I don't always get a chance to interact here via email but I would love to have
a local Facebook group. :-) Maybe keep this email list about birds and allow
all things naturalist on the FB group.
Barbara AndersonDixonville area
From: Tonya Buzzard <crittermom88@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Matthew G Hunter <matthewghunter@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: ub <umpquabirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, April 4, 2017 7:25 AM
Subject: [Umpqua Birds] Re: Spring Cleaning
Now this is something I can help with. I have been an admin of a Facebook group
for going on 3 years. If no one else has done a group yet, I would be willing
to start one for you. Tonya
On Apr 3, 2017 12:24 PM, "Matthew G Hunter" <matthewghunter@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Folks,
That's not exactly an informative subject heading, but it seemed fitting a
somewhat related to what I wanted to post... And, the main thing being
decluttered here is ... my own mind and memory bank. :-)
I've been thinking on and off for a while about a couple things, and thought I
would throw them out there at this point for discussion.
1. UMPQUA BIRDS ON FACEBOOK. I know a few of you Luddites out there are
laughing, but ... I would like to open this topic for discussion and in the end
I have a proposal. Three and a half years ago, Tammy Weir emailed the Umpqua
Birds group asking if there was a Facebook group for birds in our area. Her
question and my reply are here in the Umpqua Birds freelists archives:
//www.freelists.org/post/ umpquabirds/Raven-Summary,6. Tammy is clearly ;
light years ahead of me with this technology. I just entered the Facebook world
last fall as a means to keep up with changes in schedule for our martial arts
academy. It's been interesting. There are definitely pluses and minuses to
Facebook, but I find some people share more on Facebook that just don't "send
emails" to email groups. Perhaps emails are boring or just "ancient" technology.
My recommendation is this: If there is someone out there--Tammy or someone
else--that would like to start an Umpqua Birds or Umpqua Basin Birds (or
whatever you want to call it) Facebook Group, I think that would be great, and
I will join. I think such a group would promote more interaction with the
Facebook (and Instagram, etc.) generation. For the rest of you that shudder at
the thought of Facebook or the loss of the Umpqua Birds email list, never fear,
I intend to continue this list as well. The relationship between similar email
vs Facebook groups is a modern quandary (Oregon has statewide email and
facebook groups). Some might be baffled as to where to post or what group to
follow or read. Well, if you're super serious, you'll just have to do both. If
it is just a pasttime for you, hey, relax and look at whatever you want as
little or as often as you like. For me, I'm too busy doing what I'm doing to
follow everything completely. A couple tips though: Facebook ends up to
predominantly be photos, and email predominantly writing. [By the way, the
Facebook people reading this are thinking "Geez, he's going on and on," and the
Luddites are thanking me for explaining this thoroughly, haha!]
Facebooks style: Hey, someone want to start an Umpqua Birds Facebook group? :-)
2. UMPQUA BIRDERS AND NATURALISTS. For decades, the folks over in Lincoln
County (Newport, etc.) have been the Yaquina Birders and Naturalists. We all
know that most everyone, if not everyone, on this Umpqua Birds list is also
interested in other things, such as flowers, amphibians, reptiles, mammals,
etc... And some will occasionally post on other taxa besides birds. I have
pondered changing the name and topical content of our email group to Umpqua
Birders and Naturalists or even just Umpqua Basin Naturalists. Discussion?
3. iNATURALIST. If any of you have not heard of this, I urge you right this
minute, or at least sometime today, to go take a look at www.inaturalist.org.
This is an excellent way to encourage people to get out and observe things, and
contribute to the greater knowledge of biodiversity wherever you are. It is
also a great way to learn from the naturalist community about many different
species of living things. You can see my observations here:
http://www.inaturalist.org/ observations/umpquamatt
How do I navigate all this? What am I going to do? Thanks for asking. Here's
what I am doing, and I really enjoy it:
1. I contribute photos of non-birds (amphibs, reptiles, insects, fungo, plants,
etc), as well as some photos of birds and bird "evidence" (nest, tracks,
feathers) to iNaturalist. iNat is more of a "one critter at a time" type of
site. I mostly use my cell phone.
2. I continue to submit all my bird lists, and bird photos and sound
recordings, to eBird (ebird.org). This is a great site to contribute lists of
birds from a place or an outing, with or without photos.
3. I share current bird sightings with Umpqua Birds, and will probably continue
doing that, but would also join a local birds Facebook group if someone created
one.
4. My non-bird sightings are shared "automatically" with the iNat community
when I submit them, based on peoples' preferences for being notified regarding
different species, geographic areas, or observers. It's pretty cool.
HAPPY SPRING! Get out and enjoy nature and contribute to knowledge of the world
in which we live!
We've had three species of "crowned" sparrows (Zonotrichia species) at our
feeder recently:
GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW
Matt Hunter
