[texbirds] Re: Reddish Egret at Lake Travis (Austin, Travis Co.) 8/24/13
- From: Rich Kostecke <rkost73@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "kennya290@xxxxxxxxx" <kennya290@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 06:37:44 -0700 (PDT)
No worries Kenny. I think the RBA accomplishes what it was set up to do, which
is to basically summarize local/regional highlights/rarities on a regular
basis. So, keep up the good work! You're right, to an extent. My frustration
is partly related to eBird, but, with the proliferation of various forums, more
to the necessity of having to data mine (and even though we may have more data,
more info than ever before, the lack of communication) to get the full picture
of what is happening out there. In some ways,the listservs have become
somewhat obsolete or at least have not evolved and adapted to the current
culture and technology as well as they could (not a new or unique observation
on my part; others have commented on this). Thus the splintering of the
community into various niches. Not that there really ever was a one-stop shop
for birding info (think newsletters, phone RBAs, listservs, etc.), though it
seems like things may have been
more unified the past (then again, the good old days often seem better in
hindsight than they actually may have been). But the times they are a-changing
and I am trying not to just be an old fogey and adapt to the times. So, one of
the features of eBird that I just discovered was the alert subscriptions. I
basically set up some subscriptions that will notify me when a bird sighting is
submitted for a species that I don't have on my Travis or Williamson counties
year lists. Of course, that assumes that eBird checklists are submitted in a
timely manner... Not sure how I feel about this yet, but it addresses the issue
of sightings that get posted to eBird and nowhere else. I also signed up for
the Travis County RBA text alerts. Apparently several sightings, including the
Reddish Egret, went out on it. So, maybe I am a bit more in the loop now than
I was yesterday. :-)
Cheers,
Rich
Richard Kostecke, Ph.D.
The Nature Conservancy
318 Congress Ave., Austin, Texas 78701
Email: rkost73@xxxxxxxxx or rkostecke@xxxxxxx
________________________________
From: Kenny Anderson <kennya290@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Rich Kostecke <rkost73@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Texbirds <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, August 25, 2013 1:58 AM
Subject: [texbirds] Re: Reddish Egret at Lake Travis (Austin, Travis Co.)
8/24/13
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
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