VA BIRDers,
I sent this to the local crew helping out on the Atlas but it has some
relevance to the whole state, so I repeat the message.
Hello All!
Yep, its pretty much the end of the breeding season. Oh, a few more
confirmations will probably come to a head (a friend of mine recently
dropped off his daughter at U Va and confirmed Song Sparrow FY), but to go
out targeting species in a block is over. We had a great run in No. VA this
season with tremendous productivity especially for the priority blocks; a
great big Thank You to those who contributed! And, of course, when January
comes round, the process starts over for year 4 of the Atlas.
I plan to use the next few months analyzing the Northern Region 2018 data as
best I can to help give pointers for next year. At this time, my initial
look at the Atlas data has revealed a few items that I hope you can address.
1. Stop using the Breeding Bird Atlas to report birds without including
breeding codes. This skews the effort hours for the blocks and may impact
strategies for next year vis-à-vis block completion, etc.
2. If you have reported birds to the Atlas site without codes, please
move these lists to the regular E-bird database using the convenient change
portal button on the right hand side of your lists brought up using the My
Ebird Manage Lists page.
3. And for those cases where you can code birds (if possible) be sure
to include breeding codes on those lists that you forgot to code. I know it
sounds a bit strange, but let me remind you of the seldom-uttered cry
remember the starlings I have actually seen data where starlings are
coded as observed in the middle of summer!
4. Most common coding problems are: vultures (give reasons if you think
they are breeding), coding Great Blue Herons that do not breed in your block
(coding long-legged herons and cormorants requires a heronry or breeding
colony in the block this does not apply to Green Herons or Night Herons),
and coding birds that are migrants (check the Tables that the Atlas website
has provided).
Although next years strategies and plans are still being formulated, I
think we definitely need to continue the block busting field trip strategy
we successfully employed this year for Independent Hill SE, Upperville SE,
Richardsville SE and Germanna Bridge SE this year. Please stay tuned!
And now, relax, go find some interesting birds, consider a bit of traveling,
and have fun. And, as always
Wishing You Good Birds,
and, many thanks to All,
Kurt