Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fwd: [nfc-l] Thursday: Night Flight in Northeast

[Ted Floyd]

On Mon, Sep 22, 2014 at 10:29 PM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg 
wrote:

>  Andrew et al.,
>
>  I am by no means the expert here, and hopefully Andrew Farnsworth will
> chime in with any comments or suggestions, but basically all I do is listen
> in real time and count all the birds I can hear and identify. I don’t have
> a recording set-up at present. I’m fairly confident with many of the
> identifications but not with others — I use a lot of warbler sp. and
> sparrow sp.
>

Me too.

I also hear a lot of warbler/sparrow sp., and I wonder if that would be a
good category for eBird. Even during the day, but especially at night.

I have some recordings that I think are one of the following:
Orange-crowned Warbler, Virginia's Warbler, Clay-colored Sparrow, or
Brewer's Sparrow. That's why I think "warbler/sparrow sp." would be a nice
category.

Best, --Ted

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado, USA




>  I feel I can usually estimate number of individual birds passing pretty
> easily based on the timing and position of the calling birds in the sky —
> where I am there are no lights and the birds pass over in a consistent
> direction, with most individuals calling only once or twice within my range
> of hearing. During heavy flights or dense pulses of calling activity, I
> just do my best to keep track of individuals, and sometimes will estimate
> the ratio of species identified during a given period and apply that to the
> number I’m estimating — functionally this isn’t any different from how I
> would estimate large flocks of ducks or shorebirds or migrating hawks.  I’m
> sure there’s a certain amount of error, but not greater than for most other
> kinds of birding.
>
>  Because I use BirdLog, I can easily tally the numbers as I go, but that
> also means I need to remember to change the protocol to NFC after the
> checklist is entered. (I believe BirdLog will eventually be able to record
> the NFC protocol, but I don’t know the timing on that).
>
>  Hope this is helpful,
>
>  KEN
>
>
>  Kenneth V. Rosenberg
> Conservation Science Program
> Cornell Lab of Ornithology
> Office: 607-254-2412
> cell: 607-342-4594
> k...@cornell.edu
>
>  On Sep 22, 2014, at 9:01 PM, Andrew Albright 
> wrote:
>
>  Ken (and Chris*),
>
> I have a different interpretation of the ebird NFC rules/guideliness than
> the Montgomery county (Pennsylvania) ebird compiler for listening live
> (cc'd here).
> http://help.ebird.org/customer/portal/articles/1010492.
>
> It might be easier to just see an example of how you are logging your
> night flight calls into ebird because I think we are doing approximately
> the same activity - listening live and recording nfc that we can ID?  I
> checked "Recent Sightings" from Thompkins Co, NY and the only one example
> in  that I could find doesn't seem to fit guidelines
>
> *Other questions/improvement suggestings*
> 1) I brought up the question before about the species that you could
> conclusively identify as being separable, either partially or
> entirably. Even if it were not 100% agreed upon, I think it would be good
> if there were a standard that was used for nfc data entry, e.g. only those
> fields appear.   This would make data entry more standard, easier and
> provide a good starting point for a more detailed discussion.
>
> 2) It would be nice to provide a "cliff note" version of the
> instructions.  The weblink has quite a bit of information which could be
> broken down into background information and actionable instructions.
>
> 3) It would be good to push to have the smartphone app upgraded to enable
> more functionality that includes easy logging of the NFC protocol.
>
> Sincerely,
> Andrew Albright
>
>
> *Chris - If I recall, sometimes you post here that you listen live and
> sometimes you review remote recordings?
>
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 12:23 AM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg 
> wrote:
>
>>  Just had about 200 thrushes (mostly Swainsons but also many
>> Gray-cheeked and Wood Thrush) over my house in Northeast Ithaca in a 45 min
>> count - also 12 Green Herons and an Am Bittern
>>
>>  Ken
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Sep 18, 2014, at 9:41 PM, "Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" <
>> c...@cornell.edu> wrote:
>>
>>  Just a heads-up about a potential push of birds into this area
>> overnight tonight...
>>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>>  *From: *"Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" 
>>  *Subject: **[nfc-l] Thursday: Night Flight in Northeast*
>>  *Date: *September 18, 2014 at 9:38:18 PM EDT
>>  *To: *NFC-L 
>>  *Reply-To: *"Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" 
>>
>>  There is currently a fairly heavy liftoff going on in the Northeast and
>> surrounding regions. The high pressure system situated North of Lake
>> Ontario could make for a good push of birds down into the Northeast
>> overnight tonight.
>>
>>  If you can, keep your ears skyward!
>>
>>  Sincerely,
>> Chris T-H
>>
>>  --
>>  *NFC-L List Info:*
>> Welcome and Basics 
>> Rules and 

Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fwd: [nfc-l] Thursday: Night Flight in Northeast

[Andrew Albright]

Thanks Ken,

I think we are listening and observing in the same manner.   And just to
make sure that I understand how to record NFC, here's what and how I
recorded NFC this morning from 5:30-6:00am.

*Must select*
NFC protocol (Can initially submit via iBird if initial submission is on a
smartphone)

*Choices for total number of individual birds*
1) Exact count
2) Estimated number of birds
3) "X" if there too many to reasonably count.

For example, this morning I heard
Example 1  4 Wood Thrush calls were spread out with more than a minute
in between each call. I recorded this as "4" for number of birds and NFC 4
Example 2  A single Gray-Cheeked Thrush call, then a few minutes later
two NFC within a second of each, a few minutes later another single call,
and then finally a few minutes after that two quick calls.  I recorded that
as 4 Gray-Cheeked thrush but in the notes, I wrote  NFC 6 with 4 separate
individuals.
Example 3  74 Swainson's thrush calls, many on top of each other. I
think I could estimate the number here but there would be some error so I
marked "X" for species number and wrote NFC 74.

Here is my submitted checklist:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19913535

Comments and corrections are welcome.


Sincerely,
Andrew


On Tue, Sep 23, 2014 at 12:29 AM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg 
wrote:

> Andrew et al.,
>
> I am by no means the expert here, and hopefully Andrew Farnsworth will
> chime in with any comments or suggestions, but basically all I do is listen
> in real time and count all the birds I can hear and identify. I don’t have
> a recording set-up at present. I’m fairly confident with many of the
> identifications but not with others — I use a lot of warbler sp. and
> sparrow sp.  I feel I can usually estimate number of individual birds
> passing pretty easily based on the timing and position of the calling birds
> in the sky — where I am there are no lights and the birds pass over in a
> consistent direction, with most individuals calling only once or twice
> within my range of hearing. During heavy flights or dense pulses of calling
> activity, I just do my best to keep track of individuals, and sometimes
> will estimate the ratio of species identified during a given period and
> apply that to the number I’m estimating — functionally this isn’t any
> different from how I would estimate large flocks of ducks or shorebirds or
> migrating hawks.  I’m sure there’s a certain amount of error, but not
> greater than for most other kinds of birding.
>
> Because I use BirdLog, I can easily tally the numbers as I go, but that
> also means I need to remember to change the protocol to NFC after the
> checklist is entered. (I believe BirdLog will eventually be able to record
> the NFC protocol, but I don’t know the timing on that).
>
> Hope this is helpful,
>
> KEN
>
>
> Kenneth V. Rosenberg
> Conservation Science Program
> Cornell Lab of Ornithology
> Office: 607-254-2412
> cell: 607-342-4594
> k...@cornell.edu
>
>  On Sep 22, 2014, at 9:01 PM, Andrew Albright 
> wrote:
>
>  Ken (and Chris*),
>
> I have a different interpretation of the ebird NFC rules/guideliness than
> the Montgomery county (Pennsylvania) ebird compiler for listening live
> (cc'd here).
> http://help.ebird.org/customer/portal/articles/1010492.
>
> It might be easier to just see an example of how you are logging your
> night flight calls into ebird because I think we are doing approximately
> the same activity - listening live and recording nfc that we can ID?  I
> checked "Recent Sightings" from Thompkins Co, NY and the only one example
> in  that I could find doesn't seem to fit guidelines
>
> *Other questions/improvement suggestings*
> 1) I brought up the question before about the species that you could
> conclusively identify as being separable, either partially or
> entirably. Even if it were not 100% agreed upon, I think it would be good
> if there were a standard that was used for nfc data entry, e.g. only those
> fields appear.   This would make data entry more standard, easier and
> provide a good starting point for a more detailed discussion.
>
> 2) It would be nice to provide a "cliff note" version of the
> instructions.  The weblink has quite a bit of information which could be
> broken down into background information and actionable instructions.
>
> 3) It would be good to push to have the smartphone app upgraded to enable
> more functionality that includes easy logging of the NFC protocol.
>
> Sincerely,
> Andrew Albright
>
>
> *Chris - If I recall, sometimes you post here that you listen live and
> sometimes you review remote recordings?
>
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 12:23 AM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg 
> wrote:
>
>>  Just had about 200 thrushes (mostly Swainsons but also many
>> Gray-cheeked and Wood Thrush) over my house in Northeast Ithaca in a 45 min
>> count - also 12 Green Herons and an Am Bittern
>>
>> Ken
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Sep 18, 2014, at 9:41 PM, "Christopher T. 

Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fwd: [nfc-l] Thursday: Night Flight in Northeast

[Kenneth V. Rosenberg]

Andrew et al.,

I am by no means the expert here, and hopefully Andrew Farnsworth will chime in 
with any comments or suggestions, but basically all I do is listen in real time 
and count all the birds I can hear and identify. I don’t have a recording 
set-up at present. I’m fairly confident with many of the identifications but 
not with others — I use a lot of warbler sp. and sparrow sp.  I feel I can 
usually estimate number of individual birds passing pretty easily based on the 
timing and position of the calling birds in the sky — where I am there are no 
lights and the birds pass over in a consistent direction, with most individuals 
calling only once or twice within my range of hearing. During heavy flights or 
dense pulses of calling activity, I just do my best to keep track of 
individuals, and sometimes will estimate the ratio of species identified during 
a given period and apply that to the number I’m estimating — functionally this 
isn’t any different from how I would estimate large flocks of ducks or 
shorebirds or migrating hawks.  I’m sure there’s a certain amount of error, but 
not greater than for most other kinds of birding.

Because I use BirdLog, I can easily tally the numbers as I go, but that also 
means I need to remember to change the protocol to NFC after the checklist is 
entered. (I believe BirdLog will eventually be able to record the NFC protocol, 
but I don’t know the timing on that).

Hope this is helpful,

KEN


Kenneth V. Rosenberg
Conservation Science Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Office: 607-254-2412
cell: 607-342-4594
k...@cornell.edu

On Sep 22, 2014, at 9:01 PM, Andrew Albright 
mailto:andrew.albri...@gmail.com>> wrote:

Ken (and Chris*),

I have a different interpretation of the ebird NFC rules/guideliness than the 
Montgomery county (Pennsylvania) ebird compiler for listening live (cc'd here).
http://help.ebird.org/customer/portal/articles/1010492.

It might be easier to just see an example of how you are logging your night 
flight calls into ebird because I think we are doing approximately the same 
activity - listening live and recording nfc that we can ID?  I checked "Recent 
Sightings" from Thompkins Co, NY and the only one example in  that I could find 
doesn't seem to fit guidelines

Other questions/improvement suggestings
1) I brought up the question before about the species that you could 
conclusively identify as being separable, either partially or entirably. Even 
if it were not 100% agreed upon, I think it would be good if there were a 
standard that was used for nfc data entry, e.g. only those fields appear.   
This would make data entry more standard, easier and provide a good starting 
point for a more detailed discussion.

2) It would be nice to provide a "cliff note" version of the instructions.  The 
weblink has quite a bit of information which could be broken down into 
background information and actionable instructions.

3) It would be good to push to have the smartphone app upgraded to enable more 
functionality that includes easy logging of the NFC protocol.

Sincerely,
Andrew Albright


*Chris - If I recall, sometimes you post here that you listen live and 
sometimes you review remote recordings?



On Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 12:23 AM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg 
mailto:k...@cornell.edu>> wrote:
Just had about 200 thrushes (mostly Swainsons but also many Gray-cheeked and 
Wood Thrush) over my house in Northeast Ithaca in a 45 min count - also 12 
Green Herons and an Am Bittern

Ken

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 18, 2014, at 9:41 PM, "Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" 
mailto:c...@cornell.edu>> wrote:

Just a heads-up about a potential push of birds into this area overnight 
tonight...

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" 
mailto:c...@cornell.edu>>
Subject: [nfc-l] Thursday: Night Flight in Northeast
Date: September 18, 2014 at 9:38:18 PM EDT
To: NFC-L mailto:nf...@list.cornell.edu>>
Reply-To: "Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" 
mailto:c...@cornell.edu>>

There is currently a fairly heavy liftoff going on in the Northeast and 
surrounding regions. The high pressure system situated North of Lake Ontario 
could make for a good push of birds down into the Northeast overnight tonight.

If you can, keep your ears skyward!

Sincerely,
Chris T-H

--
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Leave
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--
Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes
Field Applications Engineer
Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 

Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fwd: [nfc-l] Thursday: Night Flight in Northeast

[Andrew Albright]

Ken (and Chris*),

I have a different interpretation of the ebird NFC rules/guideliness than
the Montgomery county (Pennsylvania) ebird compiler for listening live
(cc'd here).
http://help.ebird.org/customer/portal/articles/1010492.

It might be easier to just see an example of how you are logging your night
flight calls into ebird because I think we are doing approximately the same
activity - listening live and recording nfc that we can ID?  I checked
"Recent Sightings" from Thompkins Co, NY and the only one example in  that
I could find doesn't seem to fit guidelines

*Other questions/improvement suggestings*
1) I brought up the question before about the species that you could
conclusively identify as being separable, either partially or
entirably. Even if it were not 100% agreed upon, I think it would be good
if there were a standard that was used for nfc data entry, e.g. only those
fields appear.   This would make data entry more standard, easier and
provide a good starting point for a more detailed discussion.

2) It would be nice to provide a "cliff note" version of the instructions.
The weblink has quite a bit of information which could be broken down into
background information and actionable instructions.

3) It would be good to push to have the smartphone app upgraded to enable
more functionality that includes easy logging of the NFC protocol.

Sincerely,
Andrew Albright


*Chris - If I recall, sometimes you post here that you listen live and
sometimes you review remote recordings?



On Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 12:23 AM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg 
wrote:

>  Just had about 200 thrushes (mostly Swainsons but also many Gray-cheeked
> and Wood Thrush) over my house in Northeast Ithaca in a 45 min count - also
> 12 Green Herons and an Am Bittern
>
> Ken
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Sep 18, 2014, at 9:41 PM, "Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" <
> c...@cornell.edu> wrote:
>
>  Just a heads-up about a potential push of birds into this area overnight
> tonight...
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>  *From: *"Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" 
> *Subject: **[nfc-l] Thursday: Night Flight in Northeast*
> *Date: *September 18, 2014 at 9:38:18 PM EDT
> *To: *NFC-L 
> *Reply-To: *"Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" 
>
>  There is currently a fairly heavy liftoff going on in the Northeast and
> surrounding regions. The high pressure system situated North of Lake
> Ontario could make for a good push of birds down into the Northeast
> overnight tonight.
>
> If you can, keep your ears skyward!
>
> Sincerely,
> Chris T-H
>
> --
> *NFC-L List Info:*
> Welcome and Basics 
> Rules and Information 
> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
> 
> *Archives:*
> The Mail Archive
> 
> Surfbirds 
> BirdingOnThe.Net 
> *Please submit your observations to eBird
> !*
> --
>
>
>  --
> Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes
> Field Applications Engineer
> Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
> 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850
> W: 607-254-2418   M: 607-351-5740   F: 607-254-1132
>   http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp
>
> --
> *Cayugabirds-L List Info:*
> Welcome and Basics 
> Rules and Information 
> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
> 
> *Archives:*
> The Mail Archive
> 
> Surfbirds 
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> *Please submit your observations to eBird
> !*
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>
> --
> *NFC-L List Info:*
> Welcome and Basics 
> Rules and Information 
> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
> 
> *Archives:*
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> 
> Surfbirds 
> BirdingOnThe.Net 
> *Please submit your observations to eBird
> !*
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>

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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fwd: [nfc-l] Thursday: Night Flight in Northeast

[Spahr, Timothy]

Hi All, I just did the hour or so before sunrise (from Marlborough, MA) and
had a really nice flight.  Strangely quiet on the warbler front, but I did
have:


1 Solitary Sandpiper
2 Gray-cheeked Thrush
1 Gray-cheeked/Bicknell's Thursh
~25 Swainson's Thrush
2 double-banded upsweeps (BTNW, TEWA, etc)
1 lightly buzzy warbler, perhaps NOWA or very late LOWA
1 Savannah Sparrow

Looks like we'll get another good night or two in the beginning of next
week.  Looking forward to it!

Tim



On Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 10:33 AM, Andrew Albright  wrote:

> Chris and Ken - thanks for the heads up.  In upstate NY do you get more
> thrush calls in the 1-2 hrs before day break?We seem to down in the
> Mid-Atlantic (and fewer warblers).
>
> Here's my ebird report from listening this morning (29 minutes starting at
> 5:38). Is this the type of distribution you heard?
>
> Anyone else have data from last night/this morning?
>
>2
>  Veery
>
>  6
>  Gray-cheeked Thrush
>
>  46
>  Swainson's Thrush
>
>  11
>  Wood Thrush
>
>  2
>  thrush sp.
>
>  6
>  warbler sp.
>
>  2
>  Chipping Sparrow
>
>  1
>  Swamp Sparrow
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 12:23 AM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg 
> wrote:
>
>>  Just had about 200 thrushes (mostly Swainsons but also many
>> Gray-cheeked and Wood Thrush) over my house in Northeast Ithaca in a 45 min
>> count - also 12 Green Herons and an Am Bittern
>>
>> Ken
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Sep 18, 2014, at 9:41 PM, "Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" <
>> c...@cornell.edu> wrote:
>>
>>  Just a heads-up about a potential push of birds into this area
>> overnight tonight...
>>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>>  *From: *"Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" 
>> *Subject: **[nfc-l] Thursday: Night Flight in Northeast*
>> *Date: *September 18, 2014 at 9:38:18 PM EDT
>> *To: *NFC-L 
>> *Reply-To: *"Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" 
>>
>>  There is currently a fairly heavy liftoff going on in the Northeast and
>> surrounding regions. The high pressure system situated North of Lake
>> Ontario could make for a good push of birds down into the Northeast
>> overnight tonight.
>>
>> If you can, keep your ears skyward!
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Chris T-H
>>
>> --
>> *NFC-L List Info:*
>> Welcome and Basics 
>> Rules and Information 
>> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
>> 
>> *Archives:*
>> The Mail Archive
>> 
>> Surfbirds 
>> BirdingOnThe.Net 
>> *Please submit your observations to eBird
>> !*
>> --
>>
>>
>>  --
>> Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes
>> Field Applications Engineer
>> Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
>> 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850
>> W: 607-254-2418   M: 607-351-5740   F: 607-254-1132
>>   http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp
>>
>> --
>> *Cayugabirds-L List Info:*
>> Welcome and Basics 
>> Rules and Information 
>> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
>> 
>> *Archives:*
>> The Mail Archive
>> 
>> Surfbirds 
>> BirdingOnThe.Net 
>> *Please submit your observations to eBird
>> !*
>> --
>>
>> --
>> *NFC-L List Info:*
>> Welcome and Basics 
>> Rules and Information 
>> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
>> 
>> *Archives:*
>> The Mail Archive
>> 
>> Surfbirds 
>> BirdingOnThe.Net 
>> *Please submit your observations to eBird
>> !*
>> --
>>
>
> --
> *NFC-L List Info:*
> Welcome and Basics 
> Rules and Information 
> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave
> 
> *Archives:*
> The Mail Archive
> 
> Surfbirds 
> BirdingOnThe.Net 
> *Please submit your observations to eBird
> !*
> --
>



-- 
Timothy B. Spahr, PhD
Director, Minor Planet Center
Harvard-Smithsonian Center