Dates and Julian dates.

Abstract

Abstract This chapter deals with dates and Julian dates. To illustrate some date handling, the chapter will look at nest building and laying dates for breeding pairs of the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) in Europe, on the mainland and on the island of Corsica. The problem with two-digit dates and POSIX (using data available online for burials at the Hope Cemetery, Derbyshire, UK); phenology and the density function (using data on European corn borer collected in 2003 at a light trap); extraction of day and month from Julian days; and the seasonal patterns and other smoothing curves (presenting data on the abundance (shell influx) of the foraminiferan Turborotalita quinqueloba amassed over a nearly 3-year sampling period at a given site) are described.