At roughly the half way mark for the CBC
season I trust everyone has had a
rewarding season .... and for those
yet to come hopefully more clement 
weather will be the order of the day.

If last year is any guide Ohio will
field 1700+ observers on more than 60
counts ... one of the more intensive
efforts nationwide for the area involved. 
Even so, mapping bird distribution across 
60 some circles is a relatively coarse
approach. Within the data set are
many more party checklists, perhaps
10, 20, 30, .. or more on a count, and
within those party checklists, perhaps
2 or 3 discrete sites ... parks, 
cemeteries, lakes, etc.  

I would like to suggest to you that 
this fine grain information need not be
lost within the collective. I would like
to see a day when these local
checklists find their way into eBird.

In my own practice, the portion of a 
circle may well encompass several
discrete areas ... for each I keep 
a separate checklist. However, I
understand this may not apply to
everyone. Where the information
cannot be broken out by a specific
wildlife area, pond, or park, I enter
a checklist for a given township.
This should work for most of you, 
although I am sure a few party
checklists will overlap 2 or more
townships. To the extent practical,
I am only asking that you consider
leveraging the power of your
Christmas Bird Count effort by taking
this extra step.

And for those species considered by
your CBC compiler as rare, perhaps
it would be appropriate to pinpoint
the exact location ... the likes of
Gray Catbird, Eastern Phoebe, 
- or Short-eared owls over a
specific CRP parcel, mapped over
time may tell us something about 
winter habitat selection, or the 
value of a land parcel within the
context of a management program.
There are far too many examples 
to list here of what this information 
can mean for increasing our 
understanding of Ohio's birds ...
knowledge directly applicable to 
conservation efforts. If you have
some doubts about that, please
contact me privately.

For your consideration ... please
make your effort realize its full potential.

Holiday cheers ... and wishing you the 
very best in 2009.

Vic Fazio
Lawton, OK







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