[texbirds] TCC listing: suggestions and solutions

From: Ted Drozdowski <muddykayak@xxxxxxxxx>
To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 14:04:42 -0500
I can understand from experience peoples frustrations with not getting
county lists updated on the TCC website in a timely manner.   I think the
Texas Century Club as an idea for getting people to bird the rest of the
state is a great idea, but if people are getting mad at TOS because their
totals arent being updated then we have a problem. With that being said, I
think the inconsistent updating of the TCC website is to be expected
considering how it is currently set up.  I appreciate David Sarkozi and
John Berner administrating and attempting to delegate this work out with
regional editors, but keeping dynamic lists of other peoples ever changing
bird lists and trying to get everything updated in a timely manner by
different people is perpetually flawed. I have a couple of suggestions that
might be worth taking a look at:
The Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology publishes a quarterly journal
called Pennsylvania Birds that is chock full of birding news, county
reports, and articles about birding around the state.  Every summer I would
look forward to the Dec-Feb issue arriving in my mailbox because it would
contain a section entitled Pennsylvania Bird Lists for the previous year.
Included in the small print was all the lifelists for all PA county and
state birders who bothered to send in their totals.  This also included
all-time PA state big years and county big years along with all-time top
annual county lists and a few other lists.

This was so simple and it worked very well:  After Dec. 31 of each year,
members of PSO who wanted to participate filled out and snail-mailed a card
with all their county lists to one person who then compiled and listed the
data before it was published in a future issue of PA birds.  You had about
six weeks to tally your lists and get the form in. Once a year, the printed
results came within the pages of PA Birds journal that was anticipated with
bated breath.  It was always exciting to open the pages of that issue of PA
birds and see the changes of county lists that were made by birders over
the course of a long year.  (Those TOS members out there who have ever
received the ABA big day/ list report in the spring know exactly what Im
talking about here.)

These Texas County lists could be easily submitted online, or even mailed,
compiled once a year and published annually in a TOS publication. Done.  For
those of you who dont like the idea of only updating bird lists once a
year, lets look at the ABAs model and how it has changed.

The ABA model *was* very similar to the PA Birds model: At the end of the
year you filled out a form and submitted the totals.  You only had the
month of January to submit all the previous years bird lists.  You also
signed your name in an oath of birding honor based on the ABA birding
ethics.  In May, when the list report came out, everyone could see last
years results of all state lists, continent lists, world lists, ABA area,
etc.

 With the PA Birds and ABA models, everybody who cared to submit their
lists had them published at the same time: end of grievances.  If you
failed to submit your lists in a timely manner or just neglected to do so
then no changes would be made to your lists from the previous years, but
that was on you.  Thats the beauty of it - the only person responsible for
getting your lists in is you!

This benefits everyone.  It doesnt matter how you keep your lists: ebird,
field cards, notebook, field journal, birding app, at the end of the year
everybody uses the same format online to submit their Century Club totals.  (A
snail mail option should also remain available.) We would still need a few
people to compile the lists and to oversee everything, and it would be wise
to have the regional editors there to investigate why John Doe has a King
County annual list of 384 species.

Last year, after years of debate, the ABA announced that they would no
longer publish a hard copy of the ABA Big Day/ List Report.  They have now
converted over to a website that relies on each individual to submit,
update, and keep track of all his or her own lists! You do all the work!  ABA,
state, world, and even county lists for all 50 states are there for your
listing pleasure. You put them all in!  You can update your lists at any
time. For me personally, it works best to update my own lists just once a
year, after Dec 31.

                My suggestion would also be for TCC to take the easy road
and update everybodys lists just once a year.  Thats it.  If people want
their lists printed, published, posted, they have to make that effort in a
given time frame.   A standard one page- two sided card similar to the ABA
list card is feasible, even with 254 counties. After the end of each
calendar year, everybody has between Jan 1 to Jan 31 to report their
totals, everything gets compiled, the website gets updated, congratulations
go out, and then we bird another year and do it all over again.  The
results could even be published and mailed in a small booklet or newsletter
similar to the ABAs now defunct hard copy list report.

I believe this would be a simple, fair and accurate way for everybody to
have their Texas County lists kept up to date, regardless of how you bird
and keep your lists.

Technology can be great but it can make a big mess of things just as
well.  Just
because we have it doesnt mean we have to use it every time. Im all for
having fun with listing, but Im also for keeping it simple by publishing,
once a year, TCC lists online and/or in a small listing newsletter of maybe
a dozen pages for people interested in TCC listing.

Ted Drozdowski

Midlothian, TX

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[texbirds] TCC listing: suggestions and solutions

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