[obol] Oregon Spring Migration Count May 10-11th

From: Joel Geier <joel.geier@xxxxxxxx>
To: Oregon Birders OnLine <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, MidValley Birds <birding@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Central Oregon Birders <cobol@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 18:47:00 -0700

Hi all,

The spring migration count is coming up May 10-11th. This count, known
as NAMC (North American Migration Count) is now going into its third
decade here in Oregon, since Pat French got us involved in 1993.

This is possibly the easiest bird count to contribute to, even easier
than CBCs. All you need to do is to keep a count of birds that you see
during the day (plus hours and mileage), and send them into your
county's coordinator.

Although this count has sometimes been criticized for its lack of
statistical rigor, it's starting to develop value based on its
longevity, as only the CBC and BBS have a longer track record here in
Oregon -- and neither of those counts covers migration.

Last year, the Oregon 2020 crew made an appeal for NAMC volunteers to
include more point counts, in order to enhance the usability of NAMC
data for their project.

While I encourage birders to contribute point counts for the OR 2020
project if you're so inclined, I'd like to add a couple of caveats.

#1: If you're not comfortable doing point counts according to a strict
protocol, don't worry -- you can still contribute to the migration
count, just by recording the birds that you find (plus your mileage &
hours). That's the way that we've always done NAMC, and it's still
valid.

#2: If you do try to do a series of point counts to contribute to OR
2020, please also keep count of birds that you see while driving (or
bicycling/walking) between your point count locations. 

Last year it was obvious from the data that volunteers who tried to
adhere to the point-count protocols were missing birds that would
typically be seen between stops. We do need to count those roadside
scrub-jays and Brewer's Blackbirds, to maintain consistency with past
years' counts!

As many of you know, I'm not the most eBird-adept individual on these
lists. I've put put a question to a few folks who are more eBird-savvy,
as to whether it's possible to keep two lists open at one time: one for
point-count birds, and another for birds detected in between stops.  For
NAMC it would be best to have both of these types of data. However, from
initial replies, it sounds as if the time-honored technology of pencil
and paper could still come in handy.

Good birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Oregon NAMC coordinator
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis





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[obol] Oregon Spring Migration Count May 10-11th

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