Aren't eTT reports into eBird from visitor-center kiosks? As I recall, eTT reports are rather frequent sources of false alarms in the eBird Google gadget and maybe other alert functions.
If so, given that the full checklist contains two very rare birds out of only five birds reported, all clustered at the beginning of the alphabet, I would suspect that we're seeing the result of casual fun at the kiosk rather than a rigorous report. But of course I hope I'm wrong and that the birds are really there. Mark Chao PS. This past week, we saw a Chipping Sparrow eating chips at Chipotle along Elmira Road in Ithaca. Three of the four of us in the family thought that this was quite remarkable and worthy of posting to the list. It also made me wonder - what was the Sandwich Tern at Sandy Pond eating? From: bounce-62917217-3493...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-62917217-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of nutter.d...@me.com Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2012 11:57 PM To: Cayugabirds- L Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] American White Pelican and American Avocet Montezuma Aug 2 2012 - unconfirmed ebird reports Bob McGuire & I went to Montezuma NWR this afternoon and evening, also ignorant of these reports. We saw Tim Lenz & Dave Wheeler on East Rd at sunset and neither mentioned these rarities. Bob & I drove the Wildlife Drive (Larue's was being plowed when we went past), looked out from the Tschache tower, spent a long time on East Road and on Towpath Road, and also went to Railroad Road and Van Dyne Spoor Road. Our finds were much like Dave Nicosia's, plus similar shorebirds in the east impoundment on RR Rd, and lots of Red-winged Blackbirds gathering in the evening south of VDS Rd. I suspect the report is from the official Montezuma NWR survey, driving the dikes. With vegetation so tall, these birds could have hidden in the back of Tschache Pool, or the farther reaches of May's Point Pool (which we did not check), or even some part of the Main Pool seen only from the tower which we did not climb. Please, whoever has actual details to confirm or deny my speculation, share them! --Dave Nutter On Aug 02, 2012, at 10:09 PM, david nicosia <daven1...@yahoo.com> wrote: Just received an ebird alert of both species at Montezuma today. No details of where or when except that it was today, August 2nd. We certainly did not have these two species today but it is a huge area. Wish the report would have had details on when and where in the wetlands complex. Well, something for others to search for next couple days....hope these reports are indeed confirmed. See below....who is Montezuma eTT??? Thank you for subscribing to the <daily> Rare Bird Alert for Seneca. The report below shows observations of rare birds in Seneca. View this alert on the web at <http://ebird.org/ebird/alert/summary?sid=SN35526> http://ebird.org/ebird/alert/summary?sid=SN35526 NOTE: all sightings are UNCONFIRMED unless indicated American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) (1) - Reported Aug 02, 2012 00:00 by Montezuma eTT - Montezuma NWR, Seneca, New York - Map: <http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=42.9833651,-76.7562389&ll=42.983 3651,-76.7562389> http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=42.9833651,-76.7562389&ll=42.9833 651,-76.7562389 - Checklist: <http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11255471> http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11255471 American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) (1) - Reported Aug 02, 2012 00:00 by Montezuma eTT - Montezuma NWR, Seneca, New York - Map: <http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=42.9833651,-76.7562389&ll=42.983 3651,-76.7562389> http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=42.9833651,-76.7562389&ll=42.9833 651,-76.7562389 - Checklist: <http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11255471> http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11255471 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> The Mail Archive <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> Surfbirds <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> ! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> The Mail Archive <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> Surfbirds <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> ! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
