In late March, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Howard Heffler, Andrew Hart, Gavin McKinnon, and I decided to suspend the BirdYYC2020 challenge which we had organized. Participants in the challenge tried to find as many species as they could within the city limits. It was going very well, with over sixty birders taking part, and with many very good species being found. But we felt then that it was important to encourage people to stay home and refrain from gathering in groups.
Many people continued to bird individually and safely and to add to their year lists. But Nature Calgary field trips were cancelled and for a time many local parks were closed. The WhatsApp Rare Bird Group was temporarily closed.
Recently things have opened up quite a bit in Alberta, and we have decided to resume the challenge, with modifications. Nature Calgary is again offering field trips, but these are limited to ten registered participants and there is no car-pooling. The WhatsApp Rare Bird Group is open again and there have been a number of good sightings reported there. (Follow the link to learn more about this app and to join the group.)
Many birders unfortunately missed out on much of the spring migration, so as we resume the challenge, it will be difficult for them to get as many species this year as they may have hoped. (I am among those – my species total for the city is very low for this time of year, and my daily Year Needs alert from eBird runs to about forty species – mostly common species that I just haven’t seen yet.)
Common Merganser with chicks. A nice sighting on one of my few outings in recent months. Bow River, June 21, 2020. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
Therefore, although the challenge will resume, the focus will shift away from the “friendly competition” aspect to one of “data collection” – to allow a comparison of the species found this year to those reported in the city during similar events in 2000 and 2010.
Our original objectives were to have a friendly competition and to:
· Share sightings.
· Promote interest in birds and birding.
· Enjoy Calgary’s natural areas.
· Organize more Nature Calgary field trips.
· Compare results with 2000 and 2010.
We can still achieve some of these objectives. We hope people will continue to post their sightings to eBird, and to use the WhatsApp Rare Bird Alert to share special sightings within the City limits.
It’s still possible that if the pandemic is under control, we may decide to do the whole challenge again in 2021. In the meantime, if you were already participating, continue to post your sightings to eBird. If you’d like to join in, see this Nature Calgary page or the first post linked to below.
With the current Covid-19 situation, it is not safe right now to bird in groups, and may not be for a long time. Nature Calgary has cancelled all group field trips for the time being, and the Friends of Fish Creek Spring Birding Course has been postponed. The BirdYYC2020 Challenge has also been suspended. Provincial and National Parks are closed.
Spring migration is under way (despite the winter-like weather we’ve been having), but I have not been publicizing any sightings at specific locations, to try to avoid having crowds gather there. Of course there are other ways for word to get around, and many people are getting out.
There is no problem with birding alone, or with another person from your household. If you do go, here are some guidelines from eBird on how to do so safely:
Keep your optics to yourself. Don’t share your scope, binoculars, or camera with others; disinfect the eye caps of your optics after each birding trip.
Maintain distance. If you are birding near others (whether they are birders or not), maintain at least 6 feet of space between yourself and other people at all times. Take turns at blinds, shelters, and in other situations where proper distancing may not be possible.
Avoid touching communal surfaces. This includes railings, doorknobs, handles, and other frequently used areas of public sites. If you touch these surfaces, wash your hands and/or use hand sanitizer immediately.
Respect restrictions and closures. Check if your favorite park, trail, or wildlife refuge is still open before heading outside. Plan your birding trips in accordance with the latest recommendations of your local authorities.
Share checklists, not phones: eBird Mobile users should avoid passing phones to review checklists for the time being. Confirm lists verbally before submission and if you need to make changes after you submit, it is easy to share and correct lists on the eBird Mobile app!
One way that birders can stay safe and continue birding is to do it their own yards. Many of us already feed the birds and watch them in our yards regularly. This is a chance to increase the number of hours we spend looking for new species in or from our yards, and a great opportunity for more people to begin backyard birding.
Here is another article from eBird Canada on how to get the most out of birding at home. I encourage you to use eBird to record what you see. If you are interested in comparing what you see in your yard to what others are seeing, you can set up a Yard List on eBird. See these eBird Help Centre articles for instructions. And here is a more detailed article I wrote on setting up Yard Lists. I’m sure some of you have thought about starting on eBird or setting up Patch and Yard lists, but just never had the time before. Maybe now is a good time to start!
If you do feed birds in your yard, you may want to take advantage of the delivery service offered by the Wild Bird Store in Calgary. Go to their web page to see how to get bird feeders or seed delivered to you. You can also do contactless pickup at the store. These are good options so that you keep your risk to a minimum and support a local business.
I have been having problems with my camera so I’m unable to share any new photos I’ve taken in my yard. I’ve had huge European Starling flocks lately (often eating crabapples), Robins in the birdbath, occasional Bohemian Waxwing flocks eating crabapples, a nesting pair of Eurasian Collared-Doves, and a local Merlin who has chased the Starlings a few times.
Reynold Reid also had a Merlin in his yard in the Chaparral neighbourhood in SE Calgary recently, and luckily for us his camera is working fine!
Merlin with prey, Calgary, March 26, 2020. Photo by Reynold Reid.
The Merlin is eating a rather large prey species. Can anyone identify it? I have an idea but would like to hear what you think.
If you have been getting good photos of backyard birds in Calgary and would like to share them here, email them to birdscalgary[at]gmail.com. Until I get my camera working properly I’ll post some of them, and some of my older photos.
With spring finally in the air and migrants starting to arrive in numbers, this is the time of year that birders anticipate the most. This year was especially exciting for Calgary birders who were involved in the 2020 Challenge, a year-long effort to see as many species as one could within the city limits.
Harlequin Ducks, seen by many birders in the city this winter. Photo by Andrew Hart.
However, the Covid-19 crisis has made it impossible to continue group outings, and we really want to encourage people to stay home as much as possible. As you may know, Nature Calgary outings and the Friends of Fish Creek birding course have also been suspended. Reluctantly, the Challenge has been suspended. We have a few ideas as to how, if, or when to resume, which I’ll address at the end.
It’s too bad, because we were lucky enough to find quite a few great birds in the city for the winter months, and several birders had recorded over 60 species already. The WhatsApp Rare bird Alert (which has been suspended) enabled participants to rapidly re-find rarities as they were reported. One example is Gyrfalcon, a very unusual bird to get in the city limits. But many participants were able to find one that was feeding on Mallards inside the city, after it was reported on the app. (There may have been as many as three Gyrfalcons in the area over the course of a week a couple of months ago.)
Gyrfalcon, near Maycroft in SW Alberta, January 30, 2020. Photo by Raymond Toal.
Here is the statementfrom Howard Hefflerabout suspending the Challenge:
The BirdYYC2020 began as idea to repeat, taking advantage of modern online tools, the big year birding competitions previously held in Calgary in 2000 and 2010. Andrew Hart, Bob Lefebvre, and – later, gratefully, joined by Gavin McKinnon – agreed we would organize and promote the event.
We hoped to create enthusiasm in the Calgary birding community to “get out there and go birding”. AND, to share your sightings with others. We also hoped to collect the data to allow comparison with what had be done 10 and 20 years previously.
Modern digital tools, eBird being the main one, but also smart phones and a variety of in-the-field tools to assist birders of all levels, have changed the landscape. What fun to compare the new with the old. The best example is Gavin setting up the WhatsApp Rare Bird alert that allows anyone to instantly receive notification of a rare bird reported by other participants.
But the fun is over. For the foreseeable future at least.
The four of us have come to the unhappy decision that what we are doing is promoting unnecessary and unwarranted social contact at a time when the entire society is relying on each other to act responsibility.
We have decided to stop supporting any BirdYYC2020 initiatives. The first step has been to shut down the WhatsApp Rare Bird Group.
I sincerely hope that the actions being taken by our federal and provincial governments will slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This is a threat to our global culture and economy that we are only just beginning to understand.
The best – and honestly ONLY – defense against community spread at this time is to minimize infection by strict social distancing and, where warranted, self-isolation.
A couple of days ago I “chased” a reported sighting of a Eurasian Wigeon at Carburn Park. When I arrived, I walked briskly to the likely observation spot. I interacted with other people, some were birders, and some were not. Some I knew. And some I did not. I set up my scope. Within minutes there was a small group of interested passersby. To the best of my knowledge I am not infected. I expect everyone else in that small group also felt the same way. I, and they, would hate to think that we are contributing to the spread of the virus.
But we are. So, I for one, am going to stop. The other three (Andrew, Bob, and Gavin) feel the same.
We are not going to participate in a forum that promotes unnecessary social contact.
At this time, there is no government directive to not go outdoors for a walk etc. That may change. For me, the potential public health risk resulting from random, unnecessary excursions from your home is best described in an article by a very reputable medical reporter, Andre Picard. See: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-to-tackle-coronavirus-walk-and-act-this-way/
This is really unfortunate. The BirdYYC challenge was generating a lot of interest. There are over 60 people registered and a similar number who have established the BirdYYC2020 patch. I feel we were headed toward a truly “big year”.
What shall we do? Here is one idea. We could select a date, such as March 31st , and declare the end of this birding year. Then, next April 1st, 2021, we all start again. A bit unorthodox, I know. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
We will immediately stop promoting BirdYYC2020. We have shut down the WhatsApp group.
Stay tuned. Over the next weeks things may change.
Personally, I am still in a quandary if and how to continue birding this year. I have decided, it will not be in a group.
As Howard mentioned, eBird is of course still operational, and any Patch Lists are still valid, so you can add to your lists. I added one in my yard yesterday. Some people are still (very carefully) going out birding, although many parks are now closed.
So how do we continue the Challenge? Howard made one suggestion, and I’ll add a few. If you are a Challenge participant please email me at birdscalgary(at)gmail.com, or Howard at hheffler(at)shaw.ca.
Suspend the current Patch Lists on March 31, and resume the Challenge on April 1 of 2021. This presents some logistical difficulties, since eBird won’t be tracking the totals for a split year. It would take a little more work on the part of the organizers. I also think that birders are pretty attached to one-year lists and may not like a split year either.
When safe, resume the Challenge in 2020. For example, we could resume on July 1 and continue to December 31. This would mean that the entire spring migration would be missed (individual birders can of course still add species in the spring but there would be no group outings and much would be missed by most participants). Many species missed in the spring can be found again in the fall, but not all.
Cancel the Challenge for this year, but start over from scratch in 2021. Our experiences this year would be a sort of trial run. This would mean there is an 11-year gap between this Challenge and the 2010 one, and (presumably) a 9-year gap until the next one, instead of the intended 10 years. A minor point in my opinion.
Cancel the Challenge. The next City Challenge would be in 2030.
Of these, I favour re-starting the Challenge from scratch in 2021. If you have an opinion, or any other ideas on how to resume, please let us know.
Happy New Year! Today marks the start of BirdYYC2020, a year-long birding challenge. Participants will try to find as many species as they can within the Calgary city limits in 2020.
American Dipper. A few have been seen in the city this winter. You never know about next winter, so find one now! Photo by Tony LePrieur.
If you haven’t yet registered or set up your city eBird patch, you can still join. Email Howard Heffler at hheffler[@]shaw.ca with your name, eBird name, and email address and you will be added to the list. You can set up your eBird patch later too, but you’ll have to start putting your sightings into eBird right away for those to count towards your totals.
The important thing to do now if you want to get a good start on your Big Year list is to find all the winter birds that can’t be found here in the summer. The winter finches are in short supply this year but could be entirely absent next November and December, so get Pine Grosbeak and any others you can find now. Go to Carburn Park and Fish Creek Park where dippers have been seen.
All-day field trip to kick off BirdYYC2020
On Friday January 3, Gavin McKinnon will lead a field trip to various locations in the city so you can get a good start on your year. To register, text Gavin at 403-519-8703. Registration is required. See the Nature Calgary field trip page for more information.
You can increase your chances of finding good birds by following reports on Albertabird and on eBird so you can see what’s been reported and where. It’s a good idea to set your Calgary County Year Needs Alert on eBird so you get an hourly or daily email that lists everything that’s been reported on eBird that you haven’t yet seen in 2020 (keeping in mind that some reports will be from outside the city limits, so check the locations carefully).
There is a new page tab at the top of the blog called “BirdYYC2020” (right next to the “Home” tab). Click on that for links to all the articles we have posted about the challenge. This will include information about joining, using eBird, setting up your patch, setting alerts, and so on.
Horned Lark. This is a really tough one to get inside the city, but winter might be the best time to look for them on the eastern outskirts. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
If you have any questions about the challenge contact:
Nature Calgary is promoting a friendly “big year” birding challenge within the Calgary city limits in 2020. See this post for general information. To register to take part in this free year-long challenge, send your name, eBird name, and email address to Howard Heffler at: hheffler[at]shaw.ca.
Participants will have to set up a Patch List in eBird that includes all of their sightings within the city limits.
Will you be able to find a Northern Pygmy-Owl in Calgary in 2020? Photo by Tony LePrieur, Bebo Grove, Calgary, December 2, 2017.
Setting Up Patch Listsby Howard Heffler.
For the BirdYYC2020 eBird challenge, here is how you set up your patch list. If you are new to eBird, I recommend you review the eBird help pages. They define Patch List as:
Patch list: a series of locations for a specific area that you can
summarize in a patch list.
You can have any number of patch lists. For example; Fish Creek Provincial Park patch, which will include every location that you have birded within the Park. As you know, there are several hotspots in Fish Creek and creating a patch is a way to collect your checklists in one place and look at all the data together. For the BirdYYC2020 eBird challenge we will use the current Calgary city limits. (For those of you who participated in the 2010 competition, the City boundaries have not changed, so any information you have from then is still relevant.)
You only need to set up the patch list once, and all your past and future sightings will be included in the totals, broken down by month, year, and life. Use the patch name “BirdYYC2020”. If you already have a city limits patch, you merely need to rename your existing patch. (Remember to re-name it back to its original name when the 2020 challenge is over.) Also, if you submit an eBird list from a new (to you) location, you will have to remember to add that location to your patch list. Both established hotspots and personal locations are eligible.
If this is all new to you, here is a step-by-step guide:
Open eBird.
By this time, we assume you have an account and have signed in.
It will also be more meaningful if you have already submitted a few checklists from locations within the City.
Click on “Explore”.
Near the bottom you will find “Patch Totals”.
You will also see “Yard Totals”. You can also keep a yard list with this tool. You should remember to include your personal location for your home (your “yard”) in the BirdYYC2020 patch, but only if you live in the City.
Click on Patch Totals.
Click on “Add a Patch”. (If you have previously set up your BirdYYC2020 patch, go to Step 4.)
Name the patch BirdYYC2020.
Scroll down through all your locations and tick the ones within the City limits. The designated eBird hotspots all start with Calgary or Fish Creek PP. All your personal locations (non-hotspots) are also eligible – if they are inside the City limits.
Don’t worry, when you submit a list in the future from a location not yet on this list, you can add it later; usually when you get home that evening.
Click on “Save Patch”.
Go back to Patch Totals.
You will now see all the patch lists for the region. It will likely first open for all of Canada, so you will want to change the region to Alberta, and to Calgary.
This page shows all your patch lists within Calgary County. You can see your data in a variety of ways. Notice that anything that is blue and underscored is a link. Have good look around to get familiar with all the ways you can summarize your data. It’s fun!
You will also see all the patches by other eBirders within Calgary County. Some will be BirdYYC2020, but there will be others too.
This is why we ask all participants to NOT hide their data. (Take a look at this guide to see how to set your preferences.)
You will see who has reported the highest number of species in the BirdYYC2020 patch and how you compare. You can look by month, year or life.
Next year, 2020, this is where the fun begins. Who is leading? Where do you stand? What species have been recently reported?
That’s it. You are now in the BirdYYC2020 birding challenge!
Note that since eBird tracks all of your lifetime sightings, you can set up this patch anytime in 2020 and it will include sightings from earlier in the year. So if you are a latecomer to the challenge and don’t get started right away, you can still take part. But we would like to see as many participants as possible get their patches done by January 1st so we can see how it’s going.
We ask that you register for the challenge by sending an email to Howard Heffler (hheffler*@*shaw.ca) with your name, email address and eBird name. Some people use a pseudonym in eBird, which is fine, but we would like to know who you are when we see your eBird checklists.
During the year anyone can look on eBird and see the all the
participants with a BirdYYC2020 patch. It will show how many species (and how
many checklists) have been reported by each. Your totals will show as well. It
is not possible to see an individual’s complete list of species, just a few of
their most recent sightings.
A WhatsApp group has been set up to allow Calgary birders participating in the 2020 “Big Year” Birding Challenge to share instant updates on rare/uncommon birds sighted within the city limits. The big advantage of this group over email listservs will be that everyone can send out and receive updates quickly. It is essentially like sending a text message, much faster and more direct than email. Photos can be also be shared with the app.
WhatsApp groups are currently restricted to 256 members, which we hope will be more than enough to include all the birders who want to get “instant” bird news while they are out and about.
For those who do not want instant updates we will have a weekly report of rare birds on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Follow the challenge on Twitter at @birdyyc2020.
Joining the group
If you don’t already have WhatsApp on your phone, you will first need to download and install it (via iTunes, Android Play or the Microsoft Store, depending on what type of smartphone you have). The app is free. Once you have the app, you will need to send a request to one of the group admins with your request to join the Birdyyc2020 RBA group.
The WhatsApp icon.
There are currently two group admins: Gavin McKinnon and Bob Lefebvre. In order to join the group please send a message to either one of them and they will add you to the group. A text message to their phone number is the easiest way to do it. Gavin 403-519-8703; Bob 403-370-0556. Include your name so that it will be visible to users when you post messages to the group.
The group is open to all birders interested in Calgary’s rare birds. All BirdYYC2020 challenge participants will receive an email with a link to join the WhatsApp group. If you received this email simply follow the link to join the group. To join the challenge, email Howard Heffler at hheffler[at]shaw.ca with “Challenge” in the subject line.
Group Guidelines
● The group is only to be used for sharing information about rare and uncommon species within the city limits of Calgary. Please remember that every message you send goes out to everyone in the group. Although general chit-chat and banter is expected please avoid having conversations in the group chat.
● If you find a bird on the list of ‘reportable’ species, send a message to the group as soon as possible. (A list of reportable species will be provided to participants.) Include as much detail as you think necessary to enable others to find the bird if they choose to go and look for it. If you do pursue (“twitch”) a reported sighting please send an update on whether you have been successful or not.
● Consider the welfare of the bird at all times. Do not send out news of sensitive or breeding birds. Please do not report the locations of owls or other species prone to disturbance on the group chat. If you are unsure of whether or not to post please contact one of the group admins before doing so.
We encourage participants in the challenge to also share their sightings on the listserv Albertabird. If you are not a member of Albertabird, see this post for information.
Don’t wait until January to start using the app! We have been using it for a while already, and we’d like to see it used next week during the Calgary Christmas Bird Count, and on other counts over the Christmas season.
Mew Gull, photographed on the Irrigation Canal in SE Calgary on October 13, 2019, by Gavin McKinnon, and shared immediately with BirdYYC2020 WhatsApp group users.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please contact Gavin McKinnon by email (gmckinnonbird[at]gmail.com) or phone (403-519-8703).
Nature Calgary is promoting a friendly “big year” birding challenge within Calgary city limits in 2020. See this post for details of the challenge.
What Are eBird Alerts?
eBird Alerts are lists of noteworthy birds reported in the past seven days in a specific county, state, province, or country. The best place to learn about eBird alerts is on the eBird Help pages about alerts and targets.
In a previous article we described how to open an eBird account with your name and email address. It will be very helpful if you set the eBird parameters on “My eBird” to alert you about local sightings that should improve your chances of adding to your year list.
Setting eBird Alerts
You can get to the Alerts page either from “Explore” and then, near the bottom, open “Alerts.” Or, from “My eBird,” open “Manage My Alerts.”
There are three Alerts:
1. ABA Rarities
This alert is for observations of rare birds in the American Birding Association Area.
2. Rare Bird Alerts
Email alerts for rare birds in a particular area.
3. Needs Alerts
Email alerts for species you have not personally recorded in a particular region or time period.
The
later two are likely the most relevant to participation in the BirdYYC2020
challenge.
You can set your region of interest to Calgary. It is important to remember that the eBird region named “Calgary” refers to an area larger that the City of Calgary.
The Calgary County on eBird.
After selecting Calgary as your region of interest, you can “View” the alerts or you can “Subscribe.” If you subscribe, eBird will send you an email – daily or hourly.
By setting your “Needs Alerts” eBird will notify you of all species reported in Calgary for the past seven days that would be new to your list of species on eBird. To be most useful to the BirdYYC2020 challenge, check the box “This year only.”
The Rare Bird Alerts will inform you of ABA Code 3 and above reports in the region, whether or not they are on your needs list.
You can also set alerts for any other other region you are interested in, for example if you plan to travel. Alerts can easily be changed at any time from “Manage My Alerts” on your “My eBird” page. It is a very useful feature of eBird and birders participating in the 2020 challenge should take advantage of it.
Nature Calgary is promoting a friendly “big year” birding challenge within Calgary city limits in 2020: BIRDYYC2020.
This article is for beginners with eBird to give them the essential information to get started and, we hope, the confidence to explore the powerful features of eBird.
What is eBird?
eBird is a publicly-accessible online database consisting of bird sightings from all around the world. The best place to learn about eBird is on their website.
The eBird Canada home page.
Since 2002 eBird has amassed over one-half billion reports from
birders around the world. It is a project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and
is supported entirely by grants, sponsors, and donations. It is free and available
for everyone to use.
The first step is to go to the home page and open an account with your name and email address. You will have to select a username and a password. That’s all there is to it.
Using eBird to enter your sightings
There is a vast amount of data on the eBird website that you may access, but the two things to consider initially are; (1) entering checklists, and (2) looking up data. There is a “help” button on the top menu bar on the home page. Believe me, the help pages are very good.
In the Field
I think most people keep track of their sightings while they are birding in the field using the eBird mobile app. The first step is to get the app – available for free on both the Google Play and App Stores. After you download the app and open it on your smartphone, the screen looks like this:
The eBird smartphone app home screen.
The idea is to enter your sightings while you are birding. There are
several ways to do this and you will soon find your favorite techniques after a
bit of practice. You will have to spend a bit of time at your computer looking
through the instructions on the eBird help pages.
In a nutshell; open the app, start a new list, select a location, enter your sightings at that hotspot, stop the list (when you are finished at that hotspot), review it, and submit.
I admit it takes a bit of time initially to learn. But, after some practice, you will appreciate the many ways it is helpful to your birding.
At your desk
It is also possible to submit checklists from your computer when you get back home. Open eBird and look for the “submit” button at the top of the home page. You then select the location where you were birding (if you visited several locations, you will need to submit a checklist for each), enter the time and date, type of observation, and begin to enter your sightings.
The eBird desktop interface.
Again, remember that each checklist is to be associated with one hotspot. It might be a public hotspot such as, Calgary–Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, or it might be a location you define yourself. It is not a list of all the birds you saw that day at a variety of locations.
I encourage you to look through the help pages on the eBird website.
They are very well thought out. Remember, there are many thousands (even
millions) of birders just like you. Everyone one of them at one time was a
beginner with eBird.
Looking up Data
I consider eBird to have two modes: data in and data out. “Data in” refers to entering your sightings. “Data out” refers to looking up information that has been compiled from the vast number of reports from the many millions of checklists; including your own checklists. There are many more things that can be done with this data than I can even begin to describe. Here are a few things you will initially want to do.
Check out Hotspots and Species
On the eBird home page, open the “Explore” page. From there you can find a hotspot, look at what birds have been reported over any time period, see the location on Google maps, and study the historic data in any way you could imagine. Most likely, you will want to see what birds were seen in the past few days to help you anticipate what you might find there.
Alternatively, you may want to explore by species name. In this case you enter the common name of a species and eBird displays a map of all locations where this species has been recorded. You can then zoom in to the desired geographic scale – perhaps right to a hotspot near you where that species was reported in the past week. There are a few sensitive species that do not allow you to zoom in to specific locations. In Alberta these are Gyrfalcon, Great Grey Owl, Northern Hawk-Owl and Burrowing Owl.
My eBird
Of course, you will also want to look at your own data. On the eBird home page open “My eBird”. On the main part of the My eBird page you can look at your own data. On the right-hand side are several tabs. Likely the one you will use most frequently is: “Manage My Observations”. When you open this page, you will see all your checklists. They can be sorted by date, by location, or by region, and can be edited or shared.
There are many other actions you can do on or from “My eBird” such as setting up alerts to let you know about rare bird sightings or to advise that a bird you have not yet seen that year has been recently reported – we will discuss this feature in another article. One set of parameters I want to draw your attention to is: setting your eBird preferences. We want all participants in BIRDYYC2020 to share their eBird lists and make sightings on eBird visible. The purpose is to allow all participants to chase sightings by others. Specifically: from the eBird homepage, under My eBird, select Preferences; Data privacy – elect to NOT hide your eBird data.
One other feature of eBird that will be of special interest during the BIRDYYC2020 challenge will be how to establish a “Patch”. We will develop another instructional article on just that topic. The starting point on the eBird home page is the “explore” button. Try it and see how you do.
Closing
I can remember many times my Dad telling me when I was young: “Don’t play with that, you’ll break it.” That’s not true with eBird. You won’t break it. Sign in and go exploring around the whole site. Look through the help topics. Look at the data for one of your favorite hotspots. Explore the Region, “Calgary County”. Be aware that “Calgary County” is quite a bit larger that the City of Calgary.
Nature Calgary is promoting a friendly “big year” birding challenge within Calgary city limits in 2020 (BIRDYYC2020). (See this post for an introduction to the challenge.) This guide to Albertabird is one of a number of posts we will present to help everyone who participates.
What is Albertabird?
One useful tool for those taking part in the challenge is the online discussion forum “Albertabird”. This is a place where birders can share sightings, locations, and photos, so it will be useful to participants in keeping informed during the year and giving them the best chance to see as many bird species within the city limits as possible. This article is for newcomers to Albertabird. Anyone can join Albertabird or use it as a resource – it is not just for BIRDYYC2020 participants.
The Albertabird email list was started in early 2000. Initially hosted by Yahoo Groups, a switch to the more compatible platform, Groups IO, was completed in late 2019.
This list functions within the guidelines found in the American Birding Association Code of Ethics. The Albertabird Moderators are Gerald Romanchuk, Malcolm McDonald, and Caroline Lambert.
To post messages to the list you must be a member. To join, you simply go to the site’s Home page and click on “Apply for Membership in this Group.” You will be asked to submit your email address. You should get a response to your request for membership in a day or two.
You can open the “Messages” page to see the latest posts. You can also go to “Subscription” and set the parameters in a way that suits you. You may elect to receive each message in an individual email or in other ways or to not receive emails. Once you are a member, you can post messages and photos for all to see. You can post either right on the website or by sending an email to Albertabird[at]groups.io.
Albertabird
has been a powerful and useful tool for years, allowing birders to share
stories and help others learn.
We encourage you to look frequently at Albertabird and to post stories about your adventures during the BirdYYC2020 challenge.
Albertabird
Guidelines
The complete guidelines for users of Albertabird can be found on the Albertabird website under “files”.
A
few points to remember are:
Do
not to hit the “Reply” button when responding to a message unless you
are intending to send your comments to all subscribers.
All
posts should contain your name and location by city.
Be
prepared to share directions to interesting birds, except for species at risk.
Do
not share directions on private property until you have permission from the
landowner to do so.
Do
not post detailed information on a nest location, particularly for species at
risk, to minimize disturbance to nesting birds.
The
list allows attachments such as photos or files. Files should be kept as
concise as possible in the interest of saving storage space
Photos can be attached to the message as a file or pasted into the
message. (See the guidelines on the Albertabird website for more details and
restrictions.)
Enjoy!
Any questions or suggestions about BIRDYYC2020 contact: Howard Heffler: hheffler*@*shaw.ca Andrew Hart: andrewhart*@*shaw.ca Bob Lefebvre: wbird7*@*gmail.com Gavin McKinnon: gmckinnonbird*@*gmail.com
