I had a couple of 'late' warblers today, both in Rutherford Park, Fairfax,
Va: a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers (one male and one female, together in
a bunch of Blackpolls) and a female Nashville Warbler. By 'late', I mean
outside the dates given in the VSO Blue Book - through May 15 for YRWA and
through May 10 for the Nashville. I see that others are still reporting
Yellow-rumps, but I haven't seen recent reports on Nashville.
So I have a question for the information gurus: when is it helpful to report
'early' or 'late' birds?
I presume the matter is of some importance since I assume that those who
update the Blue Book (one due anytime now?) need such information. While I
realize that the Blue Book is way out of date, it is all we have at the
moment. So, when it tells me that the normally expected dates for the
Nashville Warbler in the Piedmont in spring migration are 30Apr-10 May, what
is worth reporting from this point of view? Anything outside those dates? Or
only sightings at least a week outside them? Or perhaps even sightings within
these dates, but close to the limits?
Of course, one should continue to report all sightings as part of wider
reporting on field trips. But I suspect that a lot of potentially useful
information goes unreported.
I would welcome some guidance from those who actually use the data.
Stephen Eccles
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
