I have done that during the spring for the loon migration- i just count
(Pacific) loons though. I have also done it in the spring for Bonie Gulls,
but just Bonie Gulls. I tend to do several 5 minute counts, then average
them for a per hour total. Not the same as a several hour watch and it
certainly can skew numbers if you hit a peak or a lull while doing the
shorter counts and averaging.
Tim
On Mon, Nov 2, 2015 at 5:31 AM, Alan Contreras <acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
An ideal seawatch on a day of heavy movement would involve a small team of
observers, with one observer counting ducks, one alcids, one divers etc.
That would slow down the relative “flow” of numbers for any one observer.
The numbers are usually vastly higher than any hawk watch, and sheer volume
is a problem even to the best identifier.
Alan Contreras
acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx
On Nov 2, 2015, at 4:35 AM, Tim Rodenkirk <timrodenkirk@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Like a hawk watch maybe then? With people with clickers! Yep, I have seen
days were scads of birds go bye, it is hard counting numbers for sure.
Although Red-necked Phalaropes are rare in November, there are a few Coos
records seen by reliable observers (early November). So I guess I wonder
about not having any Red-neckeds if there are thousands of phalaropes, it
is safe to assume all our Reds including the ones you don't see so well?
Probably since the majority would likely be Reds...
I was compiling some of the south coast field note data yesterday and was
amazed at the number of BV Shearwater observations in Coos/Curry this
fall. Most years we have a few Manx Shearwater observations- I haven't
seen any this fall. OBRC took them off the review list because they are so
regular. Anyhow, seeing tens of small white-bellied shearwaters at one
time lately makes one pretty sure they are likely Black-venteds. But a
single observation of a distant bird could be either (you can't tell vent
color when they are way out). Wonder how OBRC will handle it? I say this
as I have seen some Black-venteds close with what appeared to be dark vents
and many more that were well, way out but likely that species. Should be a
fun one for OBRC although I imagine not everyone sends in reports.
An amazing day at Boiler Bay for sure!
Tim R
Coos Bay
On Sun, Nov 1, 2015 at 7:43 PM, W. Douglas Robinson <
w.douglas.robinson@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Tim,
I didn't really understand the value of Phil's approach either until I
spent several hours sea watching Boiler Bay one busy day. The volume is too
much to handle. If one spends several hours watching, you really do end up
needing a way to estimate based on rates of birds moving. It's inexact, for
sure. One hopes to be in the ballpark of at least rank ordering species
numbers correctly and giving some idea of volume.
Other solutions are: have a team of counters with mechanical clickers so
that each observer can focus on particular species groups; count in shorter
time intervals and scatter counts thru the morning. I do 15 min counts.
It's about as long as I can focus and keep 25 species worth of numbers in
my head, while also looking for the rare stuff. I do use a fair number of
spuhs.
Probably some other fine solutions out there, too.
Doug
