[obol] Why did the Oregon 2020 Morrow County blitz find...
- From: "Paul Sullivan" <paultsullivan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2014 00:23:06 -0700
Why did the Oregon 2020 Morrow County blitz find two species I've never
found in ~30 years of birding there, Common Yellowthroat and Yellow-breasted
Chat? Craig Corder lived in the area and actively birded the county for a
half a century, and he rarely found those species. They're not easy. The
Breeding Bird Atlas data show only possible breeders in a few hexagons. I
found 214 other species before these two.
Possible reasons:
A. The blitz birders made a mistake. There are no yellowthroats or
chats in the county. NOT LIKELY.
B. The blitz birders are better birders that I am.
C. The blitz birders applied more hours than past birders have. GIVEN
THE EFFORT OVER YEARS OF SEVERAL LISTERS, I WOULD QUESTION THIS.
D. The protocol of the Oregon 2020 sampling scheme sent people to places
a birder wouldn't likely go. THE ATLAS PROJECT SENT ME TO PLACES I
OTHERWISE WOULD NOT HAVE VISITED. I PUT A LOT OF EFFORT INTO CORNERS OF
MORROW COUNTY. My effort to SEEK TARGET SPECIES for my county list took me
to likely locations for those species.
E. There are MORE chats and yellowthroats in the county now. There has
been a range expansion since the Atlas project. ISN'T THIS in part WHAT
OREGON 2020 IS TESTING? We'll see when the data are in. We've seen an
increase in locations where chats are found here in Yamhill County in recent
years.
Just food for thought.
Anyway, I'm glad they're out there.
Good birding, everyone,
Paul Sullivan
Other related posts:
