[texbirds] Re: 2013 Local Patch Challenge
- From: Heidi Trudell <heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: david@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 1 Jan 2013 14:18:46 -0600
David, I think you have found the best challenge yet; I'm happy to
help those doing Big Years, but am far more excited to hear what patch
birders are finding! As the old posts from Avenue A indicated, and as
Warbler Woods shows us almost monthly, there is REALLY cool stuff to
be found when there's regular coverage.
Not that it was purely a CBC circle, but it certainly wasn't much
effort - Matt (York) managed a respectable 221 for Brewster Co without
getting up into the high Chisos in 2012. Not sure offhand what the
official county total is, or what percentage of the list he saw, but
I'm willing to bet that a little extra effort could have pushed 250.
County listing also has the added perk of "doable" chasing... I'll
exclude Brewster in that, because the distances out here are pretty
ridiculous!
Anyway, at risk of sounding stodgy, I am firmly convinced that "Big
Year" type goals gut local and regional information and simply result
in overbirding of 'hot spots' and loss of home coverage. I've survived
plenty of Big Days and rather enjoy sleeping, so the prolonged effort
just baffles me. Yard listing brings its own set of challenges - whose
dog(s) are in the yard, drinking from the drip anyway?? But it might
just force us to make our yards more bird friendly, and in the long
run that is never a bad thing.
Consider my hat to be in the proverbial ring, and good luck to those
doing Texas Big Years! My plea: please eBird them at the county level
as thoroughly as possible, and I look forward to reviewing sightings
from Reeves Co... just don't enter Common Grackle or Black Vulture
from Balmorhea/Reeves Co. without photo documentation or thorough
notes!
Happy trails,
-h
Heidi Trudell
Marathon, TX
On Tue, Jan 1, 2013 at 12:54 PM, David Sarkozi <david@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I would like to challenge others to an interesting game for 2013, I'll call
> it the Local Patch Challenge. Pretty simple, how many species can you find
> in a 7.5 mile radius circle around your residence.
--
Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary
necessities. - Mark Twain
Big Bend Birds & Nature - http://www.bigbendnature.com
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