Thanks Ken, I think we are listening and observing in the same manner. And just to make sure that I understand how to record NFC, here's what and how I recorded NFC this morning from 5:30-6:00am.
*Must select* NFC protocol (Can initially submit via iBird if initial submission is on a smartphone) *Choices for total number of individual birds* 1) Exact count 2) Estimated number of birds 3) "X" if there too many to reasonably count. For example, this morning I heard Example 1 4 Wood Thrush calls were spread out with more than a minute in between each call. I recorded this as "4" for number of birds and NFC 4 Example 2 A single Gray-Cheeked Thrush call, then a few minutes later two NFC within a second of each, a few minutes later another single call, and then finally a few minutes after that two quick calls. I recorded that as 4 Gray-Cheeked thrush but in the notes, I wrote NFC 6 with 4 separate individuals. Example 3 74 Swainson's thrush calls, many on top of each other. I think I could estimate the number here but there would be some error so I marked "X" for species number and wrote NFC 74. Here is my submitted checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19913535 Comments and corrections are welcome. Sincerely, Andrew On Tue, Sep 23, 2014 at 12:29 AM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg <k...@cornell.edu> wrote: > Andrew et al., > > I am by no means the expert here, and hopefully Andrew Farnsworth will > chime in with any comments or suggestions, but basically all I do is listen > in real time and count all the birds I can hear and identify. I don’t have > a recording set-up at present. I’m fairly confident with many of the > identifications but not with others — I use a lot of warbler sp. and > sparrow sp. I feel I can usually estimate number of individual birds > passing pretty easily based on the timing and position of the calling birds > in the sky — where I am there are no lights and the birds pass over in a > consistent direction, with most individuals calling only once or twice > within my range of hearing. During heavy flights or dense pulses of calling > activity, I just do my best to keep track of individuals, and sometimes > will estimate the ratio of species identified during a given period and > apply that to the number I’m estimating — functionally this isn’t any > different from how I would estimate large flocks of ducks or shorebirds or > migrating hawks. I’m sure there’s a certain amount of error, but not > greater than for most other kinds of birding. > > Because I use BirdLog, I can easily tally the numbers as I go, but that > also means I need to remember to change the protocol to NFC after the > checklist is entered. (I believe BirdLog will eventually be able to record > the NFC protocol, but I don’t know the timing on that). > > Hope this is helpful, > > KEN > > > Kenneth V. Rosenberg > Conservation Science Program > Cornell Lab of Ornithology > Office: 607-254-2412 > cell: 607-342-4594 > k...@cornell.edu > > On Sep 22, 2014, at 9:01 PM, Andrew Albright <andrew.albri...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Ken (and Chris*), > > I have a different interpretation of the ebird NFC rules/guideliness than > the Montgomery county (Pennsylvania) ebird compiler for listening live > (cc'd here). > http://help.ebird.org/customer/portal/articles/1010492. > > It might be easier to just see an example of how you are logging your > night flight calls into ebird because I think we are doing approximately > the same activity - listening live and recording nfc that we can ID? I > checked "Recent Sightings" from Thompkins Co, NY and the only one example > in that I could find doesn't seem to fit guidelines > > *Other questions/improvement suggestings* > 1) I brought up the question before about the species that you could > conclusively identify as being separable, either partially or > entirably. Even if it were not 100% agreed upon, I think it would be good > if there were a standard that was used for nfc data entry, e.g. only those > fields appear. This would make data entry more standard, easier and > provide a good starting point for a more detailed discussion. > > 2) It would be nice to provide a "cliff note" version of the > instructions. The weblink has quite a bit of information which could be > broken down into background information and actionable instructions. > > 3) It would be good to push to have the smartphone app upgraded to enable > more functionality that includes easy logging of the NFC protocol. > > Sincerely, > Andrew Albright > > > *Chris - If I recall, sometimes you post here that you listen live and > sometimes you review remote recordings? > > > > On Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 12:23 AM, Kenneth V. Rosenberg <k...@cornell.edu> > wrote: > >> Just had about 200 thrushes (mostly Swainsons but also many >> Gray-cheeked and Wood Thrush) over my house in Northeast Ithaca in a 45 min >> count - also 12 Green Herons and an Am Bittern >> >> Ken >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Sep 18, 2014, at 9:41 PM, "Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" < >> c...@cornell.edu> wrote: >> >> Just a heads-up about a potential push of birds into this area >> overnight tonight... >> >> Begin forwarded message: >> >> *From: *"Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" <c...@cornell.edu> >> *Subject: **[nfc-l] Thursday: Night Flight in Northeast* >> *Date: *September 18, 2014 at 9:38:18 PM EDT >> *To: *NFC-L <nf...@list.cornell.edu> >> *Reply-To: *"Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" <c...@cornell.edu> >> >> There is currently a fairly heavy liftoff going on in the Northeast and >> surrounding regions. The high pressure system situated North of Lake >> Ontario could make for a good push of birds down into the Northeast >> overnight tonight. >> >> If you can, keep your ears skyward! >> >> Sincerely, >> Chris T-H >> >> -- >> *NFC-L List Info:* >> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME> >> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES> >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >> *Archives:* >> The Mail Archive >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> >> Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L> >> BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html> >> *Please submit your observations to eBird >> <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* >> -- >> >> >> -- >> Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes >> Field Applications Engineer >> Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology >> 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850 >> W: 607-254-2418 M: 607-351-5740 F: 607-254-1132 >> http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp >> >> -- >> *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* >> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> >> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >> *Archives:* >> The Mail Archive >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> >> Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> >> BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> >> *Please submit your observations to eBird >> <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* >> -- >> >> -- >> *NFC-L List Info:* >> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME> >> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES> >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >> *Archives:* >> The Mail Archive >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> >> Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L> >> BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html> >> *Please submit your observations to eBird >> <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* >> -- >> > > > -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
