August – what to look out for | Orchid Observers

Kath Castillo, our Orchid Observers Project Officer, tells us about the orchids you can search for out in the field this month.

August is nearly here and with it the start of the holiday season, so if you are planning a walking holiday or a bit of wildlife photography in the UK, there are some stunning species on our list to look out for and photograph for Orchid Observers.

A flower of the marsh helleborine. © Fred Rumsey
A flower of the marsh helleborine. © Fred Rumsey

Flowering now and into late August, the marsh helleborine (Epipactis palustris) is a fairly large orchid with loose clusters of pink and white flowers with a white frilly lower petal. Continue reading “Wild orchids in August – what to look out for | Orchid Observers”

Posted on

What to look out for in July | Orchid Observers

For July, the Orchid Observers team are simultaneously excited and fretting. We’re excited because we’re planning field trips to see the next orchids on our hit list, but we’re also concerned about the flower spikes scorching in the sun and wilting. It might be a race against the sun this month to catch July’s finest orchids. Not only that but this month’s highlight species are some of the trickiest to spot and identify. Please don’t let this deter you, take up the challenge and see if you can locate and photograph these beauties.

Bog orchid (Hammarbya paludosa)

The bog orchid (Hammarbya paludosa) is the tiniest of the UK orchid species. © Mike Waller.
The bog orchid (Hammarbya paludosa) is the tiniest of the UK orchid species. © Mike Waller.

Being the tiniest of the UK orchids, the bog orchid can be rather inconspicuous. It’s just 4-8cm tall and green and there are only 25 flowers on the flower spike, which are said to smell sweet and cucumber-like. Continue reading “What to look out for in July | Orchid Observers”

Posted on

What have the Orchid Observers been up to? | Orchid Observers

Kath Castillo, Project Officer for Orchid Observers, gives an update on what’s been happening with the project so far:

It’s been a busy time for Orchid Observers! The project got off to a great start when the website went live on the Zooniverse platform on 23 April; the very first of the season’s field records was uploaded on day one!

The Orchid Observers Team
The Orchid Observers team. From left to right: Jade Lauren Cawthray, Jim O’Donnell (Zooniverse web developer), Lucy Robinson, Mark Spencer, John Tweddle, Kath Castillo, Chris Raper and Fred Rumsey

At the time of writing this blog we now have 567 registered users on the website who have enthusiastically completed 11,044 classifications, by verifying and transcribing data for our historical specimens and identifying species and flowering stages for around 700 photographic records already submitted by participants.

Continue reading “What have the Orchid Observers been up to? | Orchid Observers”

Posted on

Lyme Regis Fossil Festival: 10 years inspiring the next generation of scientists and naturalists | Identification Trainers for the Future

As we enjoyed the bank holiday weekend just gone, we were reminded of the previous one where our trainees on the Identification Trainers for the Future project travelled to the ‘Jurassic Coast’ to help out at the annual Lyme Regis Fossil Festival. One of our trainees Anthony Roach has been going to the festival since 2009 and gives us an insight here into how things have changed over the years…

The reaction of friends who aren’t natural history geeks is often brilliant! Looking at me rather quizzically they’ve said, ‘So. You’re going to a Fossil Festival?!’ ‘Yes,’ I reply. Some respond with, ‘cooool…so what do you do exactly? Talk about rocks and fossils?’ ‘Do you go fossil hunting?’ ‘Do you show people dinosaurs?’ Yes, yes, and well, sometimes we have bits of them! ‘And you’re doing this for 3 days?’ Yes and it is brilliant. With wry smiles they usually say ‘right…cool…interesting…’

A gloriously sunny May Day bank holiday weekend for the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival
A gloriously sunny May Day bank holiday weekend for the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival

The truth is, despite my friend’s reaction, it is a lot more than just a few rocks, fossils and bits of dinosaurs! The Fossil Festival celebrates the unique scientific discoveries that can be read in the rocks at Lyme Regis and how they’ve shaped our understanding of geological time. The festival also takes inspiration from the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site to inspire future generations of scientists, geologists, naturalists and artists.

Continue reading “Lyme Regis Fossil Festival: 10 years inspiring the next generation of scientists and naturalists | Identification Trainers for the Future”

Posted on

Welcome to Orchid Observers, our new Citizen Science project | Orchid Observers

A new and exciting citizen science project has begun and it’s time to get involved with Orchid Observers! This research project, in partnership with Oxford University’s Zooniverse platform, aims to examine the flowering times of British orchids in relation to climate change.

In order to achieve this, we are inviting the amateur naturalist and professional botanical community, alongside nature loving citizens from across the country, to help us collect and sort orchid data.

The bog orchid (Hammarbya paludosa) is our smallest UK species.
The bog orchid (Hammarbya paludosa) is our smallest UK species. It usually grows on mountain peat bogs and can be found from July to August.

We want you to go out in the field and photograph any of 29 selected UK orchid species and upload your images onto our dedicated website, www.orchidobservers.org. Flowering times from each of your records will then be collated and compared with the extensive Museum herbarium collection, and data from the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI), totalling a 180-year-long time-series of orchid records.

Continue reading “Welcome to Orchid Observers, our new Citizen Science project | Orchid Observers”

Posted on

Introducing Mike Waller | Identification Trainers for the Future

Welcome to our series of posts introducing our trainees on the Identification Trainers for the Future project. We start with Mike Waller, who over the coming months will be working particularly on our Orchid Observers project:

Hello! I’m Mike – a wildlife fanatic and general all round naturalist from Wolverhampton where I’ve been based in between my years at Aberystwyth University studying Physical Geography. I graduated with a 1st Class Honours degree in 2013 and since then I’ve been immersing myself in anything wildlife orientated with the long-term goal of a career in conservation. Most notably, I spent last summer working with the superb team at RSPB Ynys-hir running the visitor centre and assisting with practical conservation work on the reserve.

ID Trainer for the Future Mike Waller, who has a keen interest in orchids
ID Trainer for the Future Mike Waller, who has a keen interest in orchids

In terms of my interests, I’ve always loved British wildlife in all its forms but I first specialised in birds, winning the RSPB’s ‘Young Birder of the Year’ award aged eleven. In the depths of winter I dragged my mum to the freezing coastal plains of Norfolk and Southern Scotland for geese and waders and watched garden birds for hours on end.

Continue reading “Introducing Mike Waller | Identification Trainers for the Future”