The swallows and cuckoos were still enjoying warner climes at the time of writing, but they`ll be back over very soon. You can watch them get closer and closer on the live migration map at the Euro Bird Portal (Clic Here) although sadly it doesn`t stretch to include the birds` African winter homes.
To monitor the creatures of the sea, turn to Ocearch (ocearch.org). This opens on the Americas by default but lets you zoom out to track sharks, dolphins, alligators, turtles and more all around the globe. Given that all these animals are tagged and tracked, it`s no surprise to find that the researchers have given them names, too - as you`ll discover when you click each one.
Thw World Wildlife Fund`s Species Tracker (Click Here) uses data from radio collars on animals such as female polar bears (the males` necks are too big, apparently) to keep track of them. Clicka a bear on the zoomable map, then `See More`. To explore the latest data - including photos of new cubs from that area. The zoomable map also lets you monitor populations of jaguars, marine turtles and other endangered creatures.
The biggest wildlife-tracking site is Movebank (Click Here), which links to hundreds of research projects from a global map. It`s an academic resource, so it`s slower and less aesy to navigate thab you`d hope, but you can search its database and click the dots to follow the links to relevant studies, You can even contribute to the research using the free Movebank app (Android and IOS, Click Here)
Numerous augmented-reality (AR) apps bring the heavens into your locked-down living room, and the best is Night Sky (IOS Visit HERE). Focus on any flat surface - ceiling, wall, dining table - to see moons, planets, constellations and even the international Space Station (ISS) overlaid in their real-time positions. A slightly less powerful Android app called SkyView Lite (Visit HERE) visualises the galaxy and ISS when you hold your device up to the sky.
To turn your browser into a heavenly radar, head for The Sky Live`s Online Planetarium (Visit HERE), an interactive real-time map of space that displays the position of planets, moons, asteroids and more. ISS Tracker (www.isstracker.com) reveals where the international Space Station is right now, as it zooms around the planet at 17.000mph. The ISS is also monitored by the deceptively simple site N2YO.com, which tracks the detailsand positions of satellites orbiting the Earth. On the day writing, N2YO had tracked 20626 objects. No fewer than 2.261 (a number that`s continually updated) were ``crosing our sky`` at the moment, which is a lot more than we`d excepted.
The full moon is due above our house on 7 may, but what about where you live? The moon Phases calendar (Visit HERE) - just one of umpteen real-time monitors
at the brilliant Timeanddate.com - detects your location automatically and reveals the moon`s phase, altitude and position over the coming hours and days.
Among the site`s other live trackers are the `Day and Night World Map` (Visit HERE) and World Time Lookup (Visit HERE), which reveals the current
time, weather and sun and moon phases for any location.
The free apps Sun Locator Lite (Android Visit HERE) and Lumos (IOS, Visit HERE) let you Track the sun and moon by the hour.
