[va_co_birding] Re: Lines and rules
- From: "C. Michael Stinson" <cms@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <va_co_birding@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 23:34:31 -0400
Todd et al. -
> If the bird seen
> and calling next to you is a Hairy Woodpecker, and then it flies away,
into the
> adjacent county across the river, but never calls, and never offers an
> identifiable look, is it still a Hairy Woodpecker?
Yes.
Or, the opposite. The bird
> flies in from another county, you don't know what it is when it's out
there, but
> as it flies into the county you're standing in and you identify it, does
it
> count in both counties?
Oh yes.
>
> To me, this is a simple answer. Yes, it does. Both birds would be
countable
> in both. Or, do you others believe that the bird has to be identified in
> both counties?
I think you are right. My response to this would be - why would it need to
be identified more than once? You know what it is, right? and you saw it in
both counties, right? There is an ABA rule, with interpretation, that
applies to similar situations. It reads, in part, "Identification of the
bird may be made subsequent to the initial encounter." The main concern is
that someone who counts a bird should see enough field marks to identify the
bird themselves - you can't just count a little black blip when someone else
says "that's a Hairy Woodpecker" unless at some point you see or hear some
character of the bird that assures you that the bird is in fact a Hairy
Woodpecker. It's fine, of course, if someone else explains to you why it is
a Hairy Woodpecker. And it's fine if you actually figure out why that's what
it was even after it's gone, as long as you saw the relevant features
yourself.
Even sweeter than county lines where you can get birds in two counties -
which Todd knows I love - are the few spots where you can conveniently bird
three counties at more or less the same time. A favorite of mine is at/near
Howardsville, on SR 626 in southern Albemarle County. Just a bit down the
road 626 crosses into Nelson County. Across the James River, with a
convenient bridge that holds a Cliff Swallow colony, is Buckingham County. A
good spot to get things like orioles, swallows, vireos, D-c Cormorant, some
ducks, Yellow Warbler, in three counties at one spot. Another similar spot
is in/near Staunton River State Park. It takes a little map work (note the
odd bulge in the Halifax County border), but you can do
Halifax/Charlotte/Mecklenburg there.
And perhaps the ultimate - you can stand on the Pinnacles Overlook in
Cumberland Gap National Historic Park and see birds in Lee County, VA, then
watch them cross into Tennessee and/or Kentucky. It's not a bad spot for a
hawk watch.
Mike
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