Dear New York Birders, A wholehearted thank you to the citizen scientists, birding clubs and local Audubon Chapters who participated in this past years launch of the Rusty Blackbird Spring Migration Blitz. Northern provinces will be wrapping up their efforts this June and the New York window has been completed since the beginning of May. Out of 37 participating states, New York submitted the greatest number of checklists containing Rusty Blackbird reports (931 checklists in April alone). Well done! The data will teach us many things both about Rusties and how to move forward with conservation strategies but also how to continue to improve our outreach and education efforts about this declining species. As an encouraging side note, we also received news from a research group in New Hampshire who found 30+ Rusty nests this year, including one with five-day-old nestlings! This was the first year of a three year blitz and we're more than pleased with the number of participants and results thus far. That said, there is always room for checklist improvement and blitz recruitment and I'll be in touch during the 2014/2015 winter with suggestions and ideas on how to ramp up our efforts here in New York State. So again, a job well done and we look forward to working with everyone next year. Best Wishes, Derek Rogers (Long Island/NYC Blitz Coordinator) Michael Shanley (Staten Island Coordinator) Melanie McCormack (Upstate New York Coordinator) --
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/ --
