[birdky] Fw: Important and Exciting news for the Christmas Bird Count program
- From: brainard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- To: BIRDKY <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2012 15:23:08 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
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Thanks to Aviva Yasgur, compiler of the Land Between the Lakes CBC, for
forwarding this email to count participants. This VERY LONG overdue action
bythe National Audubon Society (NAS) comes *many* years later than it should
have. A number of people have tried to convince NAS to do this for at least
25 years, but many (including myself) gave up when all logic was discarded
bythose at NAS who could decide to do the sensible thing. The reasons NAS
gives for discontinuing both count fees and publication of the results at
this time could have been used (and were presented to them by numerous
folks)*years* ago .... :o(
bpb, Louisville
-----Forwarded Message-----
From: Aviva Yasgur
Sent: Sep 19, 2012 2:23 PM
Subject: Fw: Important and Exciting news for the Christmas Bird Count
program
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "cbcadmin@xxxxxxxxxxx" <cbcadmin@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: vivyasgur76@xxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 9:06 AM
Subject: Important and Exciting news for the Christmas Bird Count program
The 113th Christmas Bird Count Audubon Science Office
545 Almshouse Road
Ivyland, PA 18974
Tel: 215-355-9588 ext.10
Fax: 215-355-2353
www.christmasbirdcount.org[1]
cbcadmin@xxxxxxxxxxx[2]
Greetings CBC Compilers, The CBC is now FREE! Important and Exciting
newsfor the Christmas Bird Count program After nearly two years of
internaldiscussions, budget modeling, head-scratching, and intense
decision-making, two major changes will come to the Christmas Bird Count
program effective with the upcoming 113th Count in December, 2012.
First,the CBC is now a free program. Audubon will no longer charge the
$5.00fee of field participants. Second, to minimize the effects of the
loss of fee income, American Birds will no longer be printed on paper and
mailed to participants, and Audubon will move to an online delivery of the
summary results of the CBC. To help Audubon make these important decisions
regarding the Christmas Bird Count program, we invited people involved with
the count to participate in an online survey earlier this year. The results
of the online survey that many of you participated in last spring were very
enlightening, and are summarized in the upcoming 112th CBC summary issue of
American Birds-the last one to appear in print. The 130 pages of written
comments were the most telling aspects of the survey feedback. Some people
understand the fee and don't mind paying it, but the main thrust of written
comments was that the fee is a major obstacle to the program, and the strong
message was that more people would be involved, more counts would be
includedin the CBC database, and more accurate effort data would be
collectedif the fee was dropped. Also highly informative were peoples'
comments regarding American Birds. While a few folks commented that they
enjoyed the information it contains and enjoy reading at least parts of it
each year, the primary sentiment expressed was that recipients do not value
American Birds in its current format, that they do not read most of it.
Manysurvey respondents felt that an interactive, online version of the
magazine would better suit their needs-especially if the participation fee
was dropped. In order to continue to fund the Christmas Bird Count program
in the long term, Audubon will be moving to a voluntary donation model for
the CBC. With the online delivery of American Birds via a new interactive
web presence including photos, summaries, and features, content can now be
presented online as they are completed. Most critically, a new Citizen
Science gateway will enable Audubon to be in touch directly with those
participants who elect to take part and directly service the needs of
participants as well as compilers. While the integrity of the CBC is
crucial to maintain for its bird trend data, it has become equally important
for the ability to engage people in other citizen science projects. Toward
that end Audubon will be expanding its Citizen Science projects, and the CBC
will, of course, be a cornerstone program. The Audubon Science team is now
working with the Information Technology division to implement changes and
improvements to the new CBC data entry application. The most important
changes will be to make the application faster and easier to navigate.
Additionally of course, with the dropping of the mandatory participant fees
the entire fee payment section will be dropped and the participant list
section will be simplified. The opportunity to donate to the CBC program
willbe available in various places on the data entry application and for
those who register in advance for the CBC, as well as on the CBC website.
Once the new version of the data entry application is ready, we will be in
touch with a new CBC Data Entry Manual available to compilers. We will be
intouch with compilers via email as portions of the application are
availableto you, including the initial post-a-date version of the
application. Starting in early October we will also be able to make any
requested changes of compilers and begin the process of setting up new CBCs
for the upcoming 113th CBC. Audubon extends our deepest thanks to all of
you for your long standing dedication to the Christmas Bird Count program.
We especially appreciate your willingness to share your views with us, and
this information has been crucial to the decisions summarized here. The
Budget Summary for 112th CBC is available in the online version and hard
copyof the letter you will be receiving in the mail shortly. We thank you
for your work in making the CBC the continued success that it is. Thanks
very much, and have a wonderful FREE Christmas Bird Count season. Good
birding! Geoff LeBaron Gary Langham
Director, Christmas Bird Count Vice-President &Chief
Scientist
National Audubon Society National Audubon
Society
You are receiving this message because you are registered in the CBC system
as a compiler--if you do not wish to receive these compiler emails regarding
updates about the online CBC system--please return this email with remove in
the subject line.
--- Links ---
1 http://www.christmasbirdcount.org/
2 mailto:cbcadmin@xxxxxxxxxxx
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