Erik,
The Texbirds Listserv has definitely fallen out of favor and is no longer
the primary source of information transfer for Texas birding. I find that
to be the case with all email-based listservs for birding. I can't speak
for everyone, but for myself the primary means of keeping up with what's
going on comes from 2 platforms: the rare bird alerts that are emailed out
from eBird daily (I currently get the ABA Rare birds & Texas rare birds
versions). The much, much more expansive platform though is Facebook. I'm
subscribed to various groups. Pertinent to the Bat Falcon is the Texbirds
FB group, Texas Chase Birds, and ABA Rare Bird Alert. There are many other
groups out there- regional ones, other states, taxon specific (such as
Raptor ID), etc.
There are imo 2 things that FB offers that are good: you can have comment
streams going after someone makes a post (actually this can be a good and a
bad thing), and you can post photos, video, audio, etc. That richer media
environment is really what gives social media the advantage over
traditional email lists, a crushing advantage. I will say that I don't
love FB, and I don't think that it is really the best tool for trading
information for birding. It is really difficult to sort, filter, and find
archives. Having the deep conversations where knowledgeable folks can put
on a clinic that I fondly recall from the Texbirds Listserv frankly don't
happen on social media these days. Things are much more brief and then you
move on to the next item in your feed. But, the fact remains that if you
want to keep up with timely information about birding, Facebook is the
party you must attend. Another thing I take issue with on FB is the sheer
number of groups that are out there, and the need to be subscribed to many
of them so that you can stay in the know.
There are surely other social media platforms out there where info is being
transferred- Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, etc. I don't participate in
those, but as far as I know there's not any exclusive information being
posted in those platforms that doesn't make its way over to FB.
Brandon Best
Arlington, TX
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On Wed, Dec 22, 2021 at 6:29 PM Erik Breden <erik.breden@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
TexBirders,
My wife and I ventured to Santa Ana NWR on Tuesday December 21st to look
for the previously reported Bat Falcon (a first US record).
We climbed up the hawk watching tower, but the bird was not in view.
After about a half hour, we decided to walk to a location where the bird
had been reported since 9:30 in the morning. This spot is on the East
side of the Jaguarundi Trail about 100 yards south of the intersection
with the Oriole Trail. There is a large dead tree about 100 feet off the
trail which the bird apparently likes to perch on. Alas, the bird flew
off around Noon, and we got there at 12:30.
We stayed at this spot until 3:30, when a young woman we had met earlier
at this spot came running down the trail shouting "We have it!".
Everyone (including us) immediately followed her back up the trail. The
bird was being seen on a dead snag to the East of the tour road about
200 yards North of the intersection with Bobcat Road/Trail. We were the
last ones to get there and the bird was still present. A quick look in a
spotting scope already set up and I began to photograph. The photos can
be seen at:
www.otterside.com/fall2021/index.htm
Enjoy!
=====================================================================
WARNING: The following is a rant. If you don't want to read it, hit the
delete key now!
I referred to "previously reported" above. A bird list with a photo of
the Bat Falcon was submitted to eBird on December 8th. The person who
submitted it was not sure what the bird was. Kudos to Mary Gustafson for
getting the information posted to the Rio Grande Valley WhatsApp Bird
Alert, which I subscribe to. Justin Bosler also reported this to
TexBirds shortly thereafter.
Since then there have not been any reports (positive or negative) of the
bird on TexBirds, even though it was "re-found" on the Santa Ana CBC on
December 18th, and seen by many people on the 18th, 19th, 20th, and
21st. The bird's status was well-posted on the RGV WhatsApp Bird Alert
(so I knew about it), but not on TexBirds. My posting to TexBirds today
(December 22nd) is the first with any detailed information, including
photos.
Why is this? Has TexBirds become obsolete? Regional hotlines are OK for
the audience they serve, but a statewide forum is needed also.
Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at
//www.freelists.org/list/texbirds
Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking
permission
from the List Owner
