April #SuperSnap
The April #SuperSnap goes to this great blue heron captured on a Snapshot trail camera in Door County. Standing at four feet tall, blue herons use shallow areas like the one pictured as their main hunting grounds. They typically remain stationary while scanning the water below for fish, frogs, or snakes to catch with their long beaks. Great blue herons will also prey on species found in nearby fields or marshes, like rodents, insects, and even other birds.
A huge thanks to Zooniverse participant @AUK for this #SuperSnap nomination.
Continue classifying photos on Zooniverse and sharing your favorites with #SuperSnap – your submission might just be next month’s featured photo! Check out all of the nominations by searching “#SuperSnap” on the Snapshot Wisconsin Talk boards.
Sources:
https://www.eekwi.org/animals/birds/great-blue-heron
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/great-blue-heron
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/lifehistory
March #SuperSnap
Wood-n’t you know it, our March #Supersnap goes to this nighttime shot of a beaver in Vernon County! These ecosystem engineers play a large role in shaping the waterways and wetlands throughout Wisconsin. The dams that beavers build can reach up to six and a half feet tall and stretch fifteen feet wide. A single beaver alone cuts down around 200 trees each year to use in dam construction. The bark, twigs, and leaves from each tree also serve as their main food source.
A huge thanks to Zooniverse participant @bobk47 for this #SuperSnap nomination.
Continue classifying photos on Zooniverse and sharing your favorites with #SuperSnap – your submission might just be next month’s featured photo! Check out all of the nominations by searching “#SuperSnap” on the Snapshot Wisconsin Talk boards.
Sources:
From Langlade County, Wisconsin to Zurich, Switzerland
The following piece was written by OAS Communications Specialist Rachel Fancsali for the Snapshot Wisconsin newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, visit this link.
You now know that Snapshot Wisconsin has contributed to important research not only statewide, but also nationwide with Snapshot USA. But did you know that over the past year and half, Snapshot Wisconsin has been contributing to an international collaborative art exhibit?
One Snapshot volunteer took on the challenge of running a special camera trap to contribute to the University of Zurich Graduate Campus’s Triggered by Motion project. The project will be creating an immersive, walk-through pavilion where visitors will be able to experience the biodiversity of wildlife from 14 countries around the world, and video footage of north woods Wisconsin wildlife will be on display for the world to see!
Connecting Science, Art, and the Public
The University of Zurich (UZH) Graduate Campus focuses on engaging with the public through events and exhibitions, utilizing its cross-faculty platform to create collaborative exhibitions that connect science, art and the public. The project Triggered by Motion is one of several collaboration projects that will be featured in the overarching Planet Digital exhibition, which explores the digital transformation of our world.
In the field of wildlife research, trail cameras are an excellent example of digital transformation in research. As many Snapshot volunteers already know, trail cameras are a non-invasive method, allowing a glimpse of wildlife behind the scenes. The goal of the Triggered by Motion project is to give a unique perspective on how researchers use camera traps to learn about the world, bringing the audience closer to this research method.
Each trail camera video for the project will condense a year’s worth of footage into a 20-minute time-lapse. Then the videos will be synchronized, so that daylight will slowly move from one screen to the other, circling around the pavilion to imitate the rotation of the earth.
In June 2020, UZH was referred to Snapshot Wisconsin. At the time, there was another trail camera in southern California, but UZH was looking to diversify its North American captures. The teams from UZH and Snapshot Wisconsin were able to connect and discuss the possibility of Snapshot Wisconsin participating in the international project.
Snapshot Wisconsin checked all the boxes for Triggered by Motion: it’s a well-established project, located in the northern half of the U.S. and operates year-round. Also, the cameras that Snapshot uses normally take still photos that fulfill the project’s data needs, but they are capable of capturing video footage. What really set Snapshot Wisconsin apart from other Triggered by Motion participants is our program’s applied research focus, with Snapshot data contributing to wildlife decision support.
With that, Snapshot Wisconsin became a part of the Triggered by Motion project. Now it was up to the Snapshot team to find a volunteer and set the modified camera.
Finding a Volunteer and a Camera Site
When it came time to choose a Snapshot volunteer to work with UZH, volunteer coordinator Claire Viellieux knew just the right person. “I met Blayne Zeise at the last in-person volunteer recognition event in 2019, and he has a good record of checking cameras and uploading in a timely manner,” Viellieux said.
After talking with Viellieux, Blayne Zeise was happy to help. “I had actually asked her at the volunteer event about adding another camera anyways,” Zeise said.
Zeise had already been running his own personal trail cameras on public lands for a couple of years before joining the Snapshot Wisconsin program in 2018. “I started out with a couple of $30 cameras from Walmart and started using them on public lands, then worked my way up from there,” Zeise said. He heard about Snapshot Wisconsin through some of Snapshot’s yearly advertising and decided to give it a try. “I thought it would be nice to have a better-quality camera with a lockbox on it, especially on public land,” Zeise said.
Zeise is very familiar with several public lands in the Marathon and southern Langlade County areas. His own cameras have been monitoring wildlife by river crossings on the Red River in Langlade County and Plover River in Marathon County. Zeise monitors his Snapshot Wisconsin camera in a fishery area just south of Antigo in Langlade County.
This familiarity with the landscape was a huge factor in Zeise’s decision on where to put the camera. “It’s mostly birds and deer at the river crossings,” says Zeise, “but there’s a larger diversity of animals at the other site [the fishery area].”
However, while biodiversity of the location was a large factor, it wasn’t the only one. Zeise knew that he may have to check batteries more often with capturing video footage, making it imperative that the location is easily accessible in all seasons. “The location I picked is a short hike, and there is still a lot of animals that pass through there,” Zeise said.
A Rough Start
Unfortunately, right off the bat, there were some roadblocks to deployment.
When setting up a Snapshot camera for filming at the office, Viellieux noticed the camera couldn’t meet the criteria set by UZH. To avoid motion blur and distortion once on the big screen exhibit, the video footage needed to be captured in 60 full frames per second with a 1920 x 1080 resolution. The Snapshot Wisconsin cameras, suitable for Snapshot Wisconsin’s research objectives that uses a large photo database, were not designed to meet that high of criteria for filming. Zeise tried one of his own personal cameras as well, but also had no luck.
UZH staff still wanted Zeise and Snapshot Wisconsin to be a part of the project, so they purchased and mailed a camera for Zeise to set up. After a small setback getting the UZH camera to film at appropriate times, Zeise’s next challenge was monitoring the camera’s battery pack with the extra demand filming had on battery life. “It just sucks up so much energy doing 30 second video every half hour during the day, and 15 second video at night,” said Zeise.
Most other Triggered by Motion trap sites were using solar packs to power the cameras. Zeise’s concern with this solution was how easy it would be for someone to walk off with the solar pack, especially being located on public lands. For most of the year, it was not difficult at the fishery area to change the rechargeable batteries that most Snapshot Wisconsin cameras use. With the rechargeable batteries, Zeise had to change them every three days.
Zeise’s main battery challenge would be in the north woods’ snowy and bitter winters; changing the rechargeable batteries every three days, or more frequently because of the cold, was not going to be efficient. He made the switch to lithium batteries, which meant changing batteries every two weeks. “Better than trudging through the snow!” Zeise joked.
Once the weather warmed back up, Zeise switched back to the rechargeable batteries. The system worked well for the year that Zeise collected data.
Capturing the Best of Wisconsin Wildlife
Zeise’s decision to record at the fishery area was spot on. A large variety of species were seen in the video clips including bear, bobcat, foxes, deer, coyotes and more. Zeise also saw a few neat interactions between species, such as the apparent squabble between a ruffed grouse and a pileated woodpecker (see screen capture below). UZH would also occasionally ask Zeise to confirm what animal was captured. “One time they asked me, ‘what are those really blue colored birds?’, said Zeise. “They were blue jays! I guess they don’t have them over there [in Switzerland].”
What Zeise found most interesting about using video is being able to see how animals used the area. “I was really surprised by how much the deer relied on that area for browsing,” Zeise said. “I even asked Emily [at Snapshot] if there was a way to ID the plants that the deer were using. She recommended a plant ID app, and I was able to ID species such as black ash, bitternut hickory, and black walnut.”
Operating a different kind of camera also brought new findings. “I was kind of surprised with the video that the coyotes were not spooked by it. With some of the Snapshot Wisconsin cameras, they hear the click and just about jump out of their skin,” Zeise observed.
The UZH camera, a Bushnell Dual Core No-Glow, is designed to remain inconspicuous. “They call it a no-glow, but it’s really like a hard black plastic filter to help hide the infrared. The coyotes and foxes probably see it, but the deer may not,” said Zeise.
What Now?
With the completion of data collection, UZH was able to construct the exhibit. The project ended with 22 camera traps in 14 countries around the world, enlisting the help of 29 researchers and seven citizen-scientists to monitor the traps. The Triggered by Motion project is at the very center of the Planet Digital exhibition, and the physical exhibition premiered Feb. 11, 2022 at Museum für Gestaltung Zürich. The exhibition will stay at the museum until June, when it will be packed up and shown across the world. The dates and locations of the traveling exhibit are still to be determined.
However, a digital publication of the entire Planet Digital exhibition is available, and the Triggered by Motion project page can be viewed here.
Hopefully, the exhibit will make its way to the U.S. at some point, and we can walk through Snapshot Wisconsin and Zeise’s contribution to an international project! “If it travels to the U.S., I would definitely like to go see it in person,” said Zeise. “I think that was one of the coolest parts, just to be a part of a big project, with three locations in the U.S and over 20 worldwide.”
“I get to keep the camera too,” Zeise said, “It’s a pretty sweet deal.” Zeise mentioned he already has plans for the camera, including deploying it at one of the river crossings he monitors. There’s a spot where a lot of blue heron hang out, and he wants to capture that action.
The Snapshot team is honored to have played a part in connecting Zeise with this international project, and we are lucky to have great volunteers, willing to go beyond just hosting a Snapshot camera.
A big thank you goes to Blayne Zeise for all his help and really taking the reins on monitoring an extra special camera!
View the entire Planet Digital exhibition here.
A National Collaboration Releases Their First Publication
The following piece was written by OAS Communications Coordinator Ryan Bower for the Snapshot Wisconsin newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, visit this link.
For the last three years, Snapshot Wisconsin has been contributing to a similar citizen science program called Snapshot USA, and Snapshot USA recently reached an important milestone worth celebrating. They released their first publication! Congratulations, Snapshot USA!
In honor of Snapshot USA reaching this milestone, the Snapshot Wisconsin team wanted to highlight this fellow citizen science project and share with our volunteers a lesser-known way that Snapshot Wisconsin data is being used.
What is Snapshot USA?
Snapshot USA is a national effort to bring together trail camera data from across the country and learn about what drives the distribution of mammal species within the United States. Snapshot USA takes a similar approach to Snapshot Wisconsin, having people classify trail camera photos to generate usable data for science. The main differences are that Snapshot USA is a nationwide effort and is focused entirely on mammals.
Snapshot USA was organized in 2019 by scientists from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. They asked fellow researchers, citizen science programs (including Snapshot Wisconsin) and private citizens to upload and classify their trail camera photos. Much to everyone’s excitement, over 150 people and programs participated in the effort.
Better yet, people contributed photos from 110 locations across all 50 states, proving that there are people all over this country who value efforts like Snapshot USA and Snapshot Wisconsin.
Snapshot Wisconsin’s Contributions
For our part, the Snapshot Wisconsin program was thrilled to support a fellow citizen science project. We submitted data from 2019 and 2020, and we are working on submitting data from this last year as well. It is important to us to support other programs like Snapshot USA and build up science together.
Every year, Snapshot Wisconsin has contributed data from around 10 of our trail cameras in the Clam Lake elk camera grid. Snapshot USA required at least ten cameras clustered within a 5km area, so only a few areas of our camera grid like the elk camera grids met the requirement.
Despite limitations in which cameras we could include, the Snapshot Wisconsin team is glad that we were able to contribute to this effort at all. Jennifer Stenglein, one of Snapshot Wisconsin’s lead scientists, said, “Snapshot Wisconsin is not set up to have areas with clustered cameras. We made a special exception for the elk grid because the data are used to monitor the growing elk herds across the state. Fortunately, the elk grid matched the minimum requirements to participate.”
Stenglein also mentioned how important it was to her personally that Snapshot Wisconsin contributed to this nationwide effort. “As a scientist, having open data is huge. There is so much trail camera data out there, but it’s [isolated] to specific programs or people. Snapshot USA created a place for trail camera data to come together and be available. That allows scientists to ask questions we couldn’t before, like how climate change is impacting species at a national level.” Stenglein is excited to see what other researchers do with the compiled data.
How Snapshot USA Operates
In addition to sampling populations from across a wider scale than Snapshot Wisconsin, Snapshot USA samples from all major habitats and development zones found within the United States. When a new collaborator joins the program, they select the combination of setting (Urban, Suburban, Rural, Wild, Other) and habitat (Forest, Grassland, Desert, Alpine, Beach, Anthropogenic, Other) that matches their camera site.
Our volunteers may notice that some of these site combinations differ from what Snapshot Wisconsin uses. For example, urban deployment does not fit Snapshot Wisconsin’s criteria for setting up a camera. Stenglein thought that the addition of urban areas adds an interesting element to the dataset, but it shows a fundamental difference in what Snapshot Wisconsin and Snapshot USA are trying to capture.
Next, collaborators upload their photos from a specified time window. In 2019, Snapshot USA collected photos from the 14-week period from August to November. Once uploaded, collaborators could start classifying photos, similarly to how our camera hosts do it.
One important difference is that Snapshot USA puts all their photos through a second round of classification – this time by an expert. Expert review happens within Snapshot Wisconsin as well, but only for the species we’ve learned are classified with lower accuracy. Our accuracy analyses have shown that volunteers do a great job of accurately classifying most species, especially the most common species, so Snapshot Wisconsin only expertly classifies the photos of the hard-to-classify species and rare species. Besides, Snapshot Wisconsin would not be able to expertly classify its 60+ million photos. However, this extra step is possible for a program like Snapshot USA.
“Limiting the time window for data collection is really common in trail camera studies,” said Stenglein. “I don’t know if there is any perfect time window for Snapshot USA to choose, since you will always miss something. However, it does make sense for them to select a window of time. It would be too challenging to collect a whole year’s worth of data, let alone have an expert review.”
Once both rounds of classifications are done, the data are assembled into a package and prepped for release in the form of a new publication. This type of publication is called a “data paper” because its main purpose is to release a new dataset for others to work with.
“It’s a cool, new trend in science for data papers to come out,” said Stenglein. “I’ve seen more effort being put towards proper archiving of data. Researchers can use these datasets to test their own hypotheses and come up with new and exciting insights into wildlife distributions in the USA. I think this is where research needs to be, so it’s encouraging to see this trend.”
2019 Data Is Released
In April 2021, Snapshot USA officially published their 2019 dataset. The paper was published in the scientific journal Ecology and had around 100 different authors.
In total, the dataset included photos from 1,509 cameras across 110 locations, and all 50 states and the District of Columbia contributed data. The dataset had 166,036 observations (photos) and found 83 unique mammal species. Seventeen bird species were also detected, which impressed Stenglein, but the project wasn’t looking for birds, only mammals.
“All together, that’s an impressive number of species detected,” said Stenglein. “Trail cameras aren’t set up to see all species equally. Birds, for example, often spend most of their time above the line of sight of cameras, so capturing 17 species of birds is pretty cool.”
Snapshot Wisconsin’s contributions included sightings of just over 20 of the 83 mammal species found by Snapshot USA. Given the small area that the photos came from, seeing 20 species is a healthy number. If we were able to use more of the grid, that number would have been much higher.
The paper reported that the three most detected species nationwide were white-tailed deer, squirrels and raccoons, in that order. Snapshot Wisconsin’s own data visualization tool, the Data Dashboard, also shows a similar trend, with white-tailed deer and squirrels being the top two species detected in Wisconsin. Racoons weren’t third, but they are high on the list.
Coyotes were the most widespread species detected across the nation, which surprised some of the Snapshot Wisconsin team. However, Stenglein explained, “It may be because there is only one major species of coyote. Deer and other common animals change species as you go across the country. Mule deer, white-tailed deer and black-tailed deer each have different ranges across the U.S.”
What’s Next?
Stenglein was proud of the Snapshot USA team for pulling this effort together. As one of the main researchers for Snapshot Wisconsin, Stenglein knows how much work it is to collect photos from hundreds of sources and extract usable data from them. Stenglein mentioned that it is great to see another citizen science project release their first publication. “Our Snapshot Wisconsin team only has so much capacity to work on decision-support tools, so it is cool to know that these data will be used in more ways and by more people.”
Stenglein also mentioned that there is a second publication in the works already. This publication will release the 2020 dataset. It’s nice to see such a quick turn around time for the second publication.
“The peer review process can easily take months to years,” explained Stenglein, “so there will always be a lag. However, I expect that this first lag will be the biggest. I’ve already seen process improvements on the data uploading side. They’ve moved to a more efficient process, which really helps.”
Stenglein believes Snapshot USA has expanded its data collection to Europe as well for the 2021 season, which could offer some interesting comparisons for researchers.
Stenglein’s final thoughts for the Snapshot USA program were:
“I’m so impressed that they pulled this off. We know from Snapshot Wisconsin how difficult it can be to keep things running smoothly, especially when it comes to IT infrastructure and solutions. I wish Snapshot USA all the luck as they continue to expand their program, and I look forward to working with them each year. What you’ve accomplished is impressive. Remember that.”
February #SuperSnap
We have chosen a striped skunk for this month’s #SuperSnap from Douglas County. Did you know that striped skunk is one of the species of interest found on the Snapshot Wisconsin Data Dashboard? Visit the dashboard to see Snapshot Wisconsin trail camera detections of striped skunk visualized by county as well as time of day and year. Stay posted for 2021 data to be added later this year!
A huge thanks to Zooniverse participant @WINature for the #SuperSnap nomination!
Continue classifying photos on Zooniverse and hashtagging your favorites for a chance to be featured in the next #SuperSnap blog post. Check out all of the nominations by searching “#SuperSnap” on the Snapshot Wisconsin Talk boards.
Submit a Caption for Snapshot Photos!
The following piece was written by OAS Communications Coordinator Ryan Bower for the Snapshot Wisconsin newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, visit this link.
Jessica Knackert, one of the newest Snapshot team members, recently added a new discussion called “Funny Photo Captions” to the Zooniverse Talk Board. This discussion contains funny trail camera photos for volunteers to add their own captions. Take a look as Zooniverse volunteers have already contributed several entertaining captions.
For those who don’t know, Zooniverse is a platform that is used by citizen science projects to expand their reach to a wider community of volunteers. Snapshot Wisconsin uses Zooniverse to draw a consensus classification about trail camera photos, while also involving people from all over the world.
Zooniverse’s Talk Board feature allows volunteers to share photos, get second opinions and meet fellow volunteers. The talk board is also one of the easiest ways for volunteers to connect with the larger volunteer community.
Within the new talk board, volunteers can add photos to four categories that the Snapshot program frequently sees: Animal Selfies, Comical Situations, Interactions and Animal Yoga.
Knackert is excited to provide another space for volunteers to connect.
“Our volunteers were already captioning photos themselves, but they didn’t have a central place for it. I think this board is a great place for volunteers to come and enjoy the humor of their fellow volunteers,” said Knackert.
Volunteers were eager to use this new talk board adding captions to photos within its first day of being live.
To keep the fun going, Knackert has added a new batch of photos for people to caption. Plus, volunteers can make their own posts on the talk board with photos they find. There is plenty of fun to be had.
Captions can be funny, silly or clever. However, the team asks that all photos adhere to community standards. Moderators and staff will remove posts that contain spam or language that violates these standards. To meet standards, all posts must be appropriate for all ages and be respectful of the other volunteers who use the talk board. Also, please do not expose personal information of other users, including names or addresses, without their permission.
Now, let’s get to the fun part – seeing some of the captions that volunteers have already posted. Please note that we couldn’t include captions in their entirety here; visit the talk board to read the full caption. The team appreciates submitted captions and the smiles they brought.
Animal Selfies
The team knew they wanted to include Animal Selfies as one of the categories of funny photos. Snapshot trail cameras are designed to be as quiet and inconspicuous as possible, but animals inevitably get curious. That curiosity leads them to approach the camera and accidentally take a selfie. The team has used several of these selfies in the program newsletter over the years, but new ones come in regularly.
The photo above was posted in the Animal Selfies sub-thread on Zooniverse, and the team chose three captions that made them laugh. We hope you enjoy these volunteer-made captions and feel inspired to add your own to the Animal Selfie post on the talk board.
Caption from Goldfinch33:
“So…you’ve seen this property, we’ve flown around it, you’re happy with the tree heights…can we close this deal?
~said The Bluebird of Avian Real Estate
Caption from bzeise:
I’m blue, da ba dee da ba di WHOAH! What was that?
Caption from sbreich:
Are you looking at me? ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME??
Comical Situations
The second category within the funny photos talk board covers the silly activities we see animals doing in photos. Whether it is slipping on ice or hanging upside down from a branch, these photos capture some entertaining moments that make us laugh. The “levitating” animal photos from the previous article also belong in this category.
The photo of a raccoon barely clinging to a tree (above) was added to the Comical Situations sub-thread and generated some entertaining captions. Here are a few captions submitted by volunteers. If you can think of more captions, don’t forget to add them!
Caption from momsabina:
But he double-dared me….
Caption from charleysangel:
Help! Now what?
Caption from AndyC3339:
Alex Honnold, [a famous rock climber,] made it look so easy!
Interactions
If you look at which photos are shared the most on Zooniverse’s Talk Board, fun interactions are always high on the list. Interactions can be between two members of the same species, or they can be interactions between different species. In fact, these photos are so commonly shared that there is a searchable tag (multi_species) that volunteers can use to see photos of multi-species interactions.
The photo of a mother black bear and her cub, playing in the grass was added to the Interactions sub-threaad. Of the three captions, which one is your favorite?
Caption from Megeth:
When I say “roll over” you need to roll. Ready? Roll!
Caption from Swamp-eye:
Mama down, Papa help me up
Caption from charleysangel:
How many paws am I holding up? Wrong
Yoga Poses
The last category of funny Snapshot photos is Yoga Poses. Cat Pose, Downward Dog Pose, Crow Pose, Cobra Pose and Camel Pose are all named after animals, so it shouldn’t be surprising that we captured some animals stretching in yoga poses.
This type of photo was already covered a year and a half ago on Zooniverse, but there wasn’t an opportunity to caption these photos. The team wanted to bring these photos back for captioning fun. Don’t forget to add your own captions to the Yoga Pose post on the Zooniverse Talk Board.
Caption from Megeth:
“You put your right leg out and you shake it all about”
Caption from bzeise:
Am I doing this planking thing right?
Caption from Goldfinch33:
What?! I do this every morning when I wake up. My mentor told me “stretching exercises every morning without fail keeps joints supple.” Do I move like I’m 9?
Knackert’s Hope For The Talk Board
Knackert thanks everyone who added a caption already and encourages all Snapshot volunteers to join in the fun.
“My hope for this caption board is that it draws in a part of our volunteer community that has never checked out or even knows about Zooniverse. A lot of our volunteers host cameras and only ever classify their own photos. They only get to see the cool photos that they find. I’d love to see those existing volunteers head over to Zooniverse and join in on the conversations happening there.”
If you want to add captions to any of the photos, head over to the Zooniverse Talk Boards and check them out here.
A Thank-you and Farewell from Team Member Michael Kamp
Most of the writing about Snapshot Wisconsin focuses on what the project does for the Wisconsin DNR and the wildlife of Wisconsin or the incredible work of the project’s dedicated volunteers. This makes sense as all are very important aspects of Snapshot Wisconsin. However, for this blog post, I’m going to write about what Snapshot gave to me as a team member and the experience of working for the Snapshot team.
My name is Michael Kamp, and I’ve been with Snapshot Wisconsin a little over two years. Throughout my time, I’ve worked on many different aspects of the project. I’ve done fieldwork, purchasing, equipment shipping, photo classifications and multiple communication pieces for the project. However, I’ll be leaving my position with Snapshot at the end of January to focus on finishing up grad school at UW-Madison this semester. Then I’ll be heading to Ecuador for the summer to work for the Ceiba Foundation for Tropical Conservation. I want to say thank you to my teammates for making Snapshot a great experience for me.
But first, let’s rewind to the fall of 2019. That September, I returned to my hometown of Madison after a stint working for The Nature Conservancy in Rhode Island. I was applying to new positions in the natural resources and conservation realm. I had never heard of Snapshot Wisconsin but applied for a position with the project. Fortunately, I was given an opportunity to interview and then was offered the position. I immediately accepted the job, which also included some administrative responsibilities for our whole office, the Office of Applied Science (OAS).
Certainly, I was excited for my position with Snapshot and OAS, but I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know how lucky I was and how transformative the next couple years would be. I grew a lot professionally and personally over my time with Snapshot Wisconsin.
First off, I joined a fantastic team with Snapshot Wisconsin. Throughout all my working experiences, I’ve been continually reminded of the importance of having a great team. Being part of a strong team, I’m motivated to work for my team members and challenge myself. A truly cohesive team makes the difference between a good and great job in my opinion. The Snapshot team made me feel welcome starting on day one with a welcome meeting, and it only improved from there.
While COVID swept through the world shortly afterwards in March 2020, I already had a solid foundation with my teammates. Having this team was super helpful over the course of the pandemic which as we all know is an ongoing challenge. Even if only on a small square on Zoom, I enjoyed seeing my teammates faces.
So, what are some skills I learned from Snapshot? Well, I can now look at very blurry trail camera images and generally identify the animal captured with confidence. I don’t know how transferable this skill will be to other positions if I don’t work with trail camera photos. Nonetheless, I can chalk this up on my resume as “attention to detail.”
I also gained experience in the behind-the-scenes work needed to make a project like Snapshot successful. Communication and organization are essential when gathering the trail cameras and associated equipment. Sending new volunteers’ equipment and replacing any malfunctioning equipment is a big lift, especially with over 1,700 volunteers. We have to send equipment to all corners of the state.
Furthermore, I learned that trail camera photos are a great way to spark an interest in nature. When people asked what my job was, if possible, I simply showed them trail camera photos. People were amazed at all the wildlife that roam Wisconsin, and Snapshot gave them a perfect viewing window. The 50 Million Photo Celebration is an ideal product to showcase beautiful trail camera photos from bear cubs to displaying turkeys.
Coming into this position with birding experience, I became the default bird guy. If there were any bird identification questions regarding trail camera photos, they came to my desk so to speak. Don’t get me wrong – I was quite happy with the arrangement. I was glad to put my bird expertise to use and share it with my colleagues. Snapshot captures mostly ground dwelling birds, but we captured some great warbler photos and even snapped a yellow-billed cuckoo in flight.
What will I take away from this job? A few things come to mind. Snapshot Wisconsin reinforced the idea that teamwork is essential. Wherever I end up in the future, I want to be part of a great team. I also learned the importance of taking advantage of opportunities in your position. For example, I jumped at every chance to complete fieldwork for Snapshot in the reintroduced elk grids. I gained valuable experience using GPS units and determining suitable spots for trail cameras. Many interesting webinars came into my inbox as well, and I attended when able. I continued learning through my whole tenure with Snapshot Wisconsin.
Another takeaway was the value of setting up trail cameras. After joining the team, I set up a trail camera on my family’s land in Vilas County. What a great decision that was! We have stunning photos of red fox, bobcats, and barred owls to name a few. Trail cameras provide a window into the outdoors that can deepen your connection to the land.
At the end of the day, I simply want to say thank you to all my great coworkers. I’m very grateful that my path wound its way to you all and for the experiences we shared together. Honestly, it’s difficult to leave Snapshot, but the time has come for me to move on. Whenever I think back on Snapshot, it will be with a smile. (Even when thinking of the times I had to prepare what felt like endless FedEx shipments). I look forward to seeing how Snapshot continues to grow.
And for my teammates, if you have any bird identification questions in the future, let me know. You’ve got my number.
-Michael Kamp
January #SuperSnap
Swooping through the trees for our January #SuperSnap is this pileated woodpecker from Sawyer county. Pileated woodpeckers are the largest woodpecker species in Wisconsin, growing to almost the size of a crow. Despite their size, these birds are notoriously difficult to spot. Stay on the lookout for their bright red head crest, and keep your ears open for their loud drumming and high-pitched call.
A huge thanks to Zooniverse participant @JoyKidd for the #SuperSnap nomination!
Continue classifying photos on Zooniverse and hashtagging your favorites for a chance to be featured in the next #SuperSnap blog post. Check out all of the nominations by searching “#SuperSnap” on the Snapshot Wisconsin Talk boards.
Elk Camera Updates
Co-authored by Ally Magnin and Emily Donovan
You may have noticed recently on the blog that the Snapshot team has spent some time in the Northwoods conducting fieldwork in the elk grids. But what was our motive as researchers?
Wisconsin’s elk herds are dynamic and do not necessarily occupy the same area all the time. Young individuals may temporarily disperse, cows split off from larger herds to give birth, and the herd as a whole may shift their range as they seek out suitable habitat. While this is to be expected, it creates an interesting problem for camera trap research.
A bull elk from Black River Falls, WI with a GPS collar.
Since 2015, Snapshot Wisconsin has had a portion of our project dedicated to monitoring reintroduced elk herds. Cameras were deployed in grids much smaller than the usual Snapshot Wisconsin grid, increasing the density of cameras in the herd reintroduction area and making it more likely to capture photos of elk. As the herds shifted their range, however, some cameras no longer detected elk. To begin to address this mismatch between our elk grids and the herds’ ranges, Data and Spatial Analyst Emily Buege Donovan conducted an analysis.
Donovan began by combining several elk-related data sources to assess the quality of each camera site. Among these data sources were the most recent GPS locations of collared elk. A portion of the state’s elk are fitted with GPS collars, which transmit a location every 13 hours. GPS collar data is commonly used in wildlife research and management to better understand the movement patterns and resource selection of animal populations. In the present study, Donovan used these data to predict the likelihood that a camera will regularly detect elk. See Figure 1 for an example of the camera locations in relationship to the collar data. Camera locations in the northwest portion of the map have low probability of capturing elk, whereas cameras in the southeast have a high probability of capturing elk photos.
Fig 1. Example map of Snapshot Wisconsin cameras within the elk grids and the 2019 elk collar data.
However, because not all elk in Wisconsin are collared, the collar data could not be used exclusively to determine whether a camera site should remain active in elk monitoring efforts. Donovan also needed to bring in the historical elk detections for each camera site. How long had it been since an elk was detected at this site? How many elk photos were taken by each camera? By combining the collar data, photo data, and several other factors, such as ease of access by the volunteer and habitat type, Donovan created a scoring system to determine the best camera locations. Low scoring cameras were marked for removal, and high scoring cameras were marked to stay on the landscape.
Once we determined which elk blocks should be removed, we reached out to the volunteer who was assigned to each of those blocks and requested their assistance in removing the camera. For the blocks that didn’t have a volunteer assigned, our team planned fieldwork for the summer of 2020 to remove the cameras.
Snapshot team member Ally Magnin during elk camera fieldwork.
Many of the cameras marked for removal were deployed over three years ago, so navigating to them proved difficult in some cases. We traversed tamarack swamps, bushwhacked through thick understory, hopped across streams, and puzzled over satellite imagery to reach each destination. Our team enjoyed the challenge!
In addition to removing old cameras, we also conducted camera checks on the blocks that didn’t currently have a volunteer assigned in order to get them ready for a new volunteer to monitor, and replaced cameras that had shown signs of malfunction. We made it a priority to take diligent notes about how to navigate to each camera site to make navigation easier for future volunteers.
Overall, it was a very productive field season that provided the team with the opportunity to step away from our computer screens and into the outdoors. It also gave us an even greater appreciation for the work our volunteers do to monitor their cameras.
Are you interested in monitoring a camera as a part of our elk project? Sign up today at elk.snapshotwisconsin.org. Applications are reviewed when blocks open up, and we will contact you with more information once you’re accepted!
Check out our other elk-related blog posts below:
Elk Snapshots Mean Better Elk Modeling
December #SuperSnap
Pictures of these two black bears from Lincoln County quickly captured the attention of our Zooniverse community. That’s why we deemed a photo of this pair our December #SuperSnap. Black bear cubs are born during January and February each year. The cubs remain with their mother for about 18 months. During this time, mother bears will teach their cubs how to climb trees, find shelter, and forage for food before sending them off into the world on their own.
A huge thanks to Zooniverse participant @momsabina for the #SuperSnap nomination!
Continue classifying photos on Zooniverse and hashtagging your favorites for a chance to be featured in the next #SuperSnap blog post. Check out all of the nominations by searching “#SuperSnap” on the Snapshot Wisconsin Talk boards.
Snapshot Wisconsin 