How to note contents of trap (1 Viewer)

Hi,

Its been raining all day here and I've just braved it to empty the traps. For the last few years I have always used a notebook to note what is in the trap as I empty them before transferring the data to mapmate but every time it is damp the book gets soaked and I have nowhere dry to empty the trap.

I was therefore wondering how other people note the contents as I am considering a voice activated dictaphone which I can then transfer to notebook and mapmate to save trying to write down everything as I go along.

Any comments/ideas welcome

Regards,
Jamie

J Duffie said:

Hi,

Its been raining all day here and I've just braved it to empty the traps. For the last few years I have always used a notebook to note what is in the trap as I empty them before transferring the data to mapmate but every time it is damp the book gets soaked and I have nowhere dry to empty the trap.

I was therefore wondering how other people note the contents as I am considering a voice activated dictaphone which I can then transfer to notebook and mapmate to save trying to write down everything as I go along.

Any comments/ideas welcome

Regards,
Jamie

Click to expand...

Jamie

I posted this reply on MothsIreland couple days back. I'll leave in the off topic bits in as it may be of interest to some. I got dictaphone as I was having so much trouble sorting traps last year with 100s of Large Yellow Underwing


I do use a dictaphone some of the time and used it for both traps last time round.
Total time is longer, but the actual sorting is much faster, so it depends how much time I have for actually going through the trap.

I usually sort my garden trap in my Van!! and the farmyard trap in a tent!!!

The van is quite good as the back windows allow enough light in to see and it also seems a good light for keeping the moths quiet. Any darker and they'd stir, but they also stir if it's bright. Any that escape I can still record.

The same with the tent, though it's a bit cramped, but escapees are held. I didn't notice the wasp though that had crawled up my arm sleeve and with me moving around, it stung me. More than 36 hours later and I still have discomfort though it didn't hurt massively at the time.

With the dictaphone, I just call out each moth as I see it along with a count (per side of egg tray). Then afterwards I replay and put it all down on paper, and then I put it into mapmate.

So it does take quite a while with hundreds of moths, but at least the Large Yellow blun.......sorry Underwings seem to be very low in numbers this year.

I have thought about just recording species. I could run more traps then, and increase my coverage, but I'm into stats, and if I just counted species, I wouldn't be able to tell you that on same date last year I had 352 Large Yellow Underwing in the garden trap and 340 in the farmyard trap, compared to just 25 and 14 respectively couple days ago.

I always use a notebook and have a camera and ID guides with me so if it is wet I move everything to the garage. I have done it in the house but the number of escaped insects (especially flies) was unacceptable. I have seen people transfer all the moths to a large lidded container then take that elsewhere to count them.

J Duffie said:

....... I was therefore wondering how other people note the contents as I am considering a voice activated dictaphone which I can then transfer to notebook and mapmate to save trying to write down everything as I go along......

Click to expand...

Hi Jamie,

I have a digital voice recorder (DVR) that can be manually started, paused and stopped, as well as voice activated. As these tools come with bags of memory space, they are a better alternative to recording in situ than minitapes (time limitation and often difficult playback). It makes the actual recording process very much faster, and this usually results in fewer moths escaping before being identified and recorded. I go through a Robinson trap with a dozen egg trays and typically upwards of 200 species (often somewhere arond 500-600 moths) in no more than 20 minutes (not including the moths on the outside!). It takes about twice that to transcribe onto paper, a little less directly onto computer - any software with data entry recognition makes this task relatively quick.
I gave up writing lists at the trap over 10 years ago (to tape recording with micro-cassettes), and went digital three years ago. No regrets.
Some models also come with voice recognition software and a USB link. This would make record transcription much quicker (though would need checking each time), once the computer has been "taught" to recognise your speech patterns.

There are downsides - sometimes it's impossible to decipher what species X is due to background noise or incoherent jibberish at seeing a first record of Y on an egg tray further down! Dropping a DVR can be expensive, especially if it's into water. I have a model that has withstood several impacts onto concrete with only a few slight scratches resulting. I always carry a notebook and waterproof ink pen as backup, though have only had to use the old technology when I forgot to put a spare set of AAA batteries in the kit bag.
Also, voice activation can be a little hit or miss - I use the manual start and press pause if I need to. Pressing stop at the end of the session and pause after pausing to restart recording soon become habit and second nature. Much easier than trying to hold a notebook, pen and egg tray all at the same time.

cheers,

Roger.

Hello Jamie,
A small (breast pocket size) dictaphone is very useful for the initial logging of moths in a trap, especially when conditions outdoors where pen and paper may get soaked, and unuseable. They are also very handy when working in the field for making observations on wildlife. Most people can talk a lot faster than they can write and therefore much more information can be recorded.

If making field observations your eyes need never leave the object you are observing. I have found that note taking requires you to take your eyes off the object you are watching, and 'Sod's Law' frequently means when you look back at the specimen, it has invariably disappeared. It is also far easier to listen to your own voice than try to make sense of hurried scribbled notes.

Most small dictaphones use AA Batteries, and, as my digital camera also uses the same size, there are always recharged 'spares' in my camera bag. A couple of 'micro cassettes' weigh less than an ounce, so carrying spare blank cassettes isn't going to weigh you down either.

Most entomologists now use a personal PC to make permanent records, and also map their records. I see no reason why modern technology shouldn't be used when making identifications in the Moth Trap or Field records. It's faster, easier to do, and much more data can be recorded.

Harry

Hi,

thanks all. I am now the owner of a digital voice recorder,

Regards,
Jamie

A warning about digital dictaphones

Well it happened to mine anyway. The batteries ran out mid session, well actually just at end of session and the previous 10 minutes of recording which was the current file was NOT saved. I lost my whole trap list.

Similar to computer really, power goes, lost everything that wasn't actually saved.

This is an issue with rechargable batteries. They die very quickly.

Angus T said:

A warning about digital dictaphones

Well it happened to mine anyway. The batteries ran out mid session, well actually just at end of session and the previous 10 minutes of recording which was the current file was NOT saved. I lost my whole trap list.

Similar to computer really, power goes, lost everything that wasn't actually saved.

This is an issue with rechargable batteries. They die very quickly.

Click to expand...

I agree with you there Angus. I use rechargable batteries in my 'tape' dictaphone, digital cameras and of course my mobile phone, and I had similar problems with batteries seemingly having a short life.

A couple of years ago I did a Web Search regarding this, and although I have lost the URL, what was said was:- All Rechargable Batteries should be fully drained before recharging. This is not necessarily accomplished by their use in the electrical item they are being used in, as there is always some residual power left in them, although it may not be enough to operate the equipment in which they being used.

I use AA rechargable batteries in both my camera and dictaphone and both will cease to work when the battery power is low. I bought a cheap (99p)torch on the local market which uses AA batteries and found it an ideal item to use to fully drain the batteries of their last bit of power. So called 'drained' batteries are put into the torch and I have found they will give a good light for 10-15 minutes before the bulb fades away to almost nothing. It is only then, that I recharge them. I haven't found a simple way of fully draining my mobile phone battery yet.

I recently bought a 2.2Gb disc drive for my camera as a replacement for the 128mb smart card. I can get hundreds of shots on the disc drive, but it is a heck of a power user, batteries don't last all that long at all, hence I carry 16 spare recharged batteries, just in case.

Harry

Hi,

thanks for the warning - I think I will continue to use normal batteries in the dictaphone which I am very pleased with. I am currently using it on voice activated recording with good results. It saves a lot of time emptying the trap as I no longer need to spend half the time trying to write things down which also means I can have a good look at what is coming out the trap. This has enabled he to spend the saved time looking more closely at the micros and has forced me to learn the latin names and i am supprised at the progress i have made in 1 week,

Regards,
Jamie