Phenology (pronounced with a slight emphasis on the middle syllable) is the the study of the seasonal timing of natural events.  For plants important events include flowering, fruiting, growing new leaves and losing old ones.  Birds and insects migrate, breed and raise young.  By recording the timing of these events over many years we can find out how our biota are being affected by climate change.  We can find out whether plants are flowering earlier than they were 20 years ago, whether insects are completing their development more quickly than they used to and whether birds are able to raise more or fewer young in a season.

Phenological events in the Northern hemisphere have been recorded for many years.  For example, the earliest records in Britain were started in 1736, 50 years before the First Fleet arrived in Sydney.  However, there has been little data gathered to investigate how climate change is affecting plants and animals in the southern hemisphere.

The Macquarie University phenology project invites Australians to report observations on the timing of natural events in their home region.  We will collate and put this data up on the Web, where you can look at your results and compare them to other parts of Australia and the world.