This morning (late morning) I found a Blackburian warbler at Camas Wildlife Management Area on the straight-a-way. The straight-a-way is just north as you enter the refuge and has a Canal running on the east side of it. I was just told that it has been refound via text by Jake and Blair Briggs. I did not relocate the pair of Blue Grosbeaks that were located earlier this wing along the Marsh loop.
Steve Butterworth
Folks, here’s a “stretched version” of Denise’s note yesterday, just for
fun, eh?
Larry
Note from a birding bud who lives on many listservs. =)
This person is excited, thinks this is the best thing to happen since sliced
bread! In case you haven’t seen it yet—>
From: aznmbirds-request@list.arizona.edu
[mailto:aznmbirds-request@list.arizona.edu] On Behalf Of trose
Sent: Friday, August 04, 2017 7:07 AM
To: aznmbirds@list.arizona.edu
Subject: [AZNMbirds] No Birds – THANK YOU eBird New CHANGE SPECIES Option
OH MY GAWD, this is the BEST thing ever that eBird could have come out
with!!! Yay! LOL.
Anyone who eBirds probably just received an email from eBird letting them
know of the new “Change Species” function they have just implemented. But in
case you didn’t read it in detail or went to the “Change Species” how-to
link, please do!!! (I provide the link in this email near the bottom, as
well).
eBird will now let you change a species in one of your individual eBird
lists, including ALL its accompanying photos, notes, breeding codes, etc.,
in one fell swoop by using the new “change species” option. No more deleting
the species from the list, entering the new, correct one, then reentering
all of its notes and codes and re-uploading its photos. Just choose “change
species” instead, and viola! All gets updated at the same time. Or you can
switch species on just the photos. Or just the audio. Or just one single
photo amongst several. Whatever you need.
Some examples eBird gives are: updating an unidentified gull or shorebird
from a generic species level to its individual species, once it gets
identified. If you’ve uploaded a whole buncha photos and entered copious
identification notes, what a pain it the butt it has been in the past to
delete everything under that species, enter the new species and
copy/save/transfer/reenter all those notes and codes, and then re-upload all
those photos. Not any more!!! Now just one change, and be done with it.
Or, let’s say you accidentally plopped one of your many photos into the
wrong bird’s slot and a fellow birder pointed it out to you? Whoops! Go
click “change species” on that individual photo, and eBird moves it for you
within that list. Awesome!!!
So here’s the link – go look! Pretty darned cool stuff, there.
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/changespecies/
Tonya Holland
Three Points AZ
————————
***Personal case in point if anyone is interested: I very recently updated
all of my listings of the domestic Swan Goose (type) seen at both
Christopher Columbus and Kennedy parks in Tucson, because both eBird (and
the Arizona eBird reviewer team) would prefer that they be entered as
“Domestic Goose species (domestic type)” instead of the more specific Swan
Goose domestic option. Apparently since domestic Swan Geese and Graylag
Geese frequently interbreed and can look like either type, making it often
impossible to determine actual parentage, eBird just wants this domestic
jumble entered at a generic level.
Okay, I love eBird and always want to do things the way eBird requests that
they be done (they have *reasons*!), so I dutifully changed all my lists.
But hey, it’s a DOMESTIC! It’s annoying to most birders to even have to add
them in, in the first place (side note: you SHOULD, by the way – just
because it has no “importance” to you as a species doesn’t meant it
shouldn’t be entered. Entering domestics and escapes is a great way to track
historical progression and expansion of a species if it ever becomes an
established breeding population, and then eventually even perhaps countable
by the ABA, such as the Scaly-breasted Munia in California). But if you’re
like me, it still just seems like really annoying extra work to do all of
the above-described delete/transfer/update steps just for a dumb old
domestic! LOL.
So the new “Change Species” option would have been SOOOOO much easier to
implement than the whole rigamarole that I ended up doing. In the words of
Maxwell Smart, I “missed it by THAT much!”
For those who use ebird and have misidentified or attached a photo/video/audio to the wrong bird. (I have, more than once). Ebird has added a new feature to make correcting the error easier.
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/changespecies/
Denise Hughes
Caldwell, Idaho
A female Black-chinned Hummingbird just sipped from my front feeder then
grabbed a few insects from a nearby lilac bush and returned for a little
more nectar. Earlier today a male Black-Chinned fed from the same feeder. I
have two feeders in the front yard, two in the back. Based on consumption,
all four get some use, but I don’t know which birds use which feeders.
I’m thinking about an article that said when it’s very hot give the birds
at least one feeder that has water rather than nectar and the birds will
choose what they need. I guess I’ll change one to water.
Diann Stone
Boise Depot Bench
Thanks for the admins’ support!
Dear Friends,
The 4th World Shorebirds Day is around the corner and in a month hundreds of birdwatchers are going out for counting shorebirds. The Global Shorebird Counting is a popular program of World Shorebirds Day that will take part between 1-7 September 2017. Registration is already open and available at this link: https://goo.gl/9Q9ZSN
For committed and returning counters a loyalty program was announced last year. I encourage you to register through the form embedded in our blogpost and give yourself a chance to win one of the fantastic prizes. Please find the post at this link: https://goo.gl/hftjym
It would be fantastic to hit an all time high record in the registered sites in 2017. Results of the previous year’s counting will be published later (hopefully shortly).
Follow and subscribe to our blog at https://worldshorebirdsday.wordpress.com
Looking forward to seeing you among the supporters of World Shorebirds Day.
Very best wishes, Szimi
—
Gyorgy Szimuly
Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Just got nester #35 for our place: Wilson’s Warbler. Found 2 immatures in streamside willow patch being fed by female. Have always figured Wilson’s nested on our place but today was first confirmation. Also, female Black-chinned Hummingbird still coming to nectar feeder.
Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot
The grosbeak that Austin Young found yesterday is still at Fort Boise WMA. He showed up about 9:30 this morning and is singing away.
Denise Hughes
Caldwell, Idaho
I am visiting my son for the eclipse and am looking for the best birding/camping sites that might be in the path of the total eclipse. Any suggestions?
BTW, I am enjoying all the postings and excitement about Indigo Buntings. Here they are common, but will certainly keep my eye out for them while there!
Mary Korkor
Hartland, WI
(Frequent visitor to Boise)
Moose night visits! Who knew?
We had them in our yard in Anchorage, during daytime, but that was middle of winter, a record snowfall winter (132”), and they had nowhere else to go.
Brian, your posts are fun and informative.
Thank you! =)
Larry
From: ible@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of lcarrigan_55@yahoo.com [ible]
Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2017 6:48 PM
To: ible@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [IBLE] Past Week
This past week, I’ve had visits by all my favorites. I am still getting feeder visits (& also hitting the begonias) by a female Black-chinned Hummingbird. I have at least 4 pr of Black-headed Grosbeaks coming in for seeds, as well. There are 2 pr & maybe more of Lazuli Buntings on the place. And I get early morning visits by Bullock’s Orioles.
One of my favorites, was a male Western Tanager which came through early AM the other day. I have to pull my seed feeders each evening, as a moose keeps making night visits and nearly destroying my feeders. So, I put them back out early mornings & the W Tanager flew right overhead and landed in a nearby cottonwood, allowing me a very satisfying observation.
Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot
This past week, I’ve had visits by all my favorites. I am still getting feeder visits (& also hitting the begonias) by a female Black-chinned Hummingbird. I have at least 4 pr of Black-headed Grosbeaks coming in for seeds, as well. There are 2 pr & maybe more of Lazuli Buntings on the place. And I get early morning visits by Bullock’s Orioles.
One of my favorites, was a male Western Tanager which came through early AM the other day. I have to pull my seed feeders each evening, as a moose keeps making night visits and nearly destroying my feeders. So, I put them back out early mornings & the W Tanager flew right overhead and landed in a nearby cottonwood, allowing me a very satisfying observation.
Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot