NYSbirds-L@cornell.edu<mailto:NYSbirds-L@cornell.edu> was originally created for reports of rarities and discussions of birds that would be of statewide interest (hence the “s” in the name after NY, New York State birds). Upstate birders have always used it that way. I would post about Cave Swallows, but never about Purple Martins there. Cayugabirds was founded at the same time (by the same people), and its purpose was for discussion of birds of a regional interest only. Purple Martins would be an appropriate topic for Cayugabirds. The other upstate regional lists were gradually created for the same purpose. GenesseeBirds was not supposed to replace the statewide list, but to supplement it.
For the first few years, that’s how the lists functioned. When we saw a state rarity, it got posted to BOTH the local and state lists. Unfortunately, the mission for NYSbirds crept over the years, and came to be used extensively by NYC birders to list mundane things. As a consequence, many upstate birders unsubscribed rather than read dozens and dozens of messages of no interest. As a consequence, they don’t think to post to it, either. And that’s a shame. Can’t someone down there start a regional listserv for the NYC area and give NYSbirds back to the state? ;^) Best, Kevin McGowan Ithaca From: bounce-121020508-3714...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-121020508-3714...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Larry Trachtenberg Sent: Monday, November 21, 2016 1:44 PM To: David Klauber <davehawk...@msn.com>; Paul R Sweet <sw...@amnh.org> Cc: NYSBIRDS-L <nysbird...@list.cornell.edu> Subject: RE: [ebirdsnyc] Re: [nysbirds-l] Brooklyn Ash-throated Flycatcher If I may. I do not use and anticipate never using any of Facebook (or its myriad bird groups), Twitter, bird text alert systems, ebirds...@yahoogroups.com<mailto:ebirds...@yahoogroups.com>; #birdcp on Twitter, the “various WhatsAp” bird sites referenced, or any of the seemingly endless selective groups that report birds to their members. To quote WC Fields "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member” (not to say any of these clubs or whatever they may be would have me.). I also was unaware that the NYSbird site was intended for rarities only. As far as I understood; rather not only is there a NYS list-serve (which as with Andrew, is the only place I use other than when I get around occasionally to post to ebird), there are also seven others for various listserv regions around the state which you see if you go to the ABA site http://birding.aba.org (NY-Cayuga; NY-Genesee; NY-Hudson-Mohawk; NY-Northern; NY-Oneida; NY-Orange and NY-Chautauqua). As David points out likely those came about because the main NYS listserv is dominated by downstate sightings often, like mine, mundane. Thus, the NY listserv sites are far different than those in NJ for example which has only two; a statewide place to post and a clearly identified NJ-RBA (but I do not know how carefully that is monitored). In NY, every Saturday Gail Benson posts on the State NYSbird cite the weekly Rare Bird Alert for the five boroughs and Long Island and what it says is Westchester, although absent say a Virginia’s Warbler, Westchester seems to be reported infrequently. That posting gives two ways to report a rare bird (as opposed a general post to the NYS listserv of more routine sightings that some may find interesting and some may not which is how I viewed the general listserv). Per Gail’s regular Saturday posts for actual rare bird sightings in the indicated area(s) they should either be called in to a Hotline: New York City Area Rare Bird Alert: Number: (212) 979-3070; or emailed to nysar...@nybirds.org<mailto:nysar...@nybirds.org> (and if documentation is requested there is a link to an on-line form). That, of course, begs the question as to whether if someone calls in a rare bird, will it show up on any list serve prior to Gail’s post on Saturday (assuming indeed the sighting is valid, or whatever criteria may be used). Thus, if a Monday sighting was not posted until Saturday and the bird is gone, the twitchers would no longer be able to twitch (even if he/she were willing to drive out on the execrable LIE to get to wherever such rare bird may be on Long Island). Personally, I post fairly regularly from my patch at Croton Point Park, a park which I know is visited by many birders. Most of my posts tend to the mundane although some have reported an occasional rarity (e.g. cattle egret, American avocet, boat tailed grackle). My CPP posts occasionally lead to direct off line email communication sometimes with comments of appreciation and/or requests for further info, and sometimes less so, shall we say, but I never thought nysbirds-l@cornell.edu<mailto:nysbirds-l@cornell.edu> was limited to only sightings of rarities, because, well it clearly has not been used that way. It is also clear that NYS listserv is not universally used by those in Westchester to post rarities when they do show up – at CPP alone it was days last year before a lark sparrow was reported on the listserv after being initially only posted on Facebook (fortunately it stayed for months) and longer before a well photographed buff breasted sandpiper came to light (after it was long gone). At bottom, I do not think it will ever be resolved via consensus (and certainly not unanimity) even if as David says there is a designated NYS-RBA site that (a) people use, and (b) someone is willing to maintain (whatever that exactly means); although such a site seems like a good idea. (What then, is rare?) Lawrence B. Trachtenberg | trachtenb...@amsllp.com<mailto:trachtenb...@amsllp.com> Aronson Mayefsky & Sloan, LLP 12 E. 49th Street, New York, New York 10017 | T: 212.521.3511 | F: 212.838.5505 NOTICE: This e-mail is intended only for the named recipient(s). It contains confidential, privileged and/or attorney work product information. If you receive this e-mail in error, please do not disseminate, distribute or copy it or any attachments. Should you have erroneously received this e-mail, please notify the sender by replying to it or calling the phone number above and please delete the e-mail and any attachments from your system. Thank you! From: bounce-121020378-10490...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:bounce-121020378-10490...@list.cornell.edu> [mailto:bounce-121020378-10490...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of David Klauber Sent: Monday, November 21, 2016 1:19 PM To: Paul R Sweet Cc: nysbirds-l Subject: Re: [ebirdsnyc] Re: [nysbirds-l] Brooklyn Ash-throated Flycatcher Paul, You raise a good point. There is one site which historically has been THE site for reporting rare birds state wide, and that is the Cornell listserve NYS birds. While this is not only a rare bird alert, as its scope is broader, it still is the best place to get the word out on a rare bird. Unfortunately it has not been used as much in recent years due to people posting on other local and regional sites, as you noted. I believe there been a perception - incorrect in my opinion- in the eyes of some upstate birders that it is mostly a downstate / NYC /Long Island listserve, possibly due to a majority of posts being from that area, at least in the past. And to Paul's point there have often been many "run of the mill" type daily posts of little interest to people who don't live in that area. This has resulted in many birders upstate using their regional listserves only, although a few people have made a good effort to cross post and get the word out to a wider audience. I don't think it takes much effort to list 2 addresses for those wanting to use their local sites and still get the word out to a wider audience when a rarity shows up. But maybe to Paul's point a strictly RBA site state wide would address the issue. But someone would have to take responsibility for its upkeep. Dave Klauber ________________________________ From: bounce-121020070-3714...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:bounce-121020070-3714...@list.cornell.edu> <bounce-121020070-3714...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:bounce-121020070-3714...@list.cornell.edu>> on behalf of Paul R Sweet <sw...@amnh.org<mailto:sw...@amnh.org>> Sent: Monday, November 21, 2016 12:25 PM To: Andrew Baksh Cc: Ethan Maitra; ebirds...@yahoogroups.com<mailto:ebirds...@yahoogroups.com>; nysbirds-l Subject: Re: [ebirdsnyc] Re: [nysbirds-l] Brooklyn Ash-throated Flycatcher As I think I'm being called out here perhaps let's talk about some recommendations on how rarities are reported? Andrew you could take the lead here? One problem is that there are two “rare bird alerts” for NY that are often filled with run-of-the-mill daily lists and non rarity sightings. While these are of interest to some, they dilute the power of an RBA. As a suggestion could we make a recommendation that one of these becomes a true RBA for NYSARC reportable or at least scarce taxa only (nysbirds-l@cornell.edu<mailto:nysbirds-l@cornell.edu>) and the other a site for daily lists and musings on other aspects of local birding (ebirds...@yahoogroups.com<mailto:ebirds...@yahoogroups.com>). Of course the proliferation of bird alerts on Social Media such as #birdcp on Twitter and various WhatsAp and text alert groups add to the confusion. In short it would be great to standardize how and where true rare bird info appears. Ideally we should have a true RBA listserve like the one that Lloyd ran a few years ago. Over to you Andrew. Paul Sweet 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 20, 2016, at 1:10 PM, Andrew Baksh birdingd...@gmail.com<mailto:birdingd...@gmail.com> [ebirdsnyc] <ebirdsnyc-nore...@yahoogroups.com<mailto:ebirdsnyc-nore...@yahoogroups.com>> wrote: Good point but for many, the Nassau County ATFL might be out of the way. More interesting for me, is how the Brooklyn bird was reported. It appears to me that we are once again seeing a break down on how rare to uncommon birds are being reported. I'll withhold fire for now but I again urge all in the game to keep up the generosity of sharing and sharing early and to the wider community. There are a lot of birders who don't text, tweet or are not using any form of social media to communicate. Let's not leave them out. Thanks -------- "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<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Frefspace.com%2Fquotes%2FSun_Tzu&data=01%7C01%7Csweet%40amnh.org%7Cf96bb6c5767a48dc9f5f08d411708252%7Cbe0003e8c6b9496883aeb34586974b76%7C1&sdata=6eyh3GQUuuVT1oiYUIF6JB5Yb7vCNehY5m7V%2B%2FSLAdg%3D&reserved=0> The Art of War<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Frefspace.com%2Fquotes%2FThe_Art_of_War&data=01%7C01%7Csweet%40amnh.org%7Cf96bb6c5767a48dc9f5f08d411708252%7Cbe0003e8c6b9496883aeb34586974b76%7C1&sdata=3EWzpKbmBCQx4jlEOYv0LBoTk171H7PgukAPVfLtOD8%3D&reserved=0> (\__/) (= '.'=) (") _ (") Sent from somewhere in the field using my mobile device! Andrew Baksh www.birdingdude.blogspot.com<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.birdingdude.blogspot.com&data=01%7C01%7Csweet%40amnh.org%7Cf96bb6c5767a48dc9f5f08d411708252%7Cbe0003e8c6b9496883aeb34586974b76%7C1&sdata=7%2FvtHD3nnAVByjYa2n1d%2FCCmJCOFsunjG2nvjY%2FH%2Fpw%3D&reserved=0> On Nov 20, 2016, at 11:07 AM, Ethan Maitra astrobirde...@yahoo.com<mailto:astrobirde...@yahoo.com> [ebirdsnyc] <ebirdsnyc-nore...@yahoogroups.com<mailto:ebirdsnyc-nore...@yahoogroups.com>> wrote: Meanwhile, there's an Ash-throated Flycatcher in Nassau (West Lido Beach Town Park) that is visible from the public parking lot.... __._,_.___ ________________________________ Posted by: Andrew Baksh <birdingd...@gmail.com<mailto:birdingd...@gmail.com>> ________________________________ Reply via web post<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgroups.yahoo.com%2Fneo%2Fgroups%2Febirdsnyc%2Fconversations%2Fmessages%2F16651%3B_ylc%3DX3oDMTJyazM5YWxkBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEzMzM2MzUwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NTc4NwRtc2dJZAMxNjY1MQRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNycGx5BHN0aW1lAzE0Nzk2NjU0MjM-%3Fact%3Dreply%26messageNum%3D16651&data=01%7C01%7Csweet%40amnh.org%7Cf96bb6c5767a48dc9f5f08d411708252%7Cbe0003e8c6b9496883aeb34586974b76%7C1&sdata=E3QoLV9Ouuf1kNhpaQE02gQNGKYtlFgk3BQSkq28F%2FU%3D&reserved=0> • Reply to sender <mailto:birdingd...@gmail.com?subject=Re%3A%20%5Bebirdsnyc%5D%20Re%3A%20%5Bnysbirds-l%5D%20Brooklyn%20Ash-throated%20Flycatcher> • Reply to group <mailto:ebirds...@yahoogroups.com?subject=Re%3A%20%5Bebirdsnyc%5D%20Re%3A%20%5Bnysbirds-l%5D%20Brooklyn%20Ash-throated%20Flycatcher> • Start a New Topic<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgroups.yahoo.com%2Fneo%2Fgroups%2Febirdsnyc%2Fconversations%2Fnewtopic%3B_ylc%3DX3oDMTJmdHJtdXFiBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEzMzM2MzUwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NTc4NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNudHBjBHN0aW1lAzE0Nzk2NjU0MjM-&data=01%7C01%7Csweet%40amnh.org%7Cf96bb6c5767a48dc9f5f08d411708252%7Cbe0003e8c6b9496883aeb34586974b76%7C1&sdata=HmwR2P1p%2Bfbxy7g1H2ygVw5H8GJoBUhJ6fmq2Z9cxsc%3D&reserved=0> • Messages in this topic<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgroups.yahoo.com%2Fneo%2Fgroups%2Febirdsnyc%2Fconversations%2Ftopics%2F16647%3B_ylc%3DX3oDMTM3ZDBkYTZ0BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEzMzM2MzUwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NTc4NwRtc2dJZAMxNjY1MQRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawN2dHBjBHN0aW1lAzE0Nzk2NjU0MjMEdHBjSWQDMTY2NDc-&data=01%7C01%7Csweet%40amnh.org%7Cf96bb6c5767a48dc9f5f08d411708252%7Cbe0003e8c6b9496883aeb34586974b76%7C1&sdata=7PH2R8CaA2hpTM6col7FfCVEPHFqHwKpRBGPLaDvnL0%3D&reserved=0> (5) ________________________________ [https://s.yimg.com/ru/static/images/yg/img/megaphone/1464031581_phpFA8bON] Have you tried the highest rated email app?<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyho.com%2F1wwmgg&data=01%7C01%7Csweet%40amnh.org%7Cf96bb6c5767a48dc9f5f08d411708252%7Cbe0003e8c6b9496883aeb34586974b76%7C1&sdata=BGQK6naavRhOYaWX5abFfE5yLXfZw43t7po1PQwabvM%3D&reserved=0> With 4.5 stars in iTunes, the Yahoo Mail app is the highest rated email app on the market. 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