[nysbirds-l] Western Tanager, lower Manhattan NYC, 11/30

[Thomas Fiore]

Wednesday, 30 November, 2016 -
City Hall Park, lower Manhattan, New York City

A Western Tanager continues at above park this Wednesday morning &  
seen thru a fresh rain at mid-day (start of more, which rain is very  
much needed region-wide).

The tanager seems fond of the trees (may be high in taller trees much  
of time!) in the part of the park that is between the 2 biggest  
buildings with-IN the park, & just to the east of that area, seen from  
main east-west path IN the park.

A Yellow-breasted Chat continues and was seen in late morning at the  
small (planted) traffic-island just barely across (a few yards) from  
the south edge of the above - it's being referred to as "millennium  
park" & that may be an official designation but is misleading only  
that, on-scene, this traffic-island of less than 15 yards width is in  
essence just a southern extension of City Hall park & is cut off from  
it by a few narrow curving traffic lanes (be very cautious going past  
this area!)

A minimum of 3 additional warbler species are lingering at City Hall  
park, the most uncommon by this date being Black-throated Blue (but,  
if anyone is wondering there are CBC - December records of the species  
in the region), with male & female plumages for 2 individuals, and at  
least one remaining Ovenbird, as well as the 4th warbler species noted  
below, ongoing here.

Other areas of same park are worth searching thru, especially the  
south sides, where even the tanager visited last Friday, at one  
point.  The south area with the (warm-weather-only) fountain is now  
being re-planted & trimmed for upcoming holidays, and a bit of that  
'disturbance' - with a dozen or more workers, & at least 1 leaf-blower  
in use, made for a modest dispersal of other native birds into nearby  
areas, with a few migrant species in adjacent much smaller green- 
spaces - such as 1 (ot at least 2) male Common Yellowthroats having  
gone over a road to the actual foot of the Brooklyn bridge (Manhattan  
side) ped & bike path, where there are many roses still in bloom, and  
a few other very common migrant / winter-visitor birds are also in  
these smaller areas, or may be at times.

Saint Paul's Chapel grounds, 1 short city block SW of the south end of  
City Hall Park, and Trinity Church's cemetery grounds, open to public,  
and a few short city blocks south from same, on west side of Broadway,  
are each worth a look for more birds - on any day.  A second Yellow- 
breasted Chat (or #1Chat if you prefer, as it was discovered well  
before the rare tanager-visitor) is ongoing in the Trinity Church  
cemetery, seen in the north parts at mid-day, with a bit of effort on  
my part.

City Hall Park is located south of Chambers Street, lower Manhattan -  
to the east of Broadway - it is also at the foot of the Brooklyn  
Bridge, & a few yards from the main pedestrian path to that bridge.   
The area the Tanager seems to be favoring is between the 2 major  
buildings IN the park, on / near an east-west path, be looking-up and  
listen for the distinctive calls from the tanager. It may move about  
at times & it will be interesting to see what these birds do as colder  
weather starts to come on (which for now, has not been an issue, and  
many, many insects have been available, perhaps more so with the  
substantial rain now falling, which may generate more insect- 
emergence, even in December.

There have been some Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in the park, and some  
other birds have shown interest in the sapsucker's activities, but  
these insect-eating species ARE finding insect prey to feed on, and so  
far, those sapsuckers were not directly providing principal feeding  
via sap-runs, in caloric terms, to the insectivores - what they may  
provide though is a source of some areas where insect-prey can  
congregate, & thus a focus of food-availabilty in the trees the birds  
are using - all subject to change if-when the weather changes to  
dramatically-colder (it is 55-60+ degrees [Fahrenheit] in Manhattan  
for this rainy day).

Thanks to all who give updates on current status of these & other  
uncommon or rare species;  a tip of the hat to some who have been  
expanding the circle a bit, out from City Hall & Trinity Church areas  
in that part of Manhattan. Other interesting birds may be visiting in  
the general area too!  A Golden-crowned Kinglet, perhaps uncommon in  
downtown Manhattan, was photographed at City Hall park by Richard  
Aracil just recently, and there may be other uncommonly-seen migrants  
turning up.

- - - - - - - -
A citizen’s basic responsibility is to be aware of the consequences of  
his or her acts.
"They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds." - DeRay  
Mckesson, American activist & writer.


good birding,

Tom Fiore,
Manhattan














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NYSbirds-L List Info:
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES

[nysbirds-l] Netiquette & Western Tanager report fatigue

[Arie Gilbert]

  
  
Paul,

I concur. However...

Not everyone seeks the same info from 'the list'.  Some folks
actually like the daily reports of non rarities, {go figure} such as
visitors who can get an idea of whats around by reading the archives
in preparation for a trip to this area, etc.

Back in the early days of the internet, with dial-up modems and pay
per amount of time/data, there was a convention that should be
resurrected. Trip reports were prefaced 'TR' in the subject line,
rare birds were 'RBA', requests for information were 'RFI', and so
on. That way after downloading the subject headers in one pass, {to
save one from using up their monthly limit } one could go back in a
second pass and download just the messages interested in.

As far as too many Western tanager reports,  provided its in the
subject line its quite rapid to hit delete, but for those who are
encumbered by work and other annoying distractions, knowing that a
bird is still present { ie what is otherwise construed as too many
reports } helps.   

If one uses an 'email client' such as Thunderbird, one can set up
'filters'.  These can automatically delete unwanted messages and
more.

But what if we think of the list as a newspaper kinda.  There is the
comics, the financials, the sports pages, the local news etc. Do
folks complain there is too much news and not enough comics? 

I wish that more stuff around the state was reported, and
cross-posted from regional lists as well.  In addition to TR or RFI
or RBA adding the 'county' in the subject line would help too. 

Or perhaps we can get Lloyd to come out of retirement and put his
Metro Birding Briefs back on.  ;)

Arie Gilbert
North Babylon, NY

WWW.Powerbirder.blogspot.com 
 WWW.qcbirdclub.org 





On 11/30/2016 9:28 AM, Paul R Sweet
  wrote:


  
  Personally I'd rather my inbox fill with reports of genuinely
rare birds than mundane daily lists of birds seen in Central
Park. E-bird is an appropriate place for this data? What if
everyone posted their daily bird walk lists to this list? Just
my opinion.

Paul Sweet | Department of Ornithology | American Museum of
Natural History | Central Park West @ 79th St | NY 10024 | Tel
212 769 5780 | Mob 718 757 5941
  
On Nov 29, 2016, at 10:20 AM, Deborah Allen 
wrote:

  
  

  In my opinion, one report per day giving
the general area where the bird was found is sufficient.


Deb Allen

  -Original Message- 
  From: brian.whip...@gmail.com
  
  Sent: Nov 29, 2016 9:27 AM 
  To: Dennis Hrehowsik , "nysbirds-l@cornell.edu"

  Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Western Tanager city hall pk
  Manhattan YES 
  
  I'm not tired of it. I still haven't been able to find time to see the bird, what with being out of town for Thanksgiving and being at work, so I appreciate the updates. I still want to know if I have a chance whenever I find
 time to run to City Hall Park. I would guess I'm speaking for other birders too.



In my opinion, a rarity is post-worthy for as long as it's present.



Thanks for posting, Dennis.
  
  
On Tue, Nov 29, 2016 at 9:17 AM
  Dennis Hrehowsik 
  wrote:


  I'm sure everyone is tired of reports about this
  bird and (I won't say but) it continues in same
  location of city hall park (east west path in NE
  corner) for anyone who was considering trying for
  it.  Bird was hunkered in a tree with yellow
  leaves on south side of east west path near city
  hall gate it made one or two little half hearted
  nasally calls which alerted me to its presence.
  
  Dennis Hrehowsik
  Brooklyn
  --
  
  NYSbirds-L List Info:
  http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME
  http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES
  http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm
  
  ARCHIVES:
  1) 
http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
   

RE: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

[Rick]

I find some granularity in reporting useful in order to keep tuned to the 
cadence of seasonal flux, especially in times of growing weather 
irregularities, even if that means noting odd appearance dates or unexpected 
frequencies of commoner stuff. This requires judgment on the part of reporters, 
however, and as noted can be overdone.

Rick


Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE KöszDevice


 Original message 
From: Paul R Sweet  
Date:11/30/2016  4:50 PM  (GMT-05:00) 
To: NYSBIRDS-L  
Cc:  
Subject: RE: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species 

Daily lists are great and as I mentioned previously E-bird is an excellent 
place to record such data. If everyone posted their Central Park lists to 
NYSBIRDS-L it would certainly dilute the power of the list. See Kevin McGowan's 
 post here https://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/msg20105.html 
regarding the original intent of the list. 


-Original Message-
From: bounce-121044213-11471...@list.cornell.edu 
[mailto:bounce-121044213-11471...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Deborah Allen
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2016 4:28 PM
To: NYSBIRDS-L
Subject: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

With the recent attention on lower Manhattan parks due to the continuing 
Western Tanager and multiple Chats, we thought it might be interesting to take 
a look at the birds that people reported in those same parks in the past. 
Reading many 19th-20th century articles about NYC birds in the Wilson Journal 
of Ornithology, the Auk and elsewhere, is much like reading the NYS list today 
- including the article we place below. Some may find lists and anecdotal 
observations of any era boring - but for us they are a gold mine. We have made 
it one of our endeavors to track and understand how the local avifauna has 
changed through time...and such notes, sightings, reliable reports (including 
Christmas Count lists) are the foundation that allows us to evaluate and write 
about what happened here in the past and to grapple with the why of the 
changes. For example, unless multiple birders took the time to write that 
Bobolinks were common nesters in certain parks in several boroughs of NYC in 
the early 20th century, we would be left thinking that these birds were always 
rare in NYC. Think of the Bobwhite Quail that bred at NYBG (Bronx) and other 
parks into the early 1930s, or the amazing occurrence of a Blue-gray 
Gnatcatcher in Central Park in 1901, or the first nest of the species in New 
York State in 1963. Without these sorts of anecdotal accounts how would we know 
the number of sparrow species that once were common summer residents in NYC 
parks in the 19th Century (Vesper Sparrow anyone)? What seems like dull (or 
amazing) reading today, may be very different to NYC birders in 2050 reading 
bird lists from different parks of the Big Apple in 2016.

Delete is a good key on your computer. Not a big deal...but we'd prefer to see 
people reporting...it keeps a buzz going on a list...and we can keep grappling 
with the facts to better understand, the Why? How? and When? It’s great that 
birders make so many lists. We encourage them to take those data and address 
another important question: what does it mean? Meanwhile we have our articles 
and books to write and field research to do (greetings from Nepal and 
Thailand!). We have an amazing contingent of fellow birders who join us on bird 
walks sometimes seven days per week (during migration) - in Central Park and 
the other parks of NYC. They tell us about what they have found all the time - 
and that makes us smile because they are seeing/doing/learning - and enjoying 
the local environment and its birds.

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and wish you all the best for the 
Hanukah/Christmas/Kwanzaa Holidays,

Deborah Allen and Robert DeCandido, PhD

-

Ornithology of St. Paul's Church [1903-04]


Even under unpromising conditions, and in unexpected places, there is often 
something for the bird-student to investigate. This is illustrated by some 
surprising records from city parks, and even from the smaller green spots, 
oases in the great desert of brick and mortar.

As such a record I here submit, for whatever it may be worth, the results of 
observations in Saint Paul's Churchyard, New York City, made mostly during 
intervals of a few moments at noon, and occasionally in the morning, and 
covering the migration periods of spring and fall of 1903, and spring of 1904.

Saint Paul's Church property is situated nearly midway between the East and 
North Rivers, fronting east on Broadway, Church Street at the rear, Vesey 
Street on the north side and Fulton Street on the south, and it is thus in one 
of the busiest and noisiest sections of the city.

At the rear of the property, along Church Street, there is the constant rumble 
and roar of the elevated railroad. This church property is about 332 

[nysbirds-l] NYS eBird Hotspots: BirdTrax Up & Running

[Ben Cacace]

The BirdTrax gadget on the wiki that taps into "Rarities" or plain
"Sightings" has been down for a few days. I've contacted the developer
(Zachary DeBruine) and he showed me how to get to BirdTrax where it is
currently being hosted now that the original site is no longer in play:

http://ebirding-nys.wikispaces.com/Birding+in+New+York

I've updated the code for the NYS page and the 62 county pages.
-- 
Ben Cacace
Manhattan, NYC
Wiki for NYS eBird Hotspots

Facebook Discussion for NYS eBird Hotspots


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http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm

ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html

Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

--

[nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

[Deborah Allen]

With the recent attention on lower Manhattan parks due to the continuing 
Western Tanager and multiple Chats, we thought it might be interesting to take 
a look at the birds that people reported in those same parks in the past. 
Reading many 19th-20th century articles about NYC birds in the Wilson Journal 
of Ornithology, the Auk and elsewhere, is much like reading the NYS list today 
- including the article we place below. Some may find lists and anecdotal 
observations of any era boring - but for us they are a gold mine. We have made 
it one of our endeavors to track and understand how the local avifauna has 
changed through time...and such notes, sightings, reliable reports (including 
Christmas Count lists) are the foundation that allows us to evaluate and write 
about what happened here in the past and to grapple with the why of the 
changes. For example, unless multiple birders took the time to write that 
Bobolinks were common nesters in certain parks in several boroughs of NYC in 
the early 20th century, we would be left thinking that these birds were always 
rare in NYC. Think of the Bobwhite Quail that bred at NYBG (Bronx) and other 
parks into the early 1930s, or the amazing occurrence of a Blue-gray 
Gnatcatcher in Central Park in 1901, or the first nest of the species in New 
York State in 1963. Without these sorts of anecdotal accounts how would we know 
the number of sparrow species that once were common summer residents in NYC 
parks in the 19th Century (Vesper Sparrow anyone)? What seems like dull (or 
amazing) reading today, may be very different to NYC birders in 2050 reading 
bird lists from different parks of the Big Apple in 2016.

Delete is a good key on your computer. Not a big deal...but we'd prefer to see 
people reporting...it keeps a buzz going on a list...and we can keep grappling
with the facts to better understand, the Why? How? and When? It’s great that
birders make so many lists. We encourage them to take those data and address
another important question: what does it mean? Meanwhile we have our articles 
and
books to write and field research to do (greetings from Nepal and Thailand!). We
have an amazing contingent of fellow birders who join us on bird walks 
sometimes seven days per week (during migration) - in Central Park and the 
other parks of NYC. They tell us about what they have found all the time - and 
that makes us smile because they are seeing/doing/learning - and enjoying the 
local environment and its birds.

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and wish you all the best for the
Hanukah/Christmas/Kwanzaa Holidays,

Deborah Allen and Robert DeCandido, PhD

-

Ornithology of St. Paul's Church [1903-04]


Even under unpromising conditions, and in unexpected places, there is often
something for the bird-student to investigate. This is illustrated by some
surprising records from city parks, and even from the smaller green spots,
oases in the great desert of brick and mortar.

As such a record I here submit, for whatever it may be worth, the results of
observations in Saint Paul's Churchyard, New York City, made mostly during
intervals of a few moments at noon, and occasionally in the morning, and
covering the migration periods of spring and fall of 1903, and spring of 1904.

Saint Paul's Church property is situated nearly midway between the East and
North Rivers, fronting east on Broadway, Church Street at the rear, Vesey
Street on the north side and Fulton Street on the south, and it is thus in one
of the busiest and noisiest sections of the city.

At the rear of the property, along Church Street, there is the constant rumble
and roar of the elevated railroad. This church property is about 332 feet long
by 177 feet wide, of which area the church occupies a space about 78 by 120
feet at the Broadway end, while at the Church Street end the Church School
takes off another slice about 30 feet wide. The space remaining consists of the
main yard at the rear of the church, between it and the school, and a wing on
either side of the church, each about 120 feet long by 48 feet wide. A narrow
walk completes the circuit of the churchyard, about twenty feet from its outer
edge. The grounds contain three large, ten medium, and forty smaller trees, not
counting several that were being removed at the time of my count, and a number
of shrubs and flowers, grass-plots and grass grown graves. Even the most
nerve-hardened native bird would hardly select such a spot for a summer home,
nor attempt to take up winter quarters there.

Throughout the greater part of the summer and winter the noisy flock of English
Sparrows domiciled here holds undisputed sway. It seems probable that the
native birds that occur in the churchyard during migrations are such as are
attracted to the green spot while passing in their flights directly over it,
and that they are in no case stragglers from the temporary residents of the
near-by country or parks. I have visited the churchyard many times in 

RE: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

[Paul R Sweet]

Daily lists are great and as I mentioned previously E-bird is an excellent 
place to record such data. If everyone posted their Central Park lists to 
NYSBIRDS-L it would certainly dilute the power of the list. See Kevin McGowan's 
 post here https://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/msg20105.html 
regarding the original intent of the list. 


-Original Message-
From: bounce-121044213-11471...@list.cornell.edu 
[mailto:bounce-121044213-11471...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Deborah Allen
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2016 4:28 PM
To: NYSBIRDS-L
Subject: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

With the recent attention on lower Manhattan parks due to the continuing 
Western Tanager and multiple Chats, we thought it might be interesting to take 
a look at the birds that people reported in those same parks in the past. 
Reading many 19th-20th century articles about NYC birds in the Wilson Journal 
of Ornithology, the Auk and elsewhere, is much like reading the NYS list today 
- including the article we place below. Some may find lists and anecdotal 
observations of any era boring - but for us they are a gold mine. We have made 
it one of our endeavors to track and understand how the local avifauna has 
changed through time...and such notes, sightings, reliable reports (including 
Christmas Count lists) are the foundation that allows us to evaluate and write 
about what happened here in the past and to grapple with the why of the 
changes. For example, unless multiple birders took the time to write that 
Bobolinks were common nesters in certain parks in several boroughs of NYC in 
the early 20th century, we would be left thinking that these birds were always 
rare in NYC. Think of the Bobwhite Quail that bred at NYBG (Bronx) and other 
parks into the early 1930s, or the amazing occurrence of a Blue-gray 
Gnatcatcher in Central Park in 1901, or the first nest of the species in New 
York State in 1963. Without these sorts of anecdotal accounts how would we know 
the number of sparrow species that once were common summer residents in NYC 
parks in the 19th Century (Vesper Sparrow anyone)? What seems like dull (or 
amazing) reading today, may be very different to NYC birders in 2050 reading 
bird lists from different parks of the Big Apple in 2016.

Delete is a good key on your computer. Not a big deal...but we'd prefer to see 
people reporting...it keeps a buzz going on a list...and we can keep grappling 
with the facts to better understand, the Why? How? and When? It’s great that 
birders make so many lists. We encourage them to take those data and address 
another important question: what does it mean? Meanwhile we have our articles 
and books to write and field research to do (greetings from Nepal and 
Thailand!). We have an amazing contingent of fellow birders who join us on bird 
walks sometimes seven days per week (during migration) - in Central Park and 
the other parks of NYC. They tell us about what they have found all the time - 
and that makes us smile because they are seeing/doing/learning - and enjoying 
the local environment and its birds.

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and wish you all the best for the 
Hanukah/Christmas/Kwanzaa Holidays,

Deborah Allen and Robert DeCandido, PhD

-

Ornithology of St. Paul's Church [1903-04]


Even under unpromising conditions, and in unexpected places, there is often 
something for the bird-student to investigate. This is illustrated by some 
surprising records from city parks, and even from the smaller green spots, 
oases in the great desert of brick and mortar.

As such a record I here submit, for whatever it may be worth, the results of 
observations in Saint Paul's Churchyard, New York City, made mostly during 
intervals of a few moments at noon, and occasionally in the morning, and 
covering the migration periods of spring and fall of 1903, and spring of 1904.

Saint Paul's Church property is situated nearly midway between the East and 
North Rivers, fronting east on Broadway, Church Street at the rear, Vesey 
Street on the north side and Fulton Street on the south, and it is thus in one 
of the busiest and noisiest sections of the city.

At the rear of the property, along Church Street, there is the constant rumble 
and roar of the elevated railroad. This church property is about 332 feet long 
by 177 feet wide, of which area the church occupies a space about 78 by 120 
feet at the Broadway end, while at the Church Street end the Church School 
takes off another slice about 30 feet wide. The space remaining consists of the 
main yard at the rear of the church, between it and the school, and a wing on 
either side of the church, each about 120 feet long by 48 feet wide. A narrow 
walk completes the circuit of the churchyard, about twenty feet from its outer 
edge. The grounds contain three large, ten medium, and forty smaller trees, not 
counting several that were being removed at the time of my 

Re: [nysbirds-l] Netiquette & Western Tanager report fatigue

[David Barrett]

When the discussion about rare bird posting options began a little over a
week ago, I was not sure a new list was needed. As others have pointed out,
NYSBirds serves a variety of purposes well, and it already has a relatively
large user base. To create yet another source for alerts -- in addition to
NYSBirds, eBird alerts, and the county-oriented Twitter/SMS alerts -- might
only serve to further fragment reporting. It probably would be better for
those who do not want certain kinds of reports to learn how to use Gmail
filters and labels (as I do) to limit what appears in the inbox and what
triggers an audible alert on the phone (the latter more restrictive than
the former).

That said, I did experiment with creating two lists using Google Groups,
which I believe offers the most feature-rich environment and, like Yahoo
Groups, is free.

The first, designed just for Manhattan, already has some reports on it, so
you can see the look and functionality:

https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!forum/manhattan-rare-bird-alert

I also created but did not populate a similar list for New York City. I am
not sure what area people want covered.

If there is sufficient interest, I would be happy to work further on
implementing such a list -- which is, to say, setting a geographical range
for it, fine-tuning the posting rules, and requesting people to sign up for
posting privileges. Send your feedback directly, if you wish.

David Barrett
Manhattan



On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 3:53 PM, Lloyd Spitalnik <
ll...@lloydspitalnikphotos.com> wrote:

> When I disbanded Metro Birding Briefs it was because I felt it outlived
> its usefulness. There were too many other places were reporting their
>  Rarity sightings and info was getting diluted. It didn't take much time
> out of my life to run it. I'm not interested in resurrecting it but
> somebody (Andrew B. or even Dave K.) could set it up quite easily.
> Initially all it requires is setting up a list of acceptable birds to be
> reported. I used YahooGroups which is free to set it up. The main thing is
> whoever volunteers to do it has to be very strict about what is sent to the
> list. Integrity of the list is paramount. At least that's the way I
> maintained it. Several people over the years were taken off the site.
> Birding Dude and Dave, how about it?
> All my best,
> Lloyd
> ll...@lloydspitalnikphotos.com
>
> On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 1:29 PM, Arie Gilbert 
> wrote:
>
>> Paul,
>>
>> I concur. However...
>>
>> Not everyone seeks the same info from 'the list'.  Some folks actually
>> like the daily reports of non rarities, {go figure} such as visitors who
>> can get an idea of whats around by reading the archives in preparation for
>> a trip to this area, etc.
>>
>> Back in the early days of the internet, with dial-up modems and pay per
>> amount of time/data, there was a convention that should be resurrected.
>> Trip reports were prefaced 'TR' in the subject line, rare birds were 'RBA',
>> requests for information were 'RFI', and so on. That way after downloading
>> the subject headers in one pass, {to save one from using up their monthly
>> limit } one could go back in a second pass and download just the messages
>> interested in.
>>
>> As far as too many Western tanager reports,  provided its in the subject
>> line its quite rapid to hit delete, but for those who are encumbered by
>> work and other annoying distractions, knowing that a bird is still present
>> { ie what is otherwise construed as too many reports } helps.
>>
>> If one uses an 'email client' such as Thunderbird, one can set up
>> 'filters'.  These can automatically delete unwanted messages and more.
>>
>> But what if we think of the list as a newspaper kinda.  There is the
>> comics, the financials, the sports pages, the local news etc. Do folks
>> complain there is too much news and not enough comics?
>>
>> I wish that more stuff around the state was reported, and cross-posted
>> from regional lists as well.  In addition to TR or RFI or RBA adding the
>> 'county' in the subject line would help too.
>>
>> Or perhaps we can get Lloyd to come out of retirement and put his Metro
>> Birding Briefs back on.  ;)
>>
>> Arie Gilbert
>> North Babylon, NY
>>
>> WWW.Powerbirder.blogspot.com
>>  WWW.qcbirdclub.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 11/30/2016 9:28 AM, Paul R Sweet wrote:
>>
>> Personally I'd rather my inbox fill with reports of genuinely rare birds
>> than mundane daily lists of birds seen in Central Park. E-bird is an
>> appropriate place for this data? What if everyone posted their daily bird
>> walk lists to this list? Just my opinion.
>>
>> Paul Sweet | Department of Ornithology | American Museum of Natural
>> History | Central Park West @ 79th St | NY 10024 | Tel 212 769 5780
>> <(212)%20769-5780> | Mob 718 757 5941 <(718)%20757-5941>
>>
>> On Nov 29, 2016, at 10:20 AM, Deborah Allen 
>> wrote:
>>
>> In my opinion, one report per day giving the general area 

Re: [nysbirds-l] Netiquette & Western Tanager report fatigue

[Lloyd Spitalnik]

When I disbanded Metro Birding Briefs it was because I felt it outlived its
usefulness. There were too many other places were reporting their  Rarity
sightings and info was getting diluted. It didn't take much time out of my
life to run it. I'm not interested in resurrecting it but somebody (Andrew
B. or even Dave K.) could set it up quite easily. Initially all it requires
is setting up a list of acceptable birds to be reported. I used YahooGroups
which is free to set it up. The main thing is whoever volunteers to do it
has to be very strict about what is sent to the list. Integrity of the list
is paramount. At least that's the way I maintained it. Several people over
the years were taken off the site.
Birding Dude and Dave, how about it?
All my best,
Lloyd
ll...@lloydspitalnikphotos.com

On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 1:29 PM, Arie Gilbert 
wrote:

> Paul,
>
> I concur. However...
>
> Not everyone seeks the same info from 'the list'.  Some folks actually
> like the daily reports of non rarities, {go figure} such as visitors who
> can get an idea of whats around by reading the archives in preparation for
> a trip to this area, etc.
>
> Back in the early days of the internet, with dial-up modems and pay per
> amount of time/data, there was a convention that should be resurrected.
> Trip reports were prefaced 'TR' in the subject line, rare birds were 'RBA',
> requests for information were 'RFI', and so on. That way after downloading
> the subject headers in one pass, {to save one from using up their monthly
> limit } one could go back in a second pass and download just the messages
> interested in.
>
> As far as too many Western tanager reports,  provided its in the subject
> line its quite rapid to hit delete, but for those who are encumbered by
> work and other annoying distractions, knowing that a bird is still present
> { ie what is otherwise construed as too many reports } helps.
>
> If one uses an 'email client' such as Thunderbird, one can set up
> 'filters'.  These can automatically delete unwanted messages and more.
>
> But what if we think of the list as a newspaper kinda.  There is the
> comics, the financials, the sports pages, the local news etc. Do folks
> complain there is too much news and not enough comics?
>
> I wish that more stuff around the state was reported, and cross-posted
> from regional lists as well.  In addition to TR or RFI or RBA adding the
> 'county' in the subject line would help too.
>
> Or perhaps we can get Lloyd to come out of retirement and put his Metro
> Birding Briefs back on.  ;)
>
> Arie Gilbert
> North Babylon, NY
>
> WWW.Powerbirder.blogspot.com
>  WWW.qcbirdclub.org
>
>
>
>
>
> On 11/30/2016 9:28 AM, Paul R Sweet wrote:
>
> Personally I'd rather my inbox fill with reports of genuinely rare birds
> than mundane daily lists of birds seen in Central Park. E-bird is an
> appropriate place for this data? What if everyone posted their daily bird
> walk lists to this list? Just my opinion.
>
> Paul Sweet | Department of Ornithology | American Museum of Natural
> History | Central Park West @ 79th St | NY 10024 | Tel 212 769 5780
> <(212)%20769-5780> | Mob 718 757 5941 <(718)%20757-5941>
>
> On Nov 29, 2016, at 10:20 AM, Deborah Allen 
> wrote:
>
> In my opinion, one report per day giving the general area where the bird
> was found is sufficient.
>
> Deb Allen
>
> -Original Message-
> From: brian.whip...@gmail.com
> Sent: Nov 29, 2016 9:27 AM
> To: Dennis Hrehowsik , "nysbirds-l@cornell.edu"
> Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Western Tanager city hall pk Manhattan YES
>
> I'm not tired of it. I still haven't been able to find time to see the
> bird, what with being out of town for Thanksgiving and being at work, so I
> appreciate the updates. I still want to know if I have a chance whenever I
> find time to run to City Hall Park. I would guess I'm speaking for other
> birders too. In my opinion, a rarity is post-worthy for as long as it's
> present. Thanks for posting, Dennis.
>
> On Tue, Nov 29, 2016 at 9:17 AM Dennis Hrehowsik <
> deepseagangs...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I'm sure everyone is tired of reports about this bird and (I won't say
>> but) it continues in same location of city hall park (east west path in NE
>> corner) for anyone who was considering trying for it.  Bird was hunkered in
>> a tree with yellow leaves on south side of east west path near city hall
>> gate it made one or two little half hearted nasally calls which alerted me
>> to its presence.
>>
>> Dennis Hrehowsik
>> Brooklyn
>> --
>>
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>> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME
>> 
>> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES
>> 

Re: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

[Phil Jeffrey]

The current intent of the list as given on the list's website is not what
Kevin McGowan indicated may or may not be the original intent - and I've
pointed this out recently - its even linked at the end of every message.
Certainly this has not been a purely RBA list for quite some time -
although that's more difficult to demonstrate given that there weren't any
list archives (!) for quite some time either.

eBird is only one tiny notch up from just a basic list of species.  The
eBird reports - and I use them for trip research - are frequently without
context so they read as:

an interesting bird was seen somewhere in tens of acres of habitat

and the lack of narrative is hopeless if you want to go find anything
that's of interest to you that might drop below the anointed level of
rarity.  I believe that eBird has damaged local birding lists by the
removal of context from sightings.  IMHO, that context is extremely
valuable to all level of birders and why I run my own list as I do.  I've
mostly stopped reporting sightings to eBird for this reason.

So no, eBird is not the solution.

Phil Jeffrey
Princeton

On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 4:50 PM, Paul R Sweet  wrote:

> Daily lists are great and as I mentioned previously E-bird is an excellent
> place to record such data. If everyone posted their Central Park lists to
> NYSBIRDS-L it would certainly dilute the power of the list. See Kevin
> McGowan's  post here https://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/
> msg20105.html regarding the original intent of the list.
>
>
>

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[nysbirds-l] The NYSBirds List

[Shaibal Mitra]

Hi everyone,

In theory there are two ways to reform the content of this listserv: (1) 
discourage posts that are less relevant; and (2) encourage posts that are more 
relevant.

But given the very diverse sentiments expressed here in recent weeks, it's 
clear that people simply disagree about what is relevant. But criticizing 
certain kinds of posts is doubly harmful: not only is it demonstrably 
ineffective in reducing the frequency of the unwanted posts, whatever they may 
be in a particular instance, but it also discourages contributions from newer 
participants and those who don't appreciate being criticized. In other words, 
this ineffective tactic inadvertently conflicts with and damages the prospects 
for the only other means of improving the forum. I agree with those who have 
emphasized that neither the overall volume of reports, nor the proportion of 
what any one individual might regard as chaff, is ever great enough to 
discourage me from sifting this site every day for items of personal interest.

These considerations came to mind recently when I overheard some Long Island 
birders debating whether to chase an Ash-throated Flycatcher (to me very rare) 
vs. "the Red Crossbill" (to me periodically ubiquitous). At this stage in my 
life, I'd much rather read a post from Tim Healy or Steve Walter about the 
tempo and mode of a day's migration than a how-to guide to chasing "the Red 
Crossbill." But I understand that some newer birders might actually have seen 
more Ash-throated Flycatchers than Red Crossbills, even though this is utterly 
contrary to my own development as a birder. And all of this is what makes 
birding, and NYSBirds, so wonderful--not only can we find how-to information 
for chasing (arguably) rare birds, but we are also offered insights into other 
people's perspectives and values. Please post more!

Shai Mitra
Bay Shore
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Re: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

[Dominic Garcia-Hall]

I find most people reporting to eBird are pretty good about including
context (location etc) in the comments field - not least because when it's
a genuine rarity eBird mandates some kind of commentary. In fact, I'd say
once a rarity has had its initial few ebird reports, further comments tend
to revert away from repeated descriptions of plumage and start to become a
running track of where the bird is, or behaviour notes etc. Obviously the
ability to look at / manipulate other facets of the eBird Big Data-set is
totally invaluable.

The GroupMe system we use in Northern New Jersey is very good for sharing
rarity info. And tends to not suffer from reports of common birds, and is
invite only so is kind of self-policing. But as others have pointed out,
it's another app people gotta download and install on their phones

Personally i think nobody should be dissuaded from reporting. As David B
pointed out, it's not hard to set email filters, and someone somewhere
might just get themselves a lifer that otherwise would have gone un-shared
if people hold back.

Just my 3 cents

Good birding.
Dom

www.antbirds.com

www.aventuraargentina.com

+ 1 646 429 2667 <(646)%20429-2667>

On 30 November 2016 at 17:19, Phil Jeffrey  wrote:

> The current intent of the list as given on the list's website is not what
> Kevin McGowan indicated may or may not be the original intent - and I've
> pointed this out recently - its even linked at the end of every message.
> Certainly this has not been a purely RBA list for quite some time -
> although that's more difficult to demonstrate given that there weren't any
> list archives (!) for quite some time either.
>
> eBird is only one tiny notch up from just a basic list of species.  The
> eBird reports - and I use them for trip research - are frequently without
> context so they read as:
>
> an interesting bird was seen somewhere in tens of acres of habitat
>
> and the lack of narrative is hopeless if you want to go find anything
> that's of interest to you that might drop below the anointed level of
> rarity.  I believe that eBird has damaged local birding lists by the
> removal of context from sightings.  IMHO, that context is extremely
> valuable to all level of birders and why I run my own list as I do.  I've
> mostly stopped reporting sightings to eBird for this reason.
>
> So no, eBird is not the solution.
>
> Phil Jeffrey
> Princeton
>
> On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 4:50 PM, Paul R Sweet  wrote:
>
>> Daily lists are great and as I mentioned previously E-bird is an
>> excellent place to record such data. If everyone posted their Central Park
>> lists to NYSBIRDS-L it would certainly dilute the power of the list. See
>> Kevin McGowan's  post here https://www.mail-archive.com/n
>> ysbird...@cornell.edu/msg20105.html regarding the original intent of the
>> list.
>>
>>
>> --
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Re: [nysbirds-l] Netiquette & Western Tanager report fatigue

[Andrew Baksh]

Hi Lloyd,

In hindsight, I regretted not answering the bell when you called prior to 
disbanding Metro Birding Briefs. Like you, I thought the other mediums were 
sufficient for NYC/S Bird coverage and still do.

I don't mind setting up something along the lines of MBB but I warn that I 
would be quite strict on what gets reported.

Additionally, I should add that a few years ago I setup a twitter account for 
NY rarities. The account has not seen much activity of late but that 
could/easily change. It can be used by anyone wanting to tweet a NYS rarity 
out. The handle is, @NYRareBirdAlert.

Rather than create another e-mail, I should add that a day of soggy Gulling 
from Floyd Bennett Field Brooklyn to as far as Robert Moses Long Island did not 
net me much. Highlights included a 3rd cycle type Lesser Black-backed Gull on 
the beach @ Field 5 RMSP and 1 juvenile Herring Gull, at FBF in front of the 
Aviator Building. The juvenile HERG (Herring Gull), was a rather clean looking 
individual, suggesting one from a local colony.

Hopefully, no one kvetches about me slipping Gull stuff in here 

Cheers,


"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of 
others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence." ~ Frederick 
Douglass

風　Swift as the wind
林　Quiet as the forest
火　Conquer like the fire
山　Steady as the mountain
Sun Tzu  The Art of War

> (__/)
> (= '.'=)
> (") _ (") 
> Sent from somewhere in the field using my mobile device! 

Andrew Baksh
www.birdingdude.blogspot.com

> On Nov 30, 2016, at 3:53 PM, Lloyd Spitalnik  
> wrote:
> 
> When I disbanded Metro Birding Briefs it was because I felt it outlived its 
> usefulness. There were too many other places were reporting their  Rarity 
> sightings and info was getting diluted. It didn't take much time out of my 
> life to run it. I'm not interested in resurrecting it but somebody (Andrew B. 
> or even Dave K.) could set it up quite easily. Initially all it requires is 
> setting up a list of acceptable birds to be reported. I used YahooGroups 
> which is free to set it up. The main thing is whoever volunteers to do it has 
> to be very strict about what is sent to the list. Integrity of the list is 
> paramount. At least that's the way I maintained it. Several people over the 
> years were taken off the site.
> Birding Dude and Dave, how about it?
> All my best,
> Lloyd
> ll...@lloydspitalnikphotos.com
> 
>> On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 1:29 PM, Arie Gilbert  
>> wrote:
>> Paul,
>> 
>> I concur. However...
>> 
>> Not everyone seeks the same info from 'the list'.  Some folks actually like 
>> the daily reports of non rarities, {go figure} such as visitors who can get 
>> an idea of whats around by reading the archives in preparation for a trip to 
>> this area, etc.
>> 
>> Back in the early days of the internet, with dial-up modems and pay per 
>> amount of time/data, there was a convention that should be resurrected. Trip 
>> reports were prefaced 'TR' in the subject line, rare birds were 'RBA', 
>> requests for information were 'RFI', and so on. That way after downloading 
>> the subject headers in one pass, {to save one from using up their monthly 
>> limit } one could go back in a second pass and download just the messages 
>> interested in.
>> 
>> As far as too many Western tanager reports,  provided its in the subject 
>> line its quite rapid to hit delete, but for those who are encumbered by work 
>> and other annoying distractions, knowing that a bird is still present { ie 
>> what is otherwise construed as too many reports } helps.   
>> 
>> If one uses an 'email client' such as Thunderbird, one can set up 'filters'. 
>>  These can automatically delete unwanted messages and more.
>> 
>> But what if we think of the list as a newspaper kinda.  There is the comics, 
>> the financials, the sports pages, the local news etc. Do folks complain 
>> there is too much news and not enough comics? 
>> 
>> I wish that more stuff around the state was reported, and cross-posted from 
>> regional lists as well.  In addition to TR or RFI or RBA adding the 'county' 
>> in the subject line would help too. 
>> 
>> Or perhaps we can get Lloyd to come out of retirement and put his Metro 
>> Birding Briefs back on.  ;)
>> 
>> Arie Gilbert
>> North Babylon, NY
>> 
>> WWW.Powerbirder.blogspot.com 
>>  WWW.qcbirdclub.org 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On 11/30/2016 9:28 AM, Paul R Sweet wrote:
>>> Personally I'd rather my inbox fill with reports of genuinely rare birds 
>>> than mundane daily lists of birds seen in Central Park. E-bird is an 
>>> appropriate place for this data? What if everyone posted their daily bird 
>>> walk lists to this list? Just my opinion.
>>> 
>>> Paul Sweet | Department of Ornithology | American Museum of Natural History 
>>> | Central Park West @ 79th St | NY 10024 | 

Re: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

[Phil Jeffrey]

I don't equate "interesting" with "rare".  Rare birds are often
well-characterized - not least of all in weekly RBA posts.  Interesting
birds (self-defined) run a much larger gamut than that, and I can point to
a lot of eBird checklists where there's no additional context whatsoever
for such species.

On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 6:10 PM, Dominic Garcia-Hall  wrote:

> I find most people reporting to eBird are pretty good about including
> context (location etc) in the comments field - not least because when it's
> a genuine rarity eBird mandates some kind of commentary.
>


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Re: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

[brian . whipple]

Please limit postings to 2 cents.

On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 6:11 PM Dominic Garcia-Hall 
wrote:

> I find most people reporting to eBird are pretty good about including
> context (location etc) in the comments field - not least because when it's
> a genuine rarity eBird mandates some kind of commentary. In fact, I'd say
> once a rarity has had its initial few ebird reports, further comments tend
> to revert away from repeated descriptions of plumage and start to become a
> running track of where the bird is, or behaviour notes etc. Obviously the
> ability to look at / manipulate other facets of the eBird Big Data-set is
> totally invaluable.
>
> The GroupMe system we use in Northern New Jersey is very good for sharing
> rarity info. And tends to not suffer from reports of common birds, and is
> invite only so is kind of self-policing. But as others have pointed out,
> it's another app people gotta download and install on their phones
>
> Personally i think nobody should be dissuaded from reporting. As David B
> pointed out, it's not hard to set email filters, and someone somewhere
> might just get themselves a lifer that otherwise would have gone un-shared
> if people hold back.
>
> Just my 3 cents
>
> Good birding.
> Dom
>
> www.antbirds.com
>
> www.aventuraargentina.com
>
> + 1 646 429 2667 <(646)%20429-2667>
>
> On 30 November 2016 at 17:19, Phil Jeffrey  wrote:
>
> The current intent of the list as given on the list's website is not what
> Kevin McGowan indicated may or may not be the original intent - and I've
> pointed this out recently - its even linked at the end of every message.
> Certainly this has not been a purely RBA list for quite some time -
> although that's more difficult to demonstrate given that there weren't any
> list archives (!) for quite some time either.
>
> eBird is only one tiny notch up from just a basic list of species.  The
> eBird reports - and I use them for trip research - are frequently without
> context so they read as:
>
> an interesting bird was seen somewhere in tens of acres of habitat
>
> and the lack of narrative is hopeless if you want to go find anything
> that's of interest to you that might drop below the anointed level of
> rarity.  I believe that eBird has damaged local birding lists by the
> removal of context from sightings.  IMHO, that context is extremely
> valuable to all level of birders and why I run my own list as I do.  I've
> mostly stopped reporting sightings to eBird for this reason.
>
> So no, eBird is not the solution.
>
> Phil Jeffrey
> Princeton
>
> On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 4:50 PM, Paul R Sweet  wrote:
>
> Daily lists are great and as I mentioned previously E-bird is an excellent
> place to record such data. If everyone posted their Central Park lists to
> NYSBIRDS-L it would certainly dilute the power of the list. See Kevin
> McGowan's  post here
> https://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/msg20105.html
> regarding the original intent of the list.
>
>
> --
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> 
> *Archives:*
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> 
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> *Please submit your observations to **eBird*
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>
> --
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Re: [nysbirds-l] ? selasphorus sp. hummingbird (Rufous or Allen's)

[robert adamo]

Hi Paul,

No, I can not !

To hopefully "legitimize" this post, I'd like to share with the listserve
the following information re: the slight differences in bill length between
Rufous and Allen's Hummingbirds, which I gleaned from *The Hummingbirds of
North America*, Paul A. Johnsgard, 1983/Smithsonian Institution:

*Selasphorus rufus *_ Exposed culmen males 15-17.5 mm (ave. of 18, 16.5
mm), females 17-19 mm (ave. of 11, 18 mm).
*Selasphorus sasin *_ Exposed culmen males 15-16.5 mm (ave. of 10, 15.9
mm), females 17-18.5 mm (ave. of 9, 17.8 mm).

Cheers,
Bob
,









On Sun, Nov 27, 2016 at 2:51 PM, Paul R Sweet  wrote:

> Bob
>
> Can you point me to a reference that says bill length is a diagnostic
> character for this species pair?
>
> Thanks, Paul
>
>
> Paul Sweet
>
> Collection Manager
>
> Department of Ornithology
>
> American Museum of Natural History
>
> Central Park West at 79th Street
>
> New York, NY 10024
>
>
>
> Tel: 212 769 5780 <(212)%20769-5780>
>
> Cell: 718 757 5941 <(718)%20757-5941>
>
> From:  on behalf of robert
> adamo 
> Reply-To: robert adamo 
> Date: Sunday, November 27, 2016 at 2:07 PM
> To: "nysbirds-l@cornell.edu" 
> Subject: [nysbirds-l] ? selasphorus sp. hummingbird (Rufous or Allen's)
>
> Without again obtaining a discernible "tell-tale tail" photo, and in the
> full knowledge of the extremely low odds of the Aquebogue bird being an
> Allen's, after further perusing yesterday's, as well as today's, shots, it
> seems the bill is too long for a Rufous, plus it appears to be slightly
> de-curved. So...I'm led to ask the following question: has hybridization
> ever been documented between these 2 species of the same genus ?
>
> Cheers
> Bob 
> --
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Re: [nysbirds-l] Western Tanager city hall pk Manhattan YES

[Paul R Sweet]

Personally I'd rather my inbox fill with reports of genuinely rare birds than 
mundane daily lists of birds seen in Central Park. E-bird is an appropriate 
place for this data? What if everyone posted their daily bird walk lists to 
this list? Just my opinion.

Paul Sweet | Department of Ornithology | American Museum of Natural History | 
Central Park West @ 79th St | NY 10024 | Tel 212 769 5780 | Mob 718 757 5941

On Nov 29, 2016, at 10:20 AM, Deborah Allen 
> wrote:

In my opinion, one report per day giving the general area where the bird was 
found is sufficient.

Deb Allen
-Original Message-
From: brian.whip...@gmail.com
Sent: Nov 29, 2016 9:27 AM
To: Dennis Hrehowsik , "nysbirds-l@cornell.edu"
Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Western Tanager city hall pk Manhattan YES

I'm not tired of it. I still haven't been able to find time to see the bird, 
what with being out of town for Thanksgiving and being at work, so I appreciate 
the updates. I still want to know if I have a chance whenever I find time to 
run to City Hall Park. I would guess I'm speaking for other birders too.

In my opinion, a rarity is post-worthy for as long as it's present.

Thanks for posting, Dennis.

On Tue, Nov 29, 2016 at 9:17 AM Dennis Hrehowsik 
> wrote:
I'm sure everyone is tired of reports about this bird and (I won't say but) it 
continues in same location of city hall park (east west path in NE corner) for 
anyone who was considering trying for it.  Bird was hunkered in a tree with 
yellow leaves on south side of east west path near city hall gate it made one 
or two little half hearted nasally calls which alerted me to its presence.

Dennis Hrehowsik
Brooklyn
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Re: [nysbirds-l] Western Tanager city hall pk Manhattan YES

[Paul R Sweet]

Personally I'd rather my inbox fill with reports of genuinely rare birds than 
mundane daily lists of birds seen in Central Park. E-bird is an appropriate 
place for this data? What if everyone posted their daily bird walk lists to 
this list? Just my opinion.

Paul Sweet | Department of Ornithology | American Museum of Natural History | 
Central Park West @ 79th St | NY 10024 | Tel 212 769 5780 | Mob 718 757 5941

On Nov 29, 2016, at 10:20 AM, Deborah Allen 
mailto:dalle...@earthlink.net>> wrote:

In my opinion, one report per day giving the general area where the bird was 
found is sufficient.

Deb Allen
-Original Message-
From: brian.whip...@gmail.com
Sent: Nov 29, 2016 9:27 AM
To: Dennis Hrehowsik , "nysbirds-l@cornell.edu"
Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Western Tanager city hall pk Manhattan YES

I'm not tired of it. I still haven't been able to find time to see the bird, 
what with being out of town for Thanksgiving and being at work, so I appreciate 
the updates. I still want to know if I have a chance whenever I find time to 
run to City Hall Park. I would guess I'm speaking for other birders too.

In my opinion, a rarity is post-worthy for as long as it's present.

Thanks for posting, Dennis.

On Tue, Nov 29, 2016 at 9:17 AM Dennis Hrehowsik 
mailto:deepseagangs...@gmail.com>> wrote:
I'm sure everyone is tired of reports about this bird and (I won't say but) it 
continues in same location of city hall park (east west path in NE corner) for 
anyone who was considering trying for it.  Bird was hunkered in a tree with 
yellow leaves on south side of east west path near city hall gate it made one 
or two little half hearted nasally calls which alerted me to its presence.

Dennis Hrehowsik
Brooklyn
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[nysbirds-l] Western Tanager, lower Manhattan NYC, 11/30

[Thomas Fiore]

Wednesday, 30 November, 2016 -
City Hall Park, lower Manhattan, New York City

A Western Tanager continues at above park this Wednesday morning &  
seen thru a fresh rain at mid-day (start of more, which rain is very  
much needed region-wide).

The tanager seems fond of the trees (may be high in taller trees much  
of time!) in the part of the park that is between the 2 biggest  
buildings with-IN the park, & just to the east of that area, seen from  
main east-west path IN the park.

A Yellow-breasted Chat continues and was seen in late morning at the  
small (planted) traffic-island just barely across (a few yards) from  
the south edge of the above - it's being referred to as "millennium  
park" & that may be an official designation but is misleading only  
that, on-scene, this traffic-island of less than 15 yards width is in  
essence just a southern extension of City Hall park & is cut off from  
it by a few narrow curving traffic lanes (be very cautious going past  
this area!)

A minimum of 3 additional warbler species are lingering at City Hall  
park, the most uncommon by this date being Black-throated Blue (but,  
if anyone is wondering there are CBC - December records of the species  
in the region), with male & female plumages for 2 individuals, and at  
least one remaining Ovenbird, as well as the 4th warbler species noted  
below, ongoing here.

Other areas of same park are worth searching thru, especially the  
south sides, where even the tanager visited last Friday, at one  
point.  The south area with the (warm-weather-only) fountain is now  
being re-planted & trimmed for upcoming holidays, and a bit of that  
'disturbance' - with a dozen or more workers, & at least 1 leaf-blower  
in use, made for a modest dispersal of other native birds into nearby  
areas, with a few migrant species in adjacent much smaller green- 
spaces - such as 1 (ot at least 2) male Common Yellowthroats having  
gone over a road to the actual foot of the Brooklyn bridge (Manhattan  
side) ped & bike path, where there are many roses still in bloom, and  
a few other very common migrant / winter-visitor birds are also in  
these smaller areas, or may be at times.

Saint Paul's Chapel grounds, 1 short city block SW of the south end of  
City Hall Park, and Trinity Church's cemetery grounds, open to public,  
and a few short city blocks south from same, on west side of Broadway,  
are each worth a look for more birds - on any day.  A second Yellow- 
breasted Chat (or #1Chat if you prefer, as it was discovered well  
before the rare tanager-visitor) is ongoing in the Trinity Church  
cemetery, seen in the north parts at mid-day, with a bit of effort on  
my part.

City Hall Park is located south of Chambers Street, lower Manhattan -  
to the east of Broadway - it is also at the foot of the Brooklyn  
Bridge, & a few yards from the main pedestrian path to that bridge.   
The area the Tanager seems to be favoring is between the 2 major  
buildings IN the park, on / near an east-west path, be looking-up and  
listen for the distinctive calls from the tanager. It may move about  
at times & it will be interesting to see what these birds do as colder  
weather starts to come on (which for now, has not been an issue, and  
many, many insects have been available, perhaps more so with the  
substantial rain now falling, which may generate more insect- 
emergence, even in December.

There have been some Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in the park, and some  
other birds have shown interest in the sapsucker's activities, but  
these insect-eating species ARE finding insect prey to feed on, and so  
far, those sapsuckers were not directly providing principal feeding  
via sap-runs, in caloric terms, to the insectivores - what they may  
provide though is a source of some areas where insect-prey can  
congregate, & thus a focus of food-availabilty in the trees the birds  
are using - all subject to change if-when the weather changes to  
dramatically-colder (it is 55-60+ degrees [Fahrenheit] in Manhattan  
for this rainy day).

Thanks to all who give updates on current status of these & other  
uncommon or rare species;  a tip of the hat to some who have been  
expanding the circle a bit, out from City Hall & Trinity Church areas  
in that part of Manhattan. Other interesting birds may be visiting in  
the general area too!  A Golden-crowned Kinglet, perhaps uncommon in  
downtown Manhattan, was photographed at City Hall park by Richard  
Aracil just recently, and there may be other uncommonly-seen migrants  
turning up.

- - - - - - - -
A citizen’s basic responsibility is to be aware of the consequences of  
his or her acts.
"They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds." - DeRay  
Mckesson, American activist & writer.


good birding,

Tom Fiore,
Manhattan














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[nysbirds-l] Netiquette & Western Tanager report fatigue

[Arie Gilbert]

  
  
Paul,

I concur. However...

Not everyone seeks the same info from 'the list'.  Some folks
actually like the daily reports of non rarities, {go figure} such as
visitors who can get an idea of whats around by reading the archives
in preparation for a trip to this area, etc.

Back in the early days of the internet, with dial-up modems and pay
per amount of time/data, there was a convention that should be
resurrected. Trip reports were prefaced 'TR' in the subject line,
rare birds were 'RBA', requests for information were 'RFI', and so
on. That way after downloading the subject headers in one pass, {to
save one from using up their monthly limit } one could go back in a
second pass and download just the messages interested in.

As far as too many Western tanager reports,  provided its in the
subject line its quite rapid to hit delete, but for those who are
encumbered by work and other annoying distractions, knowing that a
bird is still present { ie what is otherwise construed as too many
reports } helps.   

If one uses an 'email client' such as Thunderbird, one can set up
'filters'.  These can automatically delete unwanted messages and
more.

But what if we think of the list as a newspaper kinda.  There is the
comics, the financials, the sports pages, the local news etc. Do
folks complain there is too much news and not enough comics? 

I wish that more stuff around the state was reported, and
cross-posted from regional lists as well.  In addition to TR or RFI
or RBA adding the 'county' in the subject line would help too. 

Or perhaps we can get Lloyd to come out of retirement and put his
Metro Birding Briefs back on.  ;)

Arie Gilbert
North Babylon, NY

WWW.Powerbirder.blogspot.com 
 WWW.qcbirdclub.org 





On 11/30/2016 9:28 AM, Paul R Sweet
  wrote:


  
  Personally I'd rather my inbox fill with reports of genuinely
rare birds than mundane daily lists of birds seen in Central
Park. E-bird is an appropriate place for this data? What if
everyone posted their daily bird walk lists to this list? Just
my opinion.

Paul Sweet | Department of Ornithology | American Museum of
Natural History | Central Park West @ 79th St | NY 10024 | Tel
212 769 5780 | Mob 718 757 5941
  
On Nov 29, 2016, at 10:20 AM, Deborah Allen 
wrote:

  
  

  In my opinion, one report per day giving
the general area where the bird was found is sufficient.


Deb Allen

  -Original Message- 
  From: brian.whip...@gmail.com
  
  Sent: Nov 29, 2016 9:27 AM 
  To: Dennis Hrehowsik , "nysbirds-l@cornell.edu"

  Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Western Tanager city hall pk
  Manhattan YES 
  
  I'm not tired of it. I still haven't been able to find time to see the bird, what with being out of town for Thanksgiving and being at work, so I appreciate the updates. I still want to know if I have a chance whenever I find
 time to run to City Hall Park. I would guess I'm speaking for other birders too.



In my opinion, a rarity is post-worthy for as long as it's present.



Thanks for posting, Dennis.
  
  
On Tue, Nov 29, 2016 at 9:17 AM
  Dennis Hrehowsik 
  wrote:


  I'm sure everyone is tired of reports about this
  bird and (I won't say but) it continues in same
  location of city hall park (east west path in NE
  corner) for anyone who was considering trying for
  it.  Bird was hunkered in a tree with yellow
  leaves on south side of east west path near city
  hall gate it made one or two little half hearted
  nasally calls which alerted me to its presence.
  
  Dennis Hrehowsik
  Brooklyn
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Re: [nysbirds-l] Netiquette & Western Tanager report fatigue

[Lloyd Spitalnik]

When I disbanded Metro Birding Briefs it was because I felt it outlived its
usefulness. There were too many other places were reporting their  Rarity
sightings and info was getting diluted. It didn't take much time out of my
life to run it. I'm not interested in resurrecting it but somebody (Andrew
B. or even Dave K.) could set it up quite easily. Initially all it requires
is setting up a list of acceptable birds to be reported. I used YahooGroups
which is free to set it up. The main thing is whoever volunteers to do it
has to be very strict about what is sent to the list. Integrity of the list
is paramount. At least that's the way I maintained it. Several people over
the years were taken off the site.
Birding Dude and Dave, how about it?
All my best,
Lloyd
ll...@lloydspitalnikphotos.com

On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 1:29 PM, Arie Gilbert 
wrote:

> Paul,
>
> I concur. However...
>
> Not everyone seeks the same info from 'the list'.  Some folks actually
> like the daily reports of non rarities, {go figure} such as visitors who
> can get an idea of whats around by reading the archives in preparation for
> a trip to this area, etc.
>
> Back in the early days of the internet, with dial-up modems and pay per
> amount of time/data, there was a convention that should be resurrected.
> Trip reports were prefaced 'TR' in the subject line, rare birds were 'RBA',
> requests for information were 'RFI', and so on. That way after downloading
> the subject headers in one pass, {to save one from using up their monthly
> limit } one could go back in a second pass and download just the messages
> interested in.
>
> As far as too many Western tanager reports,  provided its in the subject
> line its quite rapid to hit delete, but for those who are encumbered by
> work and other annoying distractions, knowing that a bird is still present
> { ie what is otherwise construed as too many reports } helps.
>
> If one uses an 'email client' such as Thunderbird, one can set up
> 'filters'.  These can automatically delete unwanted messages and more.
>
> But what if we think of the list as a newspaper kinda.  There is the
> comics, the financials, the sports pages, the local news etc. Do folks
> complain there is too much news and not enough comics?
>
> I wish that more stuff around the state was reported, and cross-posted
> from regional lists as well.  In addition to TR or RFI or RBA adding the
> 'county' in the subject line would help too.
>
> Or perhaps we can get Lloyd to come out of retirement and put his Metro
> Birding Briefs back on.  ;)
>
> Arie Gilbert
> North Babylon, NY
>
> WWW.Powerbirder.blogspot.com
>  WWW.qcbirdclub.org
>
>
>
>
>
> On 11/30/2016 9:28 AM, Paul R Sweet wrote:
>
> Personally I'd rather my inbox fill with reports of genuinely rare birds
> than mundane daily lists of birds seen in Central Park. E-bird is an
> appropriate place for this data? What if everyone posted their daily bird
> walk lists to this list? Just my opinion.
>
> Paul Sweet | Department of Ornithology | American Museum of Natural
> History | Central Park West @ 79th St | NY 10024 | Tel 212 769 5780
> <(212)%20769-5780> | Mob 718 757 5941 <(718)%20757-5941>
>
> On Nov 29, 2016, at 10:20 AM, Deborah Allen 
> wrote:
>
> In my opinion, one report per day giving the general area where the bird
> was found is sufficient.
>
> Deb Allen
>
> -Original Message-
> From: brian.whip...@gmail.com
> Sent: Nov 29, 2016 9:27 AM
> To: Dennis Hrehowsik , "nysbirds-l@cornell.edu"
> Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Western Tanager city hall pk Manhattan YES
>
> I'm not tired of it. I still haven't been able to find time to see the
> bird, what with being out of town for Thanksgiving and being at work, so I
> appreciate the updates. I still want to know if I have a chance whenever I
> find time to run to City Hall Park. I would guess I'm speaking for other
> birders too. In my opinion, a rarity is post-worthy for as long as it's
> present. Thanks for posting, Dennis.
>
> On Tue, Nov 29, 2016 at 9:17 AM Dennis Hrehowsik <
> deepseagangs...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I'm sure everyone is tired of reports about this bird and (I won't say
>> but) it continues in same location of city hall park (east west path in NE
>> corner) for anyone who was considering trying for it.  Bird was hunkered in
>> a tree with yellow leaves on south side of east west path near city hall
>> gate it made one or two little half hearted nasally calls which alerted me
>> to its presence.
>>
>> Dennis Hrehowsik
>> Brooklyn
>> --
>>
>> NYSbirds-L List Info:
>> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME
>> 
>> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES
>> 

[nysbirds-l] NYS eBird Hotspots: BirdTrax Up & Running

[Ben Cacace]

The BirdTrax gadget on the wiki that taps into "Rarities" or plain
"Sightings" has been down for a few days. I've contacted the developer
(Zachary DeBruine) and he showed me how to get to BirdTrax where it is
currently being hosted now that the original site is no longer in play:

http://ebirding-nys.wikispaces.com/Birding+in+New+York

I've updated the code for the NYS page and the 62 county pages.
-- 
Ben Cacace
Manhattan, NYC
Wiki for NYS eBird Hotspots

Facebook Discussion for NYS eBird Hotspots


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Re: [nysbirds-l] Netiquette & Western Tanager report fatigue

[David Barrett]

When the discussion about rare bird posting options began a little over a
week ago, I was not sure a new list was needed. As others have pointed out,
NYSBirds serves a variety of purposes well, and it already has a relatively
large user base. To create yet another source for alerts -- in addition to
NYSBirds, eBird alerts, and the county-oriented Twitter/SMS alerts -- might
only serve to further fragment reporting. It probably would be better for
those who do not want certain kinds of reports to learn how to use Gmail
filters and labels (as I do) to limit what appears in the inbox and what
triggers an audible alert on the phone (the latter more restrictive than
the former).

That said, I did experiment with creating two lists using Google Groups,
which I believe offers the most feature-rich environment and, like Yahoo
Groups, is free.

The first, designed just for Manhattan, already has some reports on it, so
you can see the look and functionality:

https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!forum/manhattan-rare-bird-alert

I also created but did not populate a similar list for New York City. I am
not sure what area people want covered.

If there is sufficient interest, I would be happy to work further on
implementing such a list -- which is, to say, setting a geographical range
for it, fine-tuning the posting rules, and requesting people to sign up for
posting privileges. Send your feedback directly, if you wish.

David Barrett
Manhattan



On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 3:53 PM, Lloyd Spitalnik <
ll...@lloydspitalnikphotos.com> wrote:

> When I disbanded Metro Birding Briefs it was because I felt it outlived
> its usefulness. There were too many other places were reporting their
>  Rarity sightings and info was getting diluted. It didn't take much time
> out of my life to run it. I'm not interested in resurrecting it but
> somebody (Andrew B. or even Dave K.) could set it up quite easily.
> Initially all it requires is setting up a list of acceptable birds to be
> reported. I used YahooGroups which is free to set it up. The main thing is
> whoever volunteers to do it has to be very strict about what is sent to the
> list. Integrity of the list is paramount. At least that's the way I
> maintained it. Several people over the years were taken off the site.
> Birding Dude and Dave, how about it?
> All my best,
> Lloyd
> ll...@lloydspitalnikphotos.com
>
> On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 1:29 PM, Arie Gilbert 
> wrote:
>
>> Paul,
>>
>> I concur. However...
>>
>> Not everyone seeks the same info from 'the list'.  Some folks actually
>> like the daily reports of non rarities, {go figure} such as visitors who
>> can get an idea of whats around by reading the archives in preparation for
>> a trip to this area, etc.
>>
>> Back in the early days of the internet, with dial-up modems and pay per
>> amount of time/data, there was a convention that should be resurrected.
>> Trip reports were prefaced 'TR' in the subject line, rare birds were 'RBA',
>> requests for information were 'RFI', and so on. That way after downloading
>> the subject headers in one pass, {to save one from using up their monthly
>> limit } one could go back in a second pass and download just the messages
>> interested in.
>>
>> As far as too many Western tanager reports,  provided its in the subject
>> line its quite rapid to hit delete, but for those who are encumbered by
>> work and other annoying distractions, knowing that a bird is still present
>> { ie what is otherwise construed as too many reports } helps.
>>
>> If one uses an 'email client' such as Thunderbird, one can set up
>> 'filters'.  These can automatically delete unwanted messages and more.
>>
>> But what if we think of the list as a newspaper kinda.  There is the
>> comics, the financials, the sports pages, the local news etc. Do folks
>> complain there is too much news and not enough comics?
>>
>> I wish that more stuff around the state was reported, and cross-posted
>> from regional lists as well.  In addition to TR or RFI or RBA adding the
>> 'county' in the subject line would help too.
>>
>> Or perhaps we can get Lloyd to come out of retirement and put his Metro
>> Birding Briefs back on.  ;)
>>
>> Arie Gilbert
>> North Babylon, NY
>>
>> WWW.Powerbirder.blogspot.com
>>  WWW.qcbirdclub.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 11/30/2016 9:28 AM, Paul R Sweet wrote:
>>
>> Personally I'd rather my inbox fill with reports of genuinely rare birds
>> than mundane daily lists of birds seen in Central Park. E-bird is an
>> appropriate place for this data? What if everyone posted their daily bird
>> walk lists to this list? Just my opinion.
>>
>> Paul Sweet | Department of Ornithology | American Museum of Natural
>> History | Central Park West @ 79th St | NY 10024 | Tel 212 769 5780
>> <(212)%20769-5780> | Mob 718 757 5941 <(718)%20757-5941>
>>
>> On Nov 29, 2016, at 10:20 AM, Deborah Allen 
>> wrote:
>>
>> In my opinion, one report per day giving the general area where the bird
>> was found is sufficient.
>>
>> Deb 

[nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

[Deborah Allen]

With the recent attention on lower Manhattan parks due to the continuing 
Western Tanager and multiple Chats, we thought it might be interesting to take 
a look at the birds that people reported in those same parks in the past. 
Reading many 19th-20th century articles about NYC birds in the Wilson Journal 
of Ornithology, the Auk and elsewhere, is much like reading the NYS list today 
- including the article we place below. Some may find lists and anecdotal 
observations of any era boring - but for us they are a gold mine. We have made 
it one of our endeavors to track and understand how the local avifauna has 
changed through time...and such notes, sightings, reliable reports (including 
Christmas Count lists) are the foundation that allows us to evaluate and write 
about what happened here in the past and to grapple with the why of the 
changes. For example, unless multiple birders took the time to write that 
Bobolinks were common nesters in certain parks in several boroughs of NYC in 
the early 20th century, we would be left thinking that these birds were always 
rare in NYC. Think of the Bobwhite Quail that bred at NYBG (Bronx) and other 
parks into the early 1930s, or the amazing occurrence of a Blue-gray 
Gnatcatcher in Central Park in 1901, or the first nest of the species in New 
York State in 1963. Without these sorts of anecdotal accounts how would we know 
the number of sparrow species that once were common summer residents in NYC 
parks in the 19th Century (Vesper Sparrow anyone)? What seems like dull (or 
amazing) reading today, may be very different to NYC birders in 2050 reading 
bird lists from different parks of the Big Apple in 2016.

Delete is a good key on your computer. Not a big deal...but we'd prefer to see 
people reporting...it keeps a buzz going on a list...and we can keep grappling
with the facts to better understand, the Why? How? and When? It’s great that
birders make so many lists. We encourage them to take those data and address
another important question: what does it mean? Meanwhile we have our articles 
and
books to write and field research to do (greetings from Nepal and Thailand!). We
have an amazing contingent of fellow birders who join us on bird walks 
sometimes seven days per week (during migration) - in Central Park and the 
other parks of NYC. They tell us about what they have found all the time - and 
that makes us smile because they are seeing/doing/learning - and enjoying the 
local environment and its birds.

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and wish you all the best for the
Hanukah/Christmas/Kwanzaa Holidays,

Deborah Allen and Robert DeCandido, PhD

-

Ornithology of St. Paul's Church [1903-04]


Even under unpromising conditions, and in unexpected places, there is often
something for the bird-student to investigate. This is illustrated by some
surprising records from city parks, and even from the smaller green spots,
oases in the great desert of brick and mortar.

As such a record I here submit, for whatever it may be worth, the results of
observations in Saint Paul's Churchyard, New York City, made mostly during
intervals of a few moments at noon, and occasionally in the morning, and
covering the migration periods of spring and fall of 1903, and spring of 1904.

Saint Paul's Church property is situated nearly midway between the East and
North Rivers, fronting east on Broadway, Church Street at the rear, Vesey
Street on the north side and Fulton Street on the south, and it is thus in one
of the busiest and noisiest sections of the city.

At the rear of the property, along Church Street, there is the constant rumble
and roar of the elevated railroad. This church property is about 332 feet long
by 177 feet wide, of which area the church occupies a space about 78 by 120
feet at the Broadway end, while at the Church Street end the Church School
takes off another slice about 30 feet wide. The space remaining consists of the
main yard at the rear of the church, between it and the school, and a wing on
either side of the church, each about 120 feet long by 48 feet wide. A narrow
walk completes the circuit of the churchyard, about twenty feet from its outer
edge. The grounds contain three large, ten medium, and forty smaller trees, not
counting several that were being removed at the time of my count, and a number
of shrubs and flowers, grass-plots and grass grown graves. Even the most
nerve-hardened native bird would hardly select such a spot for a summer home,
nor attempt to take up winter quarters there.

Throughout the greater part of the summer and winter the noisy flock of English
Sparrows domiciled here holds undisputed sway. It seems probable that the
native birds that occur in the churchyard during migrations are such as are
attracted to the green spot while passing in their flights directly over it,
and that they are in no case stragglers from the temporary residents of the
near-by country or parks. I have visited the churchyard many times in 

RE: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

[Paul R Sweet]

Daily lists are great and as I mentioned previously E-bird is an excellent 
place to record such data. If everyone posted their Central Park lists to 
NYSBIRDS-L it would certainly dilute the power of the list. See Kevin McGowan's 
 post here https://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/msg20105.html 
regarding the original intent of the list. 


-Original Message-
From: bounce-121044213-11471...@list.cornell.edu 
[mailto:bounce-121044213-11471...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Deborah Allen
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2016 4:28 PM
To: NYSBIRDS-L
Subject: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

With the recent attention on lower Manhattan parks due to the continuing 
Western Tanager and multiple Chats, we thought it might be interesting to take 
a look at the birds that people reported in those same parks in the past. 
Reading many 19th-20th century articles about NYC birds in the Wilson Journal 
of Ornithology, the Auk and elsewhere, is much like reading the NYS list today 
- including the article we place below. Some may find lists and anecdotal 
observations of any era boring - but for us they are a gold mine. We have made 
it one of our endeavors to track and understand how the local avifauna has 
changed through time...and such notes, sightings, reliable reports (including 
Christmas Count lists) are the foundation that allows us to evaluate and write 
about what happened here in the past and to grapple with the why of the 
changes. For example, unless multiple birders took the time to write that 
Bobolinks were common nesters in certain parks in several boroughs of NYC in 
the early 20th century, we would be left thinking that these birds were always 
rare in NYC. Think of the Bobwhite Quail that bred at NYBG (Bronx) and other 
parks into the early 1930s, or the amazing occurrence of a Blue-gray 
Gnatcatcher in Central Park in 1901, or the first nest of the species in New 
York State in 1963. Without these sorts of anecdotal accounts how would we know 
the number of sparrow species that once were common summer residents in NYC 
parks in the 19th Century (Vesper Sparrow anyone)? What seems like dull (or 
amazing) reading today, may be very different to NYC birders in 2050 reading 
bird lists from different parks of the Big Apple in 2016.

Delete is a good key on your computer. Not a big deal...but we'd prefer to see 
people reporting...it keeps a buzz going on a list...and we can keep grappling 
with the facts to better understand, the Why? How? and When? It’s great that 
birders make so many lists. We encourage them to take those data and address 
another important question: what does it mean? Meanwhile we have our articles 
and books to write and field research to do (greetings from Nepal and 
Thailand!). We have an amazing contingent of fellow birders who join us on bird 
walks sometimes seven days per week (during migration) - in Central Park and 
the other parks of NYC. They tell us about what they have found all the time - 
and that makes us smile because they are seeing/doing/learning - and enjoying 
the local environment and its birds.

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and wish you all the best for the 
Hanukah/Christmas/Kwanzaa Holidays,

Deborah Allen and Robert DeCandido, PhD

-

Ornithology of St. Paul's Church [1903-04]


Even under unpromising conditions, and in unexpected places, there is often 
something for the bird-student to investigate. This is illustrated by some 
surprising records from city parks, and even from the smaller green spots, 
oases in the great desert of brick and mortar.

As such a record I here submit, for whatever it may be worth, the results of 
observations in Saint Paul's Churchyard, New York City, made mostly during 
intervals of a few moments at noon, and occasionally in the morning, and 
covering the migration periods of spring and fall of 1903, and spring of 1904.

Saint Paul's Church property is situated nearly midway between the East and 
North Rivers, fronting east on Broadway, Church Street at the rear, Vesey 
Street on the north side and Fulton Street on the south, and it is thus in one 
of the busiest and noisiest sections of the city.

At the rear of the property, along Church Street, there is the constant rumble 
and roar of the elevated railroad. This church property is about 332 feet long 
by 177 feet wide, of which area the church occupies a space about 78 by 120 
feet at the Broadway end, while at the Church Street end the Church School 
takes off another slice about 30 feet wide. The space remaining consists of the 
main yard at the rear of the church, between it and the school, and a wing on 
either side of the church, each about 120 feet long by 48 feet wide. A narrow 
walk completes the circuit of the churchyard, about twenty feet from its outer 
edge. The grounds contain three large, ten medium, and forty smaller trees, not 
counting several that were being removed at the time of my 

RE: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

[Rick]

I find some granularity in reporting useful in order to keep tuned to the 
cadence of seasonal flux, especially in times of growing weather 
irregularities, even if that means noting odd appearance dates or unexpected 
frequencies of commoner stuff. This requires judgment on the part of reporters, 
however, and as noted can be overdone.

Rick


Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE KöszDevice


 Original message 
From: Paul R Sweet  
Date:11/30/2016  4:50 PM  (GMT-05:00) 
To: NYSBIRDS-L  
Cc:  
Subject: RE: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species 

Daily lists are great and as I mentioned previously E-bird is an excellent 
place to record such data. If everyone posted their Central Park lists to 
NYSBIRDS-L it would certainly dilute the power of the list. See Kevin McGowan's 
 post here https://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/msg20105.html 
regarding the original intent of the list. 


-Original Message-
From: bounce-121044213-11471...@list.cornell.edu 
[mailto:bounce-121044213-11471...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Deborah Allen
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2016 4:28 PM
To: NYSBIRDS-L
Subject: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

With the recent attention on lower Manhattan parks due to the continuing 
Western Tanager and multiple Chats, we thought it might be interesting to take 
a look at the birds that people reported in those same parks in the past. 
Reading many 19th-20th century articles about NYC birds in the Wilson Journal 
of Ornithology, the Auk and elsewhere, is much like reading the NYS list today 
- including the article we place below. Some may find lists and anecdotal 
observations of any era boring - but for us they are a gold mine. We have made 
it one of our endeavors to track and understand how the local avifauna has 
changed through time...and such notes, sightings, reliable reports (including 
Christmas Count lists) are the foundation that allows us to evaluate and write 
about what happened here in the past and to grapple with the why of the 
changes. For example, unless multiple birders took the time to write that 
Bobolinks were common nesters in certain parks in several boroughs of NYC in 
the early 20th century, we would be left thinking that these birds were always 
rare in NYC. Think of the Bobwhite Quail that bred at NYBG (Bronx) and other 
parks into the early 1930s, or the amazing occurrence of a Blue-gray 
Gnatcatcher in Central Park in 1901, or the first nest of the species in New 
York State in 1963. Without these sorts of anecdotal accounts how would we know 
the number of sparrow species that once were common summer residents in NYC 
parks in the 19th Century (Vesper Sparrow anyone)? What seems like dull (or 
amazing) reading today, may be very different to NYC birders in 2050 reading 
bird lists from different parks of the Big Apple in 2016.

Delete is a good key on your computer. Not a big deal...but we'd prefer to see 
people reporting...it keeps a buzz going on a list...and we can keep grappling 
with the facts to better understand, the Why? How? and When? It’s great that 
birders make so many lists. We encourage them to take those data and address 
another important question: what does it mean? Meanwhile we have our articles 
and books to write and field research to do (greetings from Nepal and 
Thailand!). We have an amazing contingent of fellow birders who join us on bird 
walks sometimes seven days per week (during migration) - in Central Park and 
the other parks of NYC. They tell us about what they have found all the time - 
and that makes us smile because they are seeing/doing/learning - and enjoying 
the local environment and its birds.

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and wish you all the best for the 
Hanukah/Christmas/Kwanzaa Holidays,

Deborah Allen and Robert DeCandido, PhD

-

Ornithology of St. Paul's Church [1903-04]


Even under unpromising conditions, and in unexpected places, there is often 
something for the bird-student to investigate. This is illustrated by some 
surprising records from city parks, and even from the smaller green spots, 
oases in the great desert of brick and mortar.

As such a record I here submit, for whatever it may be worth, the results of 
observations in Saint Paul's Churchyard, New York City, made mostly during 
intervals of a few moments at noon, and occasionally in the morning, and 
covering the migration periods of spring and fall of 1903, and spring of 1904.

Saint Paul's Church property is situated nearly midway between the East and 
North Rivers, fronting east on Broadway, Church Street at the rear, Vesey 
Street on the north side and Fulton Street on the south, and it is thus in one 
of the busiest and noisiest sections of the city.

At the rear of the property, along Church Street, there is the constant rumble 
and roar of the elevated railroad. This church property is about 332 feet long 
by 177 feet wide, of which area 

Re: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

[Phil Jeffrey]

The current intent of the list as given on the list's website is not what
Kevin McGowan indicated may or may not be the original intent - and I've
pointed this out recently - its even linked at the end of every message.
Certainly this has not been a purely RBA list for quite some time -
although that's more difficult to demonstrate given that there weren't any
list archives (!) for quite some time either.

eBird is only one tiny notch up from just a basic list of species.  The
eBird reports - and I use them for trip research - are frequently without
context so they read as:

an interesting bird was seen somewhere in tens of acres of habitat

and the lack of narrative is hopeless if you want to go find anything
that's of interest to you that might drop below the anointed level of
rarity.  I believe that eBird has damaged local birding lists by the
removal of context from sightings.  IMHO, that context is extremely
valuable to all level of birders and why I run my own list as I do.  I've
mostly stopped reporting sightings to eBird for this reason.

So no, eBird is not the solution.

Phil Jeffrey
Princeton

On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 4:50 PM, Paul R Sweet  wrote:

> Daily lists are great and as I mentioned previously E-bird is an excellent
> place to record such data. If everyone posted their Central Park lists to
> NYSBIRDS-L it would certainly dilute the power of the list. See Kevin
> McGowan's  post here https://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/
> msg20105.html regarding the original intent of the list.
>
>
>

--

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ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html

Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

--

Re: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

[Dominic Garcia-Hall]

I find most people reporting to eBird are pretty good about including
context (location etc) in the comments field - not least because when it's
a genuine rarity eBird mandates some kind of commentary. In fact, I'd say
once a rarity has had its initial few ebird reports, further comments tend
to revert away from repeated descriptions of plumage and start to become a
running track of where the bird is, or behaviour notes etc. Obviously the
ability to look at / manipulate other facets of the eBird Big Data-set is
totally invaluable.

The GroupMe system we use in Northern New Jersey is very good for sharing
rarity info. And tends to not suffer from reports of common birds, and is
invite only so is kind of self-policing. But as others have pointed out,
it's another app people gotta download and install on their phones

Personally i think nobody should be dissuaded from reporting. As David B
pointed out, it's not hard to set email filters, and someone somewhere
might just get themselves a lifer that otherwise would have gone un-shared
if people hold back.

Just my 3 cents

Good birding.
Dom

www.antbirds.com

www.aventuraargentina.com

+ 1 646 429 2667 <(646)%20429-2667>

On 30 November 2016 at 17:19, Phil Jeffrey  wrote:

> The current intent of the list as given on the list's website is not what
> Kevin McGowan indicated may or may not be the original intent - and I've
> pointed this out recently - its even linked at the end of every message.
> Certainly this has not been a purely RBA list for quite some time -
> although that's more difficult to demonstrate given that there weren't any
> list archives (!) for quite some time either.
>
> eBird is only one tiny notch up from just a basic list of species.  The
> eBird reports - and I use them for trip research - are frequently without
> context so they read as:
>
> an interesting bird was seen somewhere in tens of acres of habitat
>
> and the lack of narrative is hopeless if you want to go find anything
> that's of interest to you that might drop below the anointed level of
> rarity.  I believe that eBird has damaged local birding lists by the
> removal of context from sightings.  IMHO, that context is extremely
> valuable to all level of birders and why I run my own list as I do.  I've
> mostly stopped reporting sightings to eBird for this reason.
>
> So no, eBird is not the solution.
>
> Phil Jeffrey
> Princeton
>
> On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 4:50 PM, Paul R Sweet  wrote:
>
>> Daily lists are great and as I mentioned previously E-bird is an
>> excellent place to record such data. If everyone posted their Central Park
>> lists to NYSBIRDS-L it would certainly dilute the power of the list. See
>> Kevin McGowan's  post here https://www.mail-archive.com/n
>> ysbird...@cornell.edu/msg20105.html regarding the original intent of the
>> list.
>>
>>
>> --
> *NYSbirds-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*
> *!*
> --
>

--

NYSbirds-L List Info:
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm

ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html

Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

--

Re: [nysbirds-l] Netiquette & Western Tanager report fatigue

[Andrew Baksh]

Hi Lloyd,

In hindsight, I regretted not answering the bell when you called prior to 
disbanding Metro Birding Briefs. Like you, I thought the other mediums were 
sufficient for NYC/S Bird coverage and still do.

I don't mind setting up something along the lines of MBB but I warn that I 
would be quite strict on what gets reported.

Additionally, I should add that a few years ago I setup a twitter account for 
NY rarities. The account has not seen much activity of late but that 
could/easily change. It can be used by anyone wanting to tweet a NYS rarity 
out. The handle is, @NYRareBirdAlert.

Rather than create another e-mail, I should add that a day of soggy Gulling 
from Floyd Bennett Field Brooklyn to as far as Robert Moses Long Island did not 
net me much. Highlights included a 3rd cycle type Lesser Black-backed Gull on 
the beach @ Field 5 RMSP and 1 juvenile Herring Gull, at FBF in front of the 
Aviator Building. The juvenile HERG (Herring Gull), was a rather clean looking 
individual, suggesting one from a local colony.

Hopefully, no one kvetches about me slipping Gull stuff in here 

Cheers,


"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of 
others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence." ~ Frederick 
Douglass

風　Swift as the wind
林　Quiet as the forest
火　Conquer like the fire
山　Steady as the mountain
Sun Tzu  The Art of War

> (__/)
> (= '.'=)
> (") _ (") 
> Sent from somewhere in the field using my mobile device! 

Andrew Baksh
www.birdingdude.blogspot.com

> On Nov 30, 2016, at 3:53 PM, Lloyd Spitalnik  
> wrote:
> 
> When I disbanded Metro Birding Briefs it was because I felt it outlived its 
> usefulness. There were too many other places were reporting their  Rarity 
> sightings and info was getting diluted. It didn't take much time out of my 
> life to run it. I'm not interested in resurrecting it but somebody (Andrew B. 
> or even Dave K.) could set it up quite easily. Initially all it requires is 
> setting up a list of acceptable birds to be reported. I used YahooGroups 
> which is free to set it up. The main thing is whoever volunteers to do it has 
> to be very strict about what is sent to the list. Integrity of the list is 
> paramount. At least that's the way I maintained it. Several people over the 
> years were taken off the site.
> Birding Dude and Dave, how about it?
> All my best,
> Lloyd
> ll...@lloydspitalnikphotos.com
> 
>> On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 1:29 PM, Arie Gilbert  
>> wrote:
>> Paul,
>> 
>> I concur. However...
>> 
>> Not everyone seeks the same info from 'the list'.  Some folks actually like 
>> the daily reports of non rarities, {go figure} such as visitors who can get 
>> an idea of whats around by reading the archives in preparation for a trip to 
>> this area, etc.
>> 
>> Back in the early days of the internet, with dial-up modems and pay per 
>> amount of time/data, there was a convention that should be resurrected. Trip 
>> reports were prefaced 'TR' in the subject line, rare birds were 'RBA', 
>> requests for information were 'RFI', and so on. That way after downloading 
>> the subject headers in one pass, {to save one from using up their monthly 
>> limit } one could go back in a second pass and download just the messages 
>> interested in.
>> 
>> As far as too many Western tanager reports,  provided its in the subject 
>> line its quite rapid to hit delete, but for those who are encumbered by work 
>> and other annoying distractions, knowing that a bird is still present { ie 
>> what is otherwise construed as too many reports } helps.   
>> 
>> If one uses an 'email client' such as Thunderbird, one can set up 'filters'. 
>>  These can automatically delete unwanted messages and more.
>> 
>> But what if we think of the list as a newspaper kinda.  There is the comics, 
>> the financials, the sports pages, the local news etc. Do folks complain 
>> there is too much news and not enough comics? 
>> 
>> I wish that more stuff around the state was reported, and cross-posted from 
>> regional lists as well.  In addition to TR or RFI or RBA adding the 'county' 
>> in the subject line would help too. 
>> 
>> Or perhaps we can get Lloyd to come out of retirement and put his Metro 
>> Birding Briefs back on.  ;)
>> 
>> Arie Gilbert
>> North Babylon, NY
>> 
>> WWW.Powerbirder.blogspot.com 
>>  WWW.qcbirdclub.org 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On 11/30/2016 9:28 AM, Paul R Sweet wrote:
>>> Personally I'd rather my inbox fill with reports of genuinely rare birds 
>>> than mundane daily lists of birds seen in Central Park. E-bird is an 
>>> appropriate place for this data? What if everyone posted their daily bird 
>>> walk lists to this list? Just my opinion.
>>> 
>>> Paul Sweet | Department of Ornithology | American Museum of Natural History 
>>> | Central Park West @ 79th St | NY 10024 | Tel 212 769 5780 | Mob 718 757 
>>> 5941
>>> 
>>> On Nov 

Re: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

[brian . whipple]

Please limit postings to 2 cents.

On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 6:11 PM Dominic Garcia-Hall 
wrote:

> I find most people reporting to eBird are pretty good about including
> context (location etc) in the comments field - not least because when it's
> a genuine rarity eBird mandates some kind of commentary. In fact, I'd say
> once a rarity has had its initial few ebird reports, further comments tend
> to revert away from repeated descriptions of plumage and start to become a
> running track of where the bird is, or behaviour notes etc. Obviously the
> ability to look at / manipulate other facets of the eBird Big Data-set is
> totally invaluable.
>
> The GroupMe system we use in Northern New Jersey is very good for sharing
> rarity info. And tends to not suffer from reports of common birds, and is
> invite only so is kind of self-policing. But as others have pointed out,
> it's another app people gotta download and install on their phones
>
> Personally i think nobody should be dissuaded from reporting. As David B
> pointed out, it's not hard to set email filters, and someone somewhere
> might just get themselves a lifer that otherwise would have gone un-shared
> if people hold back.
>
> Just my 3 cents
>
> Good birding.
> Dom
>
> www.antbirds.com
>
> www.aventuraargentina.com
>
> + 1 646 429 2667 <(646)%20429-2667>
>
> On 30 November 2016 at 17:19, Phil Jeffrey  wrote:
>
> The current intent of the list as given on the list's website is not what
> Kevin McGowan indicated may or may not be the original intent - and I've
> pointed this out recently - its even linked at the end of every message.
> Certainly this has not been a purely RBA list for quite some time -
> although that's more difficult to demonstrate given that there weren't any
> list archives (!) for quite some time either.
>
> eBird is only one tiny notch up from just a basic list of species.  The
> eBird reports - and I use them for trip research - are frequently without
> context so they read as:
>
> an interesting bird was seen somewhere in tens of acres of habitat
>
> and the lack of narrative is hopeless if you want to go find anything
> that's of interest to you that might drop below the anointed level of
> rarity.  I believe that eBird has damaged local birding lists by the
> removal of context from sightings.  IMHO, that context is extremely
> valuable to all level of birders and why I run my own list as I do.  I've
> mostly stopped reporting sightings to eBird for this reason.
>
> So no, eBird is not the solution.
>
> Phil Jeffrey
> Princeton
>
> On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 4:50 PM, Paul R Sweet  wrote:
>
> Daily lists are great and as I mentioned previously E-bird is an excellent
> place to record such data. If everyone posted their Central Park lists to
> NYSBIRDS-L it would certainly dilute the power of the list. See Kevin
> McGowan's  post here
> https://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/msg20105.html
> regarding the original intent of the list.
>
>
> --
> *NYSbirds-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*
> *!*
> --
>
>
> --
> *NYSbirds-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*
> *!*
> --
>

--

NYSbirds-L List Info:
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm

ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html

Please submit your observations to eBird:
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--

Re: [nysbirds-l] ? selasphorus sp. hummingbird (Rufous or Allen's)

[robert adamo]

Hi Paul,

No, I can not !

To hopefully "legitimize" this post, I'd like to share with the listserve
the following information re: the slight differences in bill length between
Rufous and Allen's Hummingbirds, which I gleaned from *The Hummingbirds of
North America*, Paul A. Johnsgard, 1983/Smithsonian Institution:

*Selasphorus rufus *_ Exposed culmen males 15-17.5 mm (ave. of 18, 16.5
mm), females 17-19 mm (ave. of 11, 18 mm).
*Selasphorus sasin *_ Exposed culmen males 15-16.5 mm (ave. of 10, 15.9
mm), females 17-18.5 mm (ave. of 9, 17.8 mm).

Cheers,
Bob
,









On Sun, Nov 27, 2016 at 2:51 PM, Paul R Sweet  wrote:

> Bob
>
> Can you point me to a reference that says bill length is a diagnostic
> character for this species pair?
>
> Thanks, Paul
>
>
> Paul Sweet
>
> Collection Manager
>
> Department of Ornithology
>
> American Museum of Natural History
>
> Central Park West at 79th Street
>
> New York, NY 10024
>
>
>
> Tel: 212 769 5780 <(212)%20769-5780>
>
> Cell: 718 757 5941 <(718)%20757-5941>
>
> From:  on behalf of robert
> adamo 
> Reply-To: robert adamo 
> Date: Sunday, November 27, 2016 at 2:07 PM
> To: "nysbirds-l@cornell.edu" 
> Subject: [nysbirds-l] ? selasphorus sp. hummingbird (Rufous or Allen's)
>
> Without again obtaining a discernible "tell-tale tail" photo, and in the
> full knowledge of the extremely low odds of the Aquebogue bird being an
> Allen's, after further perusing yesterday's, as well as today's, shots, it
> seems the bill is too long for a Rufous, plus it appears to be slightly
> de-curved. So...I'm led to ask the following question: has hybridization
> ever been documented between these 2 species of the same genus ?
>
> Cheers
> Bob 
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Re: [nysbirds-l] St. Paul's Church, Manhattan 1903-04 - 41 species

[Phil Jeffrey]

I don't equate "interesting" with "rare".  Rare birds are often
well-characterized - not least of all in weekly RBA posts.  Interesting
birds (self-defined) run a much larger gamut than that, and I can point to
a lot of eBird checklists where there's no additional context whatsoever
for such species.

On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 6:10 PM, Dominic Garcia-Hall  wrote:

> I find most people reporting to eBird are pretty good about including
> context (location etc) in the comments field - not least because when it's
> a genuine rarity eBird mandates some kind of commentary.
>


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[nysbirds-l] The NYSBirds List

[Shaibal Mitra]

Hi everyone,

In theory there are two ways to reform the content of this listserv: (1) 
discourage posts that are less relevant; and (2) encourage posts that are more 
relevant.

But given the very diverse sentiments expressed here in recent weeks, it's 
clear that people simply disagree about what is relevant. But criticizing 
certain kinds of posts is doubly harmful: not only is it demonstrably 
ineffective in reducing the frequency of the unwanted posts, whatever they may 
be in a particular instance, but it also discourages contributions from newer 
participants and those who don't appreciate being criticized. In other words, 
this ineffective tactic inadvertently conflicts with and damages the prospects 
for the only other means of improving the forum. I agree with those who have 
emphasized that neither the overall volume of reports, nor the proportion of 
what any one individual might regard as chaff, is ever great enough to 
discourage me from sifting this site every day for items of personal interest.

These considerations came to mind recently when I overheard some Long Island 
birders debating whether to chase an Ash-throated Flycatcher (to me very rare) 
vs. "the Red Crossbill" (to me periodically ubiquitous). At this stage in my 
life, I'd much rather read a post from Tim Healy or Steve Walter about the 
tempo and mode of a day's migration than a how-to guide to chasing "the Red 
Crossbill." But I understand that some newer birders might actually have seen 
more Ash-throated Flycatchers than Red Crossbills, even though this is utterly 
contrary to my own development as a birder. And all of this is what makes 
birding, and NYSBirds, so wonderful--not only can we find how-to information 
for chasing (arguably) rare birds, but we are also offered insights into other 
people's perspectives and values. Please post more!

Shai Mitra
Bay Shore
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