Re: [cayugabirds-l] spectacular viewing Stewart Park

[Dave Nutter]

Keep an eye out for a gorgeous male WOOD DUCK at the south end of the lake.  I saw it off Stewart Park on Wednesday 14 December.  Sorry I forgot to post it, as that was a busy taxi day.  On 10 December I also saw a flock of about 20 NORTHERN PINTAIL off Stewart among the CANADA GEESE.  They took flight and I thought they went south, and I haven't seen them since, but I wonder if they have been hanging around the area unseen for a week.--Dave NutterOn Dec 18, 2011, at 02:28 PM, Kenneth Victor Rosenberg  wrote:If anyone is heading downtown in Ithaca, I recommend a stop at Stewart Park - with the bright sun and calm lake, the thousands of geese, ducks, and gulls, offer an unusually spectacular view. Many of the birds are in very close. Among the thousands of CANADA GEESE, MALLARDS, and the common 3 gulls, were a mixed group of REDHEAD, RING-NECKED DUCKS, with a few SCAUP, CANVASBACK, BUFFLEHEAD, GADWALL, AM WIGEON, COOTS (100 or so), a newly arrived group of 20+ NORTHERN PINTAIL, and a little further out several rafts of HOODED MERGANSERS -- I counted 60 birds, COMMON GOLDENEYE, and COMMON MERGANSERS.

I briefly found a (the) 2nd-cycle ICELAND GULL floating with the mergansers -- it likely joined the gulls on the newly formed ice edge and was at the wrong angle for me to pick out the white wing-tips and relocate.

I'm sure there is a good goose or two for anyone with enough time and patience to sort through them.

This was about noon -- I hope everything is still there and in nice light.

KEN




Ken Rosenberg
Conservation Science Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
607-254-2412
607-342-4594 (cell)
k...@cornell.edu


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[cayugabirds-l] Monkey Run Golden Eagle and Hermit Thrush

[Christopher Wood]

** Monkey Run--SW loop, Tompkins, US-NY
Dec 18, 2011 11:13 AM - 12:43 PM
Protocol: Traveling
2.5 mile(s)
Comments:     An absolutely beautiful day. 24F. Dead calm at first,
with light south wind picking up near the end. Clear sky. Highlights
included my first every GOLDEN EAGLE at Monkey Run, a Bald Eagle (seen
first) and a Hermit Thrush. No sign of the big numbers of geese that
moved over yesterday.
24 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  1     Single bird along creek.
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  6     Resting on edge of creek.
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)  5
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1     * The first that we have
seen in December at Monkey Run. Just shy of an adult, and would have
been easy to dismiss as full adult. Showed just a hint of brown on the
outer tail feathers -- not dirt, but real coloring to feathers.
Red-tailed Hawk (Eastern) (Buteo jamaicensis borealis)  1     Adult
perched along creek.
Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)  1     **The bird of the day -- a
stunning juvenile that flew directly overhead while I was in the open
field. I called Jessie to see if she could see it from the yard, but,
alas, it was too low and she couldn't see it. A full juvenile with
clean uniform wings and fairly extensive white to base of tail and
primaries and secondaries from below (no white seen on upperwing).
Stunning golden feathers on head really stood out in excellent light.
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  6
Herring Gull (American) (Larus argentatus smithsonianus)  13
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  3
Downy Woodpecker (Eastern) (Picoides pubescens pubescens/medianus)  1
Hairy Woodpecker (Eastern) (Picoides villosus [villosus Group])  1
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)  2
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  5
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  8
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  18
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)  7
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)  1     Alone along creek on
far sw side. Not in conifers.
Hermit Thrush (Northern/Eastern) (Catharus guttatus [faxoni Group])  1
    One was along the paved RR trail on the far west end near the
apartments. The last time I did this walk I had two along the creek. I
suspect this is a different individual, because of how far away it
was, but perhaps one of those birds moves greater distances. Clearly
an eastern/northern bird by warm upperparts and warm color to flanks.
Call also typical of Eastern (coastal western birds apparently
slightly different based on recordings).
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  8
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) (Junco hyemalis hyemalis/carolinensis)  16
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  8
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)  17
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  8

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)


Chris Wood

eBird & Neotropical Birds Project Leader
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York
http://ebird.org
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Senior Leader, WINGS Birding Tours
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[cayugabirds-l] Hog Hole yesterday -- Thayer's Gull, 4 geese sp.

[Christopher Wood]

Sorry for the late post. Yesterday evening I went to Hog Hole where
the Thayer's Gull was resting on the docks in the marina. Other
highlights below.

Hog Hole Ithaca, Tompkins, US-NY
Dec 17, 2011 4:01 PM - 4:51 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.9 mile(s)
Comments:     I came here to see if there were any interesting geese
or other birds following the AMAZING movement of Canada and Snow Geese
elsewhere. There were a fair number of Canadas here, and judging by
the presence of a Cackling Goose, I suspect that many of these were
different from the ones roosting here each evening. In addition, there
were also some Canada that continued flying south even at sunset. The
only Snow Goose was a blue morph bird in with the Canadas. The biggest
surprise was a juvenile Thayer's Gull -- it appeared identical to and
was certainly the same bird I found on 9 December at the compost
piles. I don't believe it has been seen since about the 11th.
25 species (+1 other taxa)

Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens)  1     Blue morph adult with Canadas in marina.
Brant (Atlantic) (Branta bernicla hrota)  2     Continuing juveniles.
Along with all the geese we saw in flight today on the Cortland CBC,
this made by SIXTH goose species for the day -- a new high species
count for me in Upstate New York.
Cackling Goose (Richardson's) (Branta hutchinsii hutchinsii)  1
One adult in with a flock of Canada that came in and landed in the
marina. Excellent views in flight and on the ground. A fairly typical
Richardson's with a silvery upperparts, pale breast, no neck ring.
Much smaller than CANG with shorter bill.
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  1285     Close to an exact count as
bird came into roost and others (20% continued moving south).
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  350     Very rough estimate -- most
birds were off Stewart Park.
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)  1     Male off of Stewart Park
Redhead (Aythya americana)  10
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)  3
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  16
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  21
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  7
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  29     Exact count included
birds off of the red jetty and another flock that flew over.
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  42
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1     Adult.
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  350
Herring Gull (American) (Larus argentatus smithsonianus)  470     * My
highest count yet of the fall/winter.
Thayer's Gull (Larus thayeri)  1     Juvenile. Almost certainly the
same bird that I found on 9 December, though it hadn't been seen in
almost a week. There were no differences at all from the bird I found
before, including the very limited pale at the base of the bill (not
typical, but not rare in juv THGU on this date). Upperwring patterning
also identical as was overall coloration.
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)  75
gull sp. (Larinae sp.)  1     A very distant white-winged gull
Glaucous / Iceland / Thayer's type bird that was probably a pure
Iceland Gull. Either a first or second-winter bird. Pale brown below,
not gleaming white.
Rock Pigeon (Columba livia)  20
Hairy Woodpecker (Eastern) (Picoides villosus [villosus Group])  1
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  1
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  1
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) (Junco hyemalis hyemalis/carolinensis)  1
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  2
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Chris Wood
Ithaca, NY

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[cayugabirds-l] Snowy Owl, etc.

[Dave Nutter]

This afternoon I took a relaxed trip up the west side of Cayuga Lake to the mucklands along NYS-31 west of the Village of Montezuma. I did not fortify myself with scrapple per Steve Fast's recommendation, but perhaps my overly-spicy Italian sausages from yesterday had some lingering effects, because I was able to re-find his SNOWY OWL. I was scoping from my car parked by the building on the south side of the road west of the "potatoes" building, my 5th stop as I proceeded east. At 3:35pm I saw it flying low far to my south-southeast, and it alit on a long berm which I think was the far side of an east-west ditch. It sat there until 3:53 when it took off flying very low to the southeast and dropped out of my view. I believe this was in the field northeast of the end of Towpath Road. I was unable to relocate it either from the porch of the potatoes building or from East Road. Meanwhile I heard that Tim Lenz had seen a Snowy Owl over Tschache Pool. Although I never saw my bird climb out of my portion of the mucklands, the timing was plausible for it to be the same bird. Of course it may just be the time of day two owls became active. Anyway, the good news is that it's still possible to find a Snowy Owl in the Montezuma area.  Mine was either a female or young bird, having a good deal of sooty spots on the wings, back, crown, & nape. As for the rest of the trip, I did not get out early enough to see the lake totally flat calm, but I did find a COMMON LOON in the cove north of Sheldrake Point, a HORNED GREBE off Elm Beach Road, and a/the flock of several thousand SNOW GEESE midway between Dean's Cove and Aurora. As I approached Cayuga Lake State Park I added TUNDRA SWANS, a few AMERICAN WIGEONS and GADWALLS, a flock of RING-NECKED DUCKS, and a "BLUE" GOOSE.  This was all in addition to the expected CANADA GEESE, MALLARDS, AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS, RING-BILLED GULLS, HERRING GULLS, and a few GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS. At Montezuma NWR nearly all the water is frozen, but there was a bit of open water far out in the main pool containing CANADA GEESE, MALLARDS, AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS, at least 5 male GREEN-WINGED TEAL, 5 AMERICAN COOTS, and about a hundred NORTHERN SHOVELERS which were flushed by an adult BALD EAGLE. There were also scores of southbound TUNDRA SWANS overhead. Tschache Pool had two adult BALD EAGLES, atop muskrat lodges, one of them displacing a female NORTHERN HARRIER. There was barely any open water in Knox-Marsellus, but surrounding it were plenty of CANADA GEESE and MALLARDS, plus a few TUNDRA SWANS, AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS, and NORTHERN PINTAILS, species which were numerous out on the mucklands. There was a RED-TAILED HAWK in a tree at the edge of the woods north of Knox-Marsellus and another adult BALD EAGLE perched next to a nest in woods northeast of the intersection of NYS-89 & NYS-31.  I also saw a distant eagle flying over Mays Point Pool.--Dave Nutter
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] CayugRBA SNOWY OWL far south

[Tim Lenz]

This snowy owl is probably the same bird and is now in the back of tschache
pool next to a tiny polynya filled with terrified coots!

On Sunday, December 18, 2011, Kenneth Victor Rosenberg 
wrote:
> Another (or the same?) SNOWY OWL was just reported flying across Tschache
Pool at Montezuma NWR. They're coming
>
>
> Ken Rosenberg
> Conservation Science Program
> Cornell Lab of Ornithology
> 607-254-2412
> 607-342-4594 (cell)
> k...@cornell.edu
>
> On Dec 18, 2011, at 3:40 PM, <6072292...@vtext.com>
>  <6072292...@vtext.com> wrote:
>
>> CayugRBA SNOWY OWL far south of NYS-31 in mucklands, Montezuma 340pm
>> --Dave Nutter
>>
>> --
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[cayugabirds-l] Goshawk??

[Caroline Manring]

I was just walking on Hopkins road near the Medical Center and a large
raptor went over south to north, leaving a large stand of trees to head for
another, bigger one across a field. I had no binoculars, and it was fairly
far off (at least 300 yards at its closest)
--It appeared very dark (the uncensored thought was "almost black!") on top
and light underneath (no discernable belly-band)
--the flight seemed accipiter-like to me (what I noticed most prominently
being the apparently perfectly flat configuration of wings between flaps--
no dihedral whatsoever)
--the flight pattern was three or four quick flaps to a fairly long (2-3x
as long as it took to make the flaps), very straight, pretty fast,
purposeful soar
--the bird "read" as an accipiter but its tail seemed proportionally short
compared to a Cooper's or a Harrier
--I could detect no white rump patch
--I did *think* I noticed something striking about the head coloration (a
vague wisp of the thought "why is an Osprey coming out of a woods-edge?"
occurred before I got a look at the shape and flight pattern)
--As it made off without my permission, the last two thoughts I had on its
size and shape were that it seemed much like "either the biggest Cooper's
Hawk of all time or the smallest Bald Eagle"

Is it possible this bird was a Northern Goshawk? Could someone who has NOGO
experience tell me if these impressions sound familiar? There's not much in
Sibley or any of the other books I have about the flight pattern, and I've
never seen one in flight.

My other thought was maybe I saw a Rough-legged Hawk, which could account
for the size and the high contrast in colors above and below, but I simply
didn't get the impression of a buteo at all.

Thanks,
Caroline Manring
NW Ithaca

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Re: [cayugabirds-l] CayugRBA SNOWY OWL far south

[Kenneth Victor Rosenberg]

Another (or the same?) SNOWY OWL was just reported flying across Tschache Pool 
at Montezuma NWR. They're coming


Ken Rosenberg
Conservation Science Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
607-254-2412
607-342-4594 (cell)
k...@cornell.edu

On Dec 18, 2011, at 3:40 PM, <6072292...@vtext.com>
 <6072292...@vtext.com> wrote:

> CayugRBA SNOWY OWL far south of NYS-31 in mucklands, Montezuma 340pm 
> --Dave Nutter
> 
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RE: [cayugabirds-l] Towhee

[Kevin J. McGowan]

Eastern Towhee is indeed an unusual bird around here at this time of the year. 
It has been recorded on the Ithaca Christmas Count 17 of the last 48 years.  
Rarely do we ever record more than one, although last year we had two.  High 
count was six in 1982.

Kevin



From: bounce-39017463-3493...@list.cornell.edu 
[mailto:bounce-39017463-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Linda Orkin
Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2011 3:26 PM
To: Marilyn L Ray
Cc: CAYUGABIRDS-L
Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Towhee

It is rare but not totally unheard of.  There are some Nov. Dec and Jan ebird 
reports for them And yes, Towhees are in the sparrow family, so feed on the 
ground.  This is cool, do you have any idea if you are in the count circle for 
the Christmas Bird Count. You can check that out on our bird club website, 
cayugabirdclub.org.  This would be a great bird to 
count for this year (on Jan.1)

Enjoy

Linda
On Sun, Dec 18, 2011 at 3:16 PM, Marilyn Ray 
mailto:ml...@cornell.edu>> wrote:
Folks...We have been having visits from a male Rufous-sided Towhee over the 
last several weeks.  He is landing on our deck and enjoying the seeds dropped 
from several feeders.  We have lived in this house on the Ithaca edge of 
Brooktondale and had feeders out for over 25 years, and only once before I saw 
a Towhee in the leaves on the hillside.  Have other seen Towhees this time of 
year?  Are they frequent ground feeders below sees feeders?  Marilyn Ray

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[cayugabirds-l] CayugRBA SNOWY OWL far south

[6072292158]

 CayugRBA SNOWY OWL far south of NYS-31 in mucklands, Montezuma 340pm 
--Dave Nutter

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RE: [cayugabirds-l] spectacular viewing Stewart Park

[Susan Fast]

I guess the other 99+% of the geese are no-good?

-Original Message-
From: bounce-39017438-9286...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-39017438-9286...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Kenneth
Victor Rosenberg
Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2011 2:29 PM
To: CAYUGABIRDS-L
Subject: [cayugabirds-l] spectacular viewing Stewart Park

If anyone is heading downtown in Ithaca, I recommend a stop at Stewart Park
- with the bright sun and calm lake, the thousands of geese, ducks, and
gulls, offer an unusually spectacular view. Many of the birds are in very
close. Among the thousands of CANADA GEESE, MALLARDS, and the common 3
gulls, were a mixed group of REDHEAD, RING-NECKED DUCKS, with a few SCAUP,
CANVASBACK, BUFFLEHEAD, GADWALL, AM WIGEON, COOTS (100 or so), a newly
arrived group of 20+ NORTHERN PINTAIL, and a little further out several
rafts of HOODED MERGANSERS -- I counted 60 birds, COMMON GOLDENEYE, and
COMMON MERGANSERS.

I briefly found a (the) 2nd-cycle ICELAND GULL floating with the mergansers
-- it likely joined the gulls on the newly formed ice edge and was at the
wrong angle for me to pick out the white wing-tips and relocate.

I'm sure there is a good goose or two for anyone with enough time and
patience to sort through them.

This was about noon -- I hope everything is still there and in nice light.

KEN




Ken Rosenberg
Conservation Science Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
607-254-2412
607-342-4594 (cell)
k...@cornell.edu


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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Towhee

[Linda Orkin]

It is rare but not totally unheard of.  There are some Nov. Dec and Jan
ebird reports for them And yes, Towhees are in the sparrow family, so feed
on the ground.  This is cool, do you have any idea if you are in the count
circle for the Christmas Bird Count. You can check that out on our bird
club website, cayugabirdclub.org.  This would be a great bird to count for
this year (on Jan.1)

Enjoy

Linda

On Sun, Dec 18, 2011 at 3:16 PM, Marilyn Ray  wrote:

> Folks...We have been having visits from a male Rufous-sided Towhee over
> the last several weeks.  He is landing on our deck and enjoying the seeds
> dropped from several feeders.  We have lived in this house on the Ithaca
> edge of Brooktondale and had feeders out for over 25 years, and only once
> before I saw a Towhee in the leaves on the hillside.  Have other seen
> Towhees this time of year?  Are they frequent ground feeders below sees
> feeders?  Marilyn Ray
>
> --
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[cayugabirds-l] Ithaca Christmas Bird Count on the Radio tonight. And can someone remind me what our count week is please?

[Linda Orkin]

 Hey Everyone,

Just got confirmation of this a little while ago. I will be speaking on
WVBR tonight at 6:40. I think it will mostly be about the Christmas Bird
Count and perhaps a little bit about the club. (I hope)

I invite you to tune in if  you have the time.

Shin Hollow Radio
 Shin Hollow Radio is broadcast on WVBR 93.5 FM, on the first and third
Sunday nights of each month from 6 to 7pm.

The show features guests from the small towns around Ithaca talking about
their businesses, projects, causes, and fascinations.

The show is hosted by the staff of the Finger Lakes Community Newspapers,
Bill Chaisson, Glynis Hart and Jesse Disbrow.

And while we're on the subject, a reminder to all that we want you to help
us count birds on January 1st.  Get in touch with me if you have any
interest in this. Don't be shy about your abilities.  Info is on our
website cayugabirdclub.org.  Fun to write that. Thanks again Paul.

Best
Linda

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[cayugabirds-l] Towhee

[Marilyn Ray]

Folks...We have been having visits from a male Rufous-sided Towhee over 
the last several weeks.  He is landing on our deck and enjoying the 
seeds dropped from several feeders.  We have lived in this house on the 
Ithaca edge of Brooktondale and had feeders out for over 25 years, and 
only once before I saw a Towhee in the leaves on the hillside.  Have 
other seen Towhees this time of year?  Are they frequent ground feeders 
below sees feeders?  Marilyn Ray


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[cayugabirds-l] spectacular viewing Stewart Park

[Kenneth Victor Rosenberg]

If anyone is heading downtown in Ithaca, I recommend a stop at Stewart Park - 
with the bright sun and calm lake, the thousands of geese, ducks, and gulls, 
offer an unusually spectacular view. Many of the birds are in very close. Among 
the thousands of CANADA GEESE, MALLARDS, and the common 3 gulls, were a mixed 
group of REDHEAD, RING-NECKED DUCKS, with a few SCAUP, CANVASBACK, BUFFLEHEAD, 
GADWALL, AM WIGEON, COOTS (100 or so), a newly arrived group of 20+ NORTHERN 
PINTAIL, and a little further out several rafts of HOODED MERGANSERS -- I 
counted 60 birds, COMMON GOLDENEYE, and COMMON MERGANSERS.

I briefly found a (the) 2nd-cycle ICELAND GULL floating with the mergansers -- 
it likely joined the gulls on the newly formed ice edge and was at the wrong 
angle for me to pick out the white wing-tips and relocate.

I'm sure there is a good goose or two for anyone with enough time and patience 
to sort through them.

This was about noon -- I hope everything is still there and in nice light.

KEN




Ken Rosenberg
Conservation Science Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
607-254-2412
607-342-4594 (cell)
k...@cornell.edu


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[cayugabirds-l] GPS Coordinates

[bob mcguire]

OK, OK!!

We will go with the "decimal degrees" format. It does appear to be the  
most straight forward.


Thanks for all of your responses. Now, get outside and enjoy the day!

Bob



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[cayugabirds-l] Iceland Gull Compost Piles

[bob mcguire]

John and Karen Confer and I spent a sunny hour at the compost piles  
this morning from 8:30 to 9:30. The Iceland Gull recently seen by Dave  
Nutter and others was present from the beginning. As the morning  
progressed, scores of additional gulls streamed in from the direction  
of the Lake. We looked hard for Thayer's Gull but were unable to come  
up with anything that we were confident in.


As we were leaving, two Turkey Vultures appeared.

Bob McGuire



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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Decimal degrees

[Geo Kloppel]

The metric Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates were  
pretty convenient for pinpointing locations on printed USGS topos, as  
UTM grid ticks are shown in the margins. The block grid of the New  
York State Breeding Bird Atlas follows UTM. I still have a few USGS  
sheets on which I drew the BBA grid, and I did the same in my old  
DeLorme's Atlas.  But for casual birding navigation I vote for  
decimal lat & long.


-Geo

Geo Kloppel
Bowmaker & Restorer
227 Tupper Road
Spencer NY 14883

607 564 7026
g...@cornell.edu
geoklop...@gmail.com




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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Decimal degrees

[Carl Steckler]

What it really boils down to is how accurate you want to get. I

f you start at the extreme 1 second is approximately 90 feet give or 
take depending on your location. That means that one minute is roughly 
equal to 5,400 feet and one degree 324,000 feet.
So if you take 1/10th of a degree you get 32,400 feet, 1/100th 3,240 
feet and 1/1000 or .000 you get 324 feet. So you see if you are off by 
.01 degrees you are a half of a mile either way. Personally this is not 
what I would call accurate enough.


The problem with using the easier method of decimal degrees is unless 
you go to three places you loose accuracy, and even then you have an 
error factor of + or - 90 feet which means you are within 180 feet of 
where you need to be. And all of this does not take in the built in 
error factors in the GPS system.


Bottom line for me I would go for degrees, minutes, seconds. Most GPS 
systems can handle either format.

Carl

"For those who fought for it, Freedom has a flavor the protected will 
never know"



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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Use of GPS Coordinates

[J. Gary Kohlenberg]

My most common use is to plunk the DD "decimal degrees" coordinates into Google 
Maps on my phone. It works 100% of the time. My GPS mapping program uses DD or 
DMS. 

The other GPS driving applications I use, GPS Drive and MapQuest, always seem 
to get confused so I have to enter locations in address form. Google Maps is 
standard on the iPhone and probably on other phones as well. My vote would be 
for DD "decimal degrees". 

Gary 



On Dec 18, 2011, at 8:24 AM, bob mcguire wrote:

The Cayuga Bird Club is in the process of finalizing the text of the  
new Basin Birding Guide. At the last minute we have decided to include  
GPS coordinates with the directions/maps for each of the 76 sites. I  
would like help and feedback with the following question: which format  
for coordinates to incorporate? I expect that folks will use GPS  
coordinates either at home (on their computers - Google Earth of  
Maps), or on car GPS units, or on smart phones.

The simplest format seems to be so-called "decimal degrees"
Latitude:   ##.°
Longitude:  -##.°

An alternative format is "degrees minutes seconds"
Latitude:   N##°##' ##"
Longitude:  W##°##' ##"

(I  know there are still other formats as well.)

I would prefer to go with what seems to be the most straight forward:  
"decimal degrees". Is there a good argument for any other format? Can  
I provoke a good Sunday discussion here?!!

Bob McGuire






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[cayugabirds-l] R-w Blackbird

[Annette Nadeau]

The Red-winged Blackbird (male) I reported earlier in the week is at my feeders 
this morning here in Brooktondale.

Annette



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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Use of GPS Coordinates

[Judy Read]

Probably more important than DD (degrees decimal) or DMS (degrees minutes 
seconds) is that all submitted data uses the same system.  Most common are 
NAD 27 and WGS 84.
Everyone taking GPS coordinates in the field needs to use the same data 
system when submitting the DD or DMS to you.


But back to your original question:
I would look on Garmin's and TomTom's websites and find out which is their 
default mode.


Judy Read

--
From: "bob mcguire" 
Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2011 8:24 AM
To: "cayugabirdlist" 
Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Use of GPS Coordinates


The Cayuga Bird Club is in the process of finalizing the text of the
new Basin Birding Guide. At the last minute we have decided to include
GPS coordinates with the directions/maps for each of the 76 sites. I
would like help and feedback with the following question: which format
for coordinates to incorporate? I expect that folks will use GPS
coordinates either at home (on their computers - Google Earth of
Maps), or on car GPS units, or on smart phones.

The simplest format seems to be so-called "decimal degrees"
Latitude: ##.°
Longitude: -##.°

An alternative format is "degrees minutes seconds"
Latitude: N##°##' ##"
Longitude: W##°##' ##"

(I  know there are still other formats as well.)

I would prefer to go with what seems to be the most straight forward:
"decimal degrees". Is there a good argument for any other format? Can
I provoke a good Sunday discussion here?!!

Bob McGuire






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[cayugabirds-l] Decimal degrees

[Chris Pelkie]

I would STRONGLY advocate for decimal degrees. That does not mean degrees plus 
decimal minutes by the way.
I'm engaged in building a database for our worldwide deployments of acoustic 
listening devices and believe me, the 17 different ways people write down 
locations are a nightmare to encode logically as well as prone to all kinds of 
errors. Decimal Degrees is what Google Maps uses and what works best in a 
sortable list.
Decimal degrees also means no use (or misuse) of Northing-Easting style 
references such as 82°0'0"W instead of -82.. Should there be spaces between 
each part? Are those straight foot and inch marks or curly typography quotes? 
Does the W come first or last? Ugh! In any given list, you'll find all 
permutations.
Besides, how many people know how to type the degree symbol? On a Mac, it's 
Shift-Option-asterisk, by the way. (:-)


Here is one of many online calculators to convert from DMS or DM.m:

http://www.satsig.net/degrees-minutes-seconds-calculator.htm

In my experience, most GPS devices can report out in more than one mode. Just 
explore the preferences or settings menu.

__

Chris Pelkie
Research Analyst
Bioacoustics Research Program
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850


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RE: [cayugabirds-l] Use of GPS Coordinates

[Jody W Enck]

Hi Bob,
Great question as I know different folks relate differently to numbers. 
 My personal preference is the "decimal degrees" for lat-long.  That is what I 
have my hand-held GPS unit set to.  

Jody  

Jody W. Enck, PhD.
Research Associate, Human Dimensions Research Unit
Department of Natural Resources
Cornell University
phone 607-255-8192
web  www.dnr.cornell.edu/hdru/

-Original Message-
From: bounce-39013239-3493...@list.cornell.edu 
[mailto:bounce-39013239-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of bob mcguire
Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2011 8:24 AM
To: CAYUGABIRDS-L
Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Use of GPS Coordinates

The Cayuga Bird Club is in the process of finalizing the text of the  
new Basin Birding Guide. At the last minute we have decided to include  
GPS coordinates with the directions/maps for each of the 76 sites. I  
would like help and feedback with the following question: which format  
for coordinates to incorporate? I expect that folks will use GPS  
coordinates either at home (on their computers - Google Earth of  
Maps), or on car GPS units, or on smart phones.

The simplest format seems to be so-called "decimal degrees"
Latitude:   ##.°
Longitude:  -##.°

An alternative format is "degrees minutes seconds"
Latitude:   N##°##' ##"
Longitude:  W##°##' ##"

(I  know there are still other formats as well.)

I would prefer to go with what seems to be the most straight forward:  
"decimal degrees". Is there a good argument for any other format? Can  
I provoke a good Sunday discussion here?!!

Bob McGuire






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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Use of GPS Coordinates

[Linda Orkin]

Hey All,

I'm no expert and perhaps that makes my two cents more valuable.  All I
seem to need are the numbers and the first decimal point to be able to
successfully plug the locations into both my car GPS and my iPhone. It
would seem that anyone that needed a more "sophisticated" way of listing
coordinates would be able to just use the numbers and put the proper
notations that they needed, after them.

Let's see what others say.

Best
Linda Orkin

On Sun, Dec 18, 2011 at 8:24 AM, bob mcguire wrote:

> The Cayuga Bird Club is in the process of finalizing the text of the
> new Basin Birding Guide. At the last minute we have decided to include
> GPS coordinates with the directions/maps for each of the 76 sites. I
> would like help and feedback with the following question: which format
> for coordinates to incorporate? I expect that folks will use GPS
> coordinates either at home (on their computers - Google Earth of
> Maps), or on car GPS units, or on smart phones.
>
> The simplest format seems to be so-called "decimal degrees"
>Latitude:   ##.°
>Longitude:  -##.°
>
> An alternative format is "degrees minutes seconds"
>Latitude:   N##°##' ##"
>Longitude:  W##°##' ##"
>
> (I  know there are still other formats as well.)
>
> I would prefer to go with what seems to be the most straight forward:
> "decimal degrees". Is there a good argument for any other format? Can
> I provoke a good Sunday discussion here?!!
>
> Bob McGuire
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Re: [cayugabirds-l] Use of GPS Coordinates

[Elaina McCartney]

Another use of these coordinates is tagging photography--taking a picture
of a bird with a gps-capable camera produces the coordinates where the
bird was sighted (actually, where the birder was standing when the bird
was sighted).  Looking on flickr, I see the flickr map function uses the
decimal degrees format.  Pictures that I've taken with my hand-held GPSmap
camera have degrees and decimal minutes xx° xx.xxx', a third format added
to your two below--the seconds converted to decimal minutes.  There are
converters available for whatever format is chosen.  A quick web search
produced
http://www.csgnetwork.com/gpscoordconv.html

--Elaina


On 12/18/11 8:24 AM, "bob mcguire"  wrote:

>The Cayuga Bird Club is in the process of finalizing the text of the
>new Basin Birding Guide. At the last minute we have decided to include
>GPS coordinates with the directions/maps for each of the 76 sites. I
>would like help and feedback with the following question: which format
>for coordinates to incorporate? I expect that folks will use GPS
>coordinates either at home (on their computers - Google Earth of
>Maps), or on car GPS units, or on smart phones.
>
>The simplest format seems to be so-called "decimal degrees"
>   Latitude:   ##.°
>   Longitude:  -##.°
>
>An alternative format is "degrees minutes seconds"
>   Latitude:   N##°##' ##"
>   Longitude:  W##°##' ##"
>
>(I  know there are still other formats as well.)
>
>I would prefer to go with what seems to be the most straight forward:
>"decimal degrees". Is there a good argument for any other format? Can
>I provoke a good Sunday discussion here?!!
>
>Bob McGuire
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
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>
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[cayugabirds-l] Use of GPS Coordinates

[bob mcguire]

The Cayuga Bird Club is in the process of finalizing the text of the  
new Basin Birding Guide. At the last minute we have decided to include  
GPS coordinates with the directions/maps for each of the 76 sites. I  
would like help and feedback with the following question: which format  
for coordinates to incorporate? I expect that folks will use GPS  
coordinates either at home (on their computers - Google Earth of  
Maps), or on car GPS units, or on smart phones.

The simplest format seems to be so-called "decimal degrees"
Latitude:   ##.°
Longitude:  -##.°

An alternative format is "degrees minutes seconds"
Latitude:   N##°##' ##"
Longitude:  W##°##' ##"

(I  know there are still other formats as well.)

I would prefer to go with what seems to be the most straight forward:  
"decimal degrees". Is there a good argument for any other format? Can  
I provoke a good Sunday discussion here?!!

Bob McGuire






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