Photo ©
Keith Williams
Cool Tool For Checking Odd Nests
Have you ever found a nest in an underground burrow? Maybe you’ve heard chirping inside your dryer vent but weren’t sure how to confirm the presence of a nest? Perhaps you have a nest box that is mounted out-of-reach in a tree, and you’ve never been able to check it?
Our new blog post introduces you to a fun new way to check those tricky nests. With the help of an inspection camera (the same endoscope that mechanics and auto inspectors use), you can easily check those nests that are otherwise too inaccessible. The post covers tips for how to be successful, as well as features you want to look for in a new purchase. Read our blog to get started.
New App Update
If you use our mobile app for data entry, be sure to update your app. The new version will send reminders when nests are overdue for a nest check. Users will get a reminder after 5 days of inactivity, and a final reminder after 10 days, for a maximum of 2 reminders per nest. These reminders are optional (you can turn notifications off), but we designed them to improve the quality of data that we receive. Per our protocol, nest checks done every 3–5 days provide the best data for scientific analysis, but it’s just so easy to forget these things. Of course, we know that life sometimes gets busy, and the gentle reminders are not meant to be discouraging if you can’t check as often as we suggest—we still appreciate any observations.
This release also fixes a bug in offline mode that some users experienced, as well as a few minor workflow improvements. As always, please let us know if you encounter anything unexpected in the app.