[texbirds] Re: Reddish Egret at Lake Travis (Austin, Travis Co.) 8/24/13
- From: Kenny Anderson <kennya290@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Rich Kostecke <rkost73@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 01:58:58 -0500
I definitely have been shirking my Austin area RBA duties of late, so
apologies if you have missed anything as a result. Just to be accurate, of
the 115 weeks I have gathered, filtered and published the RBA- I have put
out 98 weeks worth. Slightly better than "like every other week".
It's been slow, not much coming IN, in the way of reports. A big part of
compiling the ~weekly summary is mining for sightings. Ebird, Hornsby Bend
Bird Observatory Recent Sightings, Texbirds, several Facebook pages, SATX
Birds, Travis Audubon Field Trip Reports, ect.. Lately pulling stuff out of
Ebird to fill out an otherwise dull list has fallen second to other matters.
I think Ebird is the source of Rich's frustration, or at least mine. I may
just be slow to fully embrace it, but I am not heading towards utilizing it
as a communication medium. Rich, I believe most, or all, of this summer's
nice Lake Travis birds have been entered into Ebird- but no other message
had been conveyed. There's no trip report on Texbirds, no local RBA text
message, no cc the local compiler. For some- particularly a few hitting Bob
Wentz regularly- Ebird is the end. Confusion comes when same parties are
then chasing every bird report out there.
I found myself grumbling about lack of reciprocation, frustration with
folks who share a passion for local listing yet fail to alert like-minded
people or to update a continuing sighting. Then it occured to me, via
Ebird they had- or felt they were. So, if I want the bird reports or if I
want to make out a weekly summary- the new price is to dig around
electronic records. Data entry and computer filtering as communication. I
am repelled, but reading much of the Texbirds/ Facebook stuff makes me want
a smart phone, a bird entry ap, and Ebird filter.
Rich, thanks for the old-school trip reports and day lists- I value them.
Kenny Anderson
Austin
On Sat, Aug 24, 2013 at 3:34 PM, Rich Kostecke <rkost73@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> This morning, Veena Mohan and I were birding Bob Wentz/Windy Point Park at
> Lake Travis(Austin, Travis Co.) when we spied Sam Fason, who was on a
> juvenile dark morph Reddish Egret which proceeded to flush in our
> direction. Talking to Sam, apparently the egret was first spotted
> yesterday. In the evening it proceeded to fly towards and then below the
> dam (perhaps to roost?), but it was back on the lake this morning. He also
> mentioned that a few other good birds, like Buff-breasted Sandpiper, had
> recently been seen at the park. The only other birds of interest that
> Veena and I had were a Forster's Tern and a mixed flock of Scissor-tailed
> Flycatchers (6 of them) and Eastern Kingbirds (4 of them). The
> scissor-taileds were mercilessly harassing the kingbirds. A few Least,
> Baird's, and Spotted Sandpipers were also present.
> I'll end this email with a request/plea. I eventually hear about them by
> word of mouth or perhaps in the Austin rare bird alert which is posted like
> every other week, but several nice birds have been seen this summer at Bob
> Wentz/Windy Point, but in several instances there didn't seem to be any
> public posts about them right after they were sighted (at least not where I
> have been checking - maybe I am checking the wrong places?). Not sure if
> they are only getting reported to eBird or what the deal is, but I would
> certainly appreciate hearing about sightings from Lake Travis in a timely
> manner as several of the birds that have been found there I would really
> have liked to chase and may have been able to do so if I had heard about
> them in a timely manner. So, please share. :-) Thanks!
>
> Rich
>
>
> Richard Kostecke, Ph.D.
> The Nature Conservancy
> 318 Congress Ave., Austin, Texas 78701
> Email: rkost73@xxxxxxxxx or rkostecke@xxxxxxx
> 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
>
>
>
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
Other related posts:
