Hi,

I have learned how to be a decent beginner birder just by following this listserv and looking up the birds in my Birds of Ohio book, on other websites, and then going to the fields and to the Nature Center at Blacklick and seeing them.

Form me it is absolutely invaluable.

sincerely, judojoe

joe d phillips
OOS newbie
cols & pataskala

---- "Grody wrote:
> Though I agree having more information about the data is beneficial and it is good to recommend the eBird site, I disagree that "Posting bird sightings to the listserv is almost completely useless."
>
> At the City of Columbus, there are over 300 parkland areas.  As the one person staff of the Natural Resources Section, the information has been vital to me to know what species are inhabiting our parks to help guide management of them.
>
> One example is the sedge wrens that nested in Big Walnut Park in a wet area that was historically mowed on a bi-weekly schedule.  Once it was reported that the sedge wrens were hanging around, I was able to convince the maintenance crew to not mow the large area (which was really too wet anyway, but they would mow it and make ruts).  The sedge wrens then hung around because they had the habitat.  I would have never known they were there had it not been for the listserv.
>
> There are many other examples I could give as well.  But I guess my point is that the information given on the listserv is more valuable than just a heads-up to what a birder can go see to check off their life list.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dave Slager
> Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 6:38 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [Ohio-birds] How valuable are listserv postings?
>
> > How much trouble would it be to report age classes of raptors?
>
> As Blakeman suggests, noting age classes of wintering Red-tails is one
> of many easy ways for the birding community to contribute to avian
> science and conservation.  But please don't just send this info to the
> listserv.  From a data perspective, posting bird sightings to this
> listserv is almost completely useless.
>
> On the other hand, by taking 2 or 3 minutes at the end of each birding
> stop to record species, numbers, effort data, and other easy info like
> raptor age classes, we as birdwatchers can make a lasting contribution
> to avian science.  By far the best way to do this is with eBird
> (which, by the way, provides a handy and quantitative way to record
> age and sex numbers during data entry).  Some Ohio-birds subscribers
> are already submitting their sightings to eBird, but far too many
> listserv posters are posting fairly detailed birding notes (sometimes
> even with numbers!) that will just be lost in cyberspace.  What a
> waste!
>
> When you enter sightings into eBird, they become automatically
> available for your personal record-keeping.  They also go through a
> data quality review process and become available to Seasonal editors
> of the Ohio Cardinal and North American Birds.  Once your checklist
> has been submitted to eBird, there is an easy way to email yourself a
> copy of your species list and forward it to Ohio-birds.  Do everyone
> (and the birds) a favor--if you're taking the time to record your
> everyday bird sightings anyway, eBird it first.  Then forward it to
> Ohio-birds.
>
> www.ebird.org
>
> Dave Slager
> Columbus, OH
>
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>
> Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
> Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
> Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
>
> You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
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> Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
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