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March 2016

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From:
Dan Best <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Sat, 26 Mar 2016 12:59:49 -0400
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Matt:

Thank you for writing and posting this on the Ohio Bird ListServe.  My experience is that too many birders take self-indulgent approach to their hobby.  All the time in the field and listing should count for conservation as a way to give back to the resource - particularly the protection of natural areas that provide bird habitat  Plenty of grousing (pun intended) when areas are developed, but little done to protect them.  

Bird data backs science needed to back conservation and natural areas protection. The message to birders is make your time in the field count through participation in eBird, breeding bird surveys, migration studies, and other citizen science opportunities.  Having said that, unless I find a data cruncher, I have decades of bird notes to enter on eBird that will have to wait until I retire to tackle.  


On Mar 26, 2016, at 7:39 AM, Matthew Valenic wrote:

> There are many good things to build upon in Jon's email (below) but please indulge me as I cover just two.
> 
> Near the end of the email he says "but if we could all spend a bit more time in our local patches adding to the larger understanding of birds in Ohio perhaps that information can be used to help preserve and protect important bird habitat, which it seems to me is the greatest challenge we face today.  Your individual work can fit into a larger picture that can have a significant impact on the future of birds in Ohio."  I recently joined several hard-working members of the Greater Cleveland Audubon Society to gather data on the Chagrin River Corridor Important Bird Area (IBA)  to help 'build a case' for landholders in the Corridor to 'preserve and protect' the habitat throughout the area.  Two of us used eBird to gather existing knowledge of birds seen and reported to date and the data is amazing.  This link will take you to the list of birds recorded through 2015 throughout the Corridor (http://clevelandaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IBA-Birds-of-Chagrin-River-Corridor.pdf).  With the help of Ken Ostermiller we learned how to 'dig deeper' into eBird and gather some very specific data to help the cause.  One hard working lady entered YEARS of Audubon Spring Bird Walk data into eBird.  The  result is that 60 years of data is now available!  Local Audubon clubs throughout the country are doing the same for the IBA's within their geography.  This quality data would not be available if not for each individual eBird entry from each birder.  Your small efforts will help Audubon clubs throughout the country to 'make a case for conservation' everywhere we bird.  
> 
> A few years ago Wes Hatch made the comment to a few of us that he was going to spend a lot of time birding Geauga County the upcoming year.  Wes is a 'lister' and you better have on your running shoes if you plan to spend the day with him.  His comment interested several of us who enjoy seeing a long list at the end of the day, but also enjoy studying behavior, identifying nesters and enjoying all that good birding habitat offers (plants, animals, hydrology, etc).  Several of us took on his challenge and the results and friendships have been wonderful.  Today there is a lot more data available about Geauga birds through our eBird entries and this data has helped everyone enjoy birding more in the county.  We also spend time with new(er) birders we encounter at 'Hotspots', letting them look through spotting scopes and enjoying their excitement when they find a new bird.  We can tell them where in the county to reliably find 'target birds' like Red-headed Woodpeckers (Punderson State Park - the woods all around the golf course).  And most important, we have all become better birders and good friends by working together.  
> 
> Birding is just another part of life.  Let's remember to review the classroom rules we learned in kindergarten and we will all have more fun and get more out of it.
> 
> Matt Valencic
> Geauga County
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jon
> Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2016 7:37 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [Ohio-birds] Carroll Co. 2016 - General Report
> 
> Greetings!
> 
> Last year, Kent Miller and I joined Ben Morrison in Noble County to survey the bird species in one of the least birded counties in Ohio.  It seems that unglaciated eastern Ohio is an area that, surprisingly, has not received much attention in the modern era of birding, although it did seem to get a good amount in the earlier days of ornithology.  We had a very successful year, as well as a lot of fun, so when we talked about where to focus our efforts this year I floated the idea of working in Carroll County, a place that my family has had a presence in since 1971 when my grandparents built a cabin at Leesville Lake.  We decided to make Carroll our target county for many of the same reasons that we chose Noble in that it is very much under-birded and it is almost completely unglaciated, with the possible exception of the very northern-most areas.  It is also in the Bobolink Area of Ohio, which did impact our choice.
> 
> As of January 1, Carroll was ranked 82nd of 88 Counties in Ohio in eBird.  A total of 181 species had been identified in the county.  There was obviously room for adding species there and moving the county up the list in Ohio, although nobody would rightly believe that interior Ohio counties can rise to the level of species seen along the Lake Erie shores.  Frankly, if an area such as Carroll rises to somewhere in the top 60 counties it would be at least be situated in the range of species that ought to be seen in an interior, unglaciated county.  
> 
> We had a good start on January 2nd with 43 species, primarily the species one would expect on an early January list.  By the end of January we had identified 58 species.  In February, we added another 31 species, including 2 large flocks of Greater White-fronted Geese, Snow Geese and Cackling Geese during the big goose push that month.  So far in March, we have added 19 more species including Ben and Kent locating a pair of Sandhill Cranes who may well be setting up shop to nest in the county.  There is 1 earlier record in eBird of Sandhill in the county, but no significant information was included in the sighting, so the fact that good photos were taken of these 2 birds provided the evidence needed for a confirmed sighting.  Thank goodness there is no need to shoot them to get evidence these days!  
> 
> As of today, 114 species have been identified in the county this year alone.  20 brand new species have already been identified in the county this year and one of the best parts is that some other folks have made there way to Carroll following our reports and added to the data.  This, in our minds, is the best part of doing this kind of work.  It is not about competition, it is about increasing the knowledge base and hopefully inspiring other birders to check out areas that may otherwise not get birded much.  We all love to hit the North Shore in the spring and to see those awesome rarities that show up so often, but if we could all spend a bit more time in our local patches adding to the larger understanding of birds in Ohio perhaps that information can be used to help preserve and protect important bird habitat, which it seems to me is the greatest challenge we face today.  Your individual work can fit into a larger picture that can have a significant impact on the future of birds in Ohio.  And who knows, maybe you’ll find a MEGA like a Kelp Gull or Brambling while checking your local patch!  
> 
> If you or your family have information about or property in Carroll that you can share with us, or better yet join us for a day of birding in, we would sure appreciate your help.  We would be particularly interested to know if anyone has had any knowledge of Barn Owls nesting in the region, which seems likely based upon the favorable agricultural habitat.  Any and all help is welcome.  
> 
> Happy birding and hoping to see some birding friends out on the trails as spring 2016 gets underway.
> 
> Jon Cefus
> Carroll County 
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