​​
Barbara has a good observation. Surely there are birders at Magee, yet no
reports? Many birders are now using Facebook as their primary method of
communicating bird sightings, but I would argue that conscientious birders
will keep in mind that many other birders may not be on Facebook and rely
on Ohio-Birds as their primary source of birding info. I will make a plea
that birders report what they are seeing at migration hotspots like the
 Magee area so folks travelling from other parts of the state have
something to refer to when planning a day's activities. In addition, I
noted that the news the ONWR wildlife drive was CLOSED due to high water
was only communicated on Facebook. If it made it to the list, I didn't see
it. In addition, there was a road closure on Rt 2 as well that was not
reported to the list. Weather and road conditions are as important to
report as bird sightings in May, when just about every birder in the state
is out and about.

Compounding the problem about Facebook-only postings are the multiplicity
of groups for Ohio birds that one can post sightings in. Here's a list of
groups I follow:
Birding Ohio
Central Ohio Birders
Ohio Rare Bird Alert
Ohio Chase Bird
Lake Erie Birding
Bobolink Area of Ohio

That's a lot of groups, and there's not a huge lot of overlap in reporting
between the groups - even between the TWO rare bird alert groups (Ohio RBA
and Chase Birds)!

In addition, it's now become a really good idea to have Twitter and follow
the #BiggestWeek hashtag for up to the minute bird postings in the Magee
area during the Biggest Week in American Birding.

In this era of smart phones, I urge everyone to take the extra step of
copying your post to Facebook and also posting to the listserve (and
vice-versa). At the very least, posts should be copied between the
listserve and Birding Ohio for the most availability for every birder. I
know I am guilty of not doing this all the time myself and pledge to do
better in the future!

Bird on,
Andy Sewell
Columbus

On Sat, May 6, 2017 at 8:20 AM, Barbara Zaas Partington <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> I have been sorry not to see updates from Magee Marsh and surrounds - the
> area many people head to this time of year during spring migration.  Is
> there another site that shows sightings in this birding hotspot area or is
> there just a 100% decline in birders who visit that area using Ohio Birds
> to report sightings?
>
> Barb Partington
> Munson Twp
> Geauga County
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