Safe Birding and Backyard Birding

Apr11

April 11, 2020. Posted by Bob Lefebvre.

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!

See the entire article on birding mindfully on eBird Canada.

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
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.

City Nature Challenge 2020

Apr5
  • April 24-27, 2020
  • Modified due to Covid-19
  • Expanded to Calgary metropolitan area
  • Everyone welcome to participate!

The second annual Calgary City Nature Challenge will go ahead on April 24-27, 2020. Once again, Matthew Wallace is doing a great job of organizing and promoting this valuable citizen science project.

This year, an expanded Calgary metropolitan area will include Airdrie, Cochrane, Okotoks, and Chestermere. Calgary will be competing with over 200 other cities around the world to try to identify as many species of wildlife as possible.

Last year there were many organized group activities in the CNC, but due to Covid-19 these will not be taking place this year. However, people can easily participate by themselves by taking photos of any living thing and uploading it to the iNaturalist website or app.

Calgary City Nature Challenge

For all the updated information on how to participate, see the Calgary CNC website here.

Download the iNaturalist app or sign up on the webpage. Then start taking pictures of wildlife and uploading them. There is no need to wait until April 24 to get started, but please try to help out on that weekend!

Bird YYC2020 Challenge Suspended

Mar29

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

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 statement from Howard Heffler about 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.

Best health to you all.

__________________________________________________

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.

Birds & Beers, April 2020 – CANCELLED

Mar21

The Birds & Beers event that was scheduled in Calgary for Thursday, April 2, 2020 has been cancelled due to concerns about Covid-19.

Future scheduled Birds and Beers events of Thursday, May 7 and Thursday, June 25 are on hold until further notice.

In the meantime, you can drink beer and watch birds in your yard. That’s what I’ve been doing!

Eurasian Collared-Doves in my yard. This photo was taken in April 2019, but the pair is back nesting here again this year. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

Birds & Beers, March 5, 2020

Feb24

We were unable to get our usual late-February date for Birds & Beers, so we will be meeting next on Thursday March 5th.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Thursday March 5, 2020, 6:00-9:00 pm.

Dan Edwards will be presenting “Birds of the Great Ocean Walk,” a birding-oriented travelogue of his trip hiking the Great Ocean Walk in southern Australia last October. The presentation will begin at about 7:15 pm.

Kookaburra
Kookaburra. Photo by Daniel Edwards.

Everyone is welcome to attend Birds & Beers, and there is no charge. We will meet in the big ballroom at the Legion. Food and drinks are available at reasonable prices, and children are welcome if accompanied by an adult. Come early if you want to avoid the lineup at the kitchen.

BirdYYC2020 Challenge Update, February 16

Feb16

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

The 2020 birding challenge is well under way! About sixty local birders have begun to build up their year lists, trying to find as many species as they can within the city limits in 2020. Here is an update on how things have gone so far.

First of all, I should mention that it is not too late to join. If you were away, if you didn’t get around to joining, or if you don’t get out much in the winter, there is no reason you can’t start now and still have a big year. Even if you miss all the winter birds you will have another crack at them in November and December.

To get started, just send your name, eBird name and email address to Howard Heffler at: hheffler[at]shaw.ca.  For more information, see this post.

If you are already an eBirder it is easy to get started. Just register with Howard, then set up your city patch. If not, there is still time to begin using eBird to record your sightings and have a big year. Here are the posts that will get you started.

At the end of January the leader in the challenge had recorded 52 species inside the city limits. There were 86 species seen by all eBirders in Calgary county in January. The county is larger than the city, so Howard Heffler has attempted to determine which ones were seen in the city, and it looks like there were 73 species seen collectively. You can see the list of species on Howard Heffler’s summary on Albertabird here.

In addition to the usual winter birds, the list has quite a number of overwintering birds that most birders will be able to get in the spring, summer, or fall if they don’t see them now. These include the Trumpeter Swans at Carburn Park and the Tundra Swan at Griffith Woods Park, the Lesser Scaup, Redheads, and Ring-necked Ducks at Carburn, American Robins, American Crows, and many others.

Trumpeter Swan
Trumpeter Swan, an overwintering adult at Carburn Park. Photo by Andrew Hart.

There are also many of the usual winter-only species that that participants should make an effort to find in the next month or so, or else have to wait until next winter. This would include Northern Shrike, American Dipper, Townsend’s Solitaire, Bohemian Waxwing, Pine Grosbeak, and Common Redpoll (Hoary Redpoll has not yet been reported). Redpolls are very scarce so I hope we get a bigger influx next winter.

In addition there are quite a few species that are much easier to find in the city in the winter, though they are in the Calgary region year-round. Examples are Northern Pygmy-Owl (seen lately in Shannon Terrace), American Three-toed Woodpecker and Black-backed Woodpecker (Votier’s Flats and Shannon Terrace in Fish Creek Park), Barrow’s Goldeneye (lower Bow River), Northern Saw-whet Owl (various locations, and really hard to find, though they are beginning to sing now and may be heard in forested areas in the next month or two).

I would also make an effort to see Harlequin Ducks – there are a few on the Bow this winter but you never know if any will be there next winter. They have been seen most reliably at Carburn Park and Beaverdam Flats. The Greater Scaup at Carburn are worth seeing too. They can be here on migration but are not common in the city. This overwintering pair is more reliable (although I haven’t seen them in four attempts). Northern Goshawk seems to be reported more often in the winter as well. I don’t know if they are more numerous in the winter or just easier to spot with no leaves on the trees.

Harlequin Ducks
Harlequin Ducks. Photo by Andrew Hart.
Greater Scaup
Greater Scaup. Photo by Andrew hart.

There have also been a few rare birds (for the city). A single Snowy Owl was reported on Nose Hill, and a Barred Owl in Griffith Woods Park. These were unusual one- and two-day sightings. But the Clark’s Nutcracker in Quarry Park has been there for a while, and they are almost never reported in the city. Go find it – I wouldn’t count on another being seen past the spring. Gyrfalcon has been seen in the city by many participants, and that may not happen again either.

Here are the Challenge leaders at the end of January:

BirdYYC2020 Leaders, January 31

NameSpecies
1John Thompson52
2Blake Weis50
3Tony Timmons48
4Dave Russum47
5Lorrie Anderson46
5Evan Walters46
5Christopher Law46
8Howard Heffler45
9John Anderson44
10Alan Knowles43

Quite a few local birders are getting out this year!

Here is an update to the leaders as of today, February 16th:

1Tony Timmons59
2John Thompson56
3Howard Heffler55
4John Anderson54
4Lorrie Anderson54
6Blake Weis53
7Andrew Hart52
8Alan Knowles50
9Dave Russum49
9Evan Walters49
11Jim St. Laurent48
11Gavin McKinnon48
11Christopher Law48
14David Mitchell47
15Lorna Aynbinder45
15Tim Bandfield45
17Daniel Arndt43
17Michelle Schreder43
17Kerry Korber43
20Keith Miles42
Mountain Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee. This is a species that is often in the city in winter, but not every winter. Go find it now. Photo by Andrew Hart.

Birds & Beers, January 23, 2020

Jan18

The next Birds & Birds social get-together will be held this Thursday, January 23, 2020. Gavin McKinnon will give a presentation, featuring photographs like the one below, on his Big Year in 2019. Gavin’s goal was to record over 300 species in Alberta in the calendar year.

Evening Grosbeak
Evening Grosbeak, photographed in 2019 by Gavin McKinnon.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Thursday January 23, 2020, 6:00-9:00 pm

Everyone is welcome to attend Birds & Beers, and there is no charge. We will meet in the big ballroom at the Legion. Food and drinks are available at reasonable prices, and children are welcome if accompanied by an adult. Come early if you want to avoid the lineup at the kitchen. The presentation will begin at about 7:15 so if you can’t make it at six pm, come later.

See you there!

The Calgary Big Year Begins!

Jan1

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
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
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:

  • Howard Heffler: hheffler[at]shaw.ca
  • Andrew Hart: andrewhart[at]shaw.ca
  • Bob Lefebvre: wbird7[at]gmail.com
  • Gavin McKinnon: gmckinnonbird[at]gmail.com

Good luck and good birding!

The Winter Bird Lists

Dec29

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

For many years Richard Klauke has maintained a list of bird species reported in Alberta during the winter birding season, December 1 to the end of February. This list shows us which species we can expect here every winter, which ones are not here every winter, and which ones are rarely seen in winter. It also allows us to monitor trends over time.

The Edmonton Nature Club has also maintained a winter list for their 80-km radius birding region for the past several years. A couple of years ago I started doing the same for our Calgary region, and Caroline Lambert has added a list for the Bow Valley birding area. Caroline has been maintaining a site where you can see all four lists, and she has been doing almost all of the updating of both the Calgary and Bow Valley lists this year.

Eared Grebe
Eared Grebe. One has been seen at Frank Lake this winter – a new bird for our Calgary winter list. Photo by Dan Arndt, Glenmore Reservoir, November 3, 2016.

Click here to see the Calgary Winter List. From that page you can navigate to the Alberta, Edmonton, and Bow Valley lists.

The Calgary list stands at 93 species. Last year’s total at the end of February was 100, and it was 103 the year before. It might seem like we’re getting close to those numbers, but it gets pretty hard to add new species from here on. Have a look at the lists and see if you know of any missing birds that were seen in each region. You can report your sightings on eBird or on Albertabird.

The Pacific Wren that was reported in Bowness in Calgary has been removed for now, since there is no agreement on whether it is a Pacific or a Winter Wren. It was seen and photographed several times, but no definitive conclusion has been reached, as far as I know.

Some recent additions to the list are Gyrfalcon (photographed in North Calgary on December 23), American Tree Sparrow (four birds seen at a feeder NW of Calgary on December 23, and seen and photographed again today), and American Kestrel (reported in the Strathcona neighbourhood on December 28).

American Tree Sparrows, NW of Calgary, December 29, 2019. Photos by Glenn Alexon.

New species for the three years the list has been maintained are Tundra Swan, White-winged Scoter, Eared Grebe, and Boreal Owl.

Notable species which were seen in the two previous winters but not reported yet this year (and which should be around somewhere) are Wild Turkey and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. Harris’s Sparrow has also not yet been reported, and there could be one lurking somewhere in the 20,000 square kilometers of our circle.

The Bow Valley List now stands at 54 species. Last year’s total was 67. No Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches have been seen here either, and surprisingly, no Great Horned Owl. If you see these, or any other species not listed yet, report it on eBird, Albertabird or to the Bow Valley Birding Facebook Group. The Bow Valley region is not a circle, so see the Winter Bird List page linked above to read the description of the area.

The Edmonton list is at 70 species. Although they have some excellent birds this year, they had a record year last winter, with 91. You can follow the progress of the Edmonton list on the ENC Nature Talk group.

Finally, the Alberta Winter Bird List is one you can contribute to from anywhere in the province. The total right now is 126, with 6 of those not confirmed. Last year was a record total of 166. This includes some subspecies that may not have been on the list in earlier years (or were not yet recognized as subspecies). The important thing is what hasn’t yet been seen. Of the 110 “core” species (seen every winter, or are elusive winter residents) only Wood Duck, Ruddy Duck, White-tailed Ptarmigan, Mourning Dove, Long-eared Owl, and possibly Cooper’s Hawk have not yet been reported in the province.

Have fun trying to add to these lists in your region!

BirdYYC2020: Setting Up Your eBird Patch

Dec28

Calgary 2020 Big Year Birding Challenge

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.

Northern Pygmy-Owl
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 Lists by 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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”.
  4. 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.

Enjoy!

Any questions or suggestions contact: