Re: [nysbirds-l] Real-time bird alerts for Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens
David and Gus, you are great! Sent from my iPhone > On Mar 31, 2018, at 4:24 PM, brian.whip...@gmail.com wrote: > > tl;dr > >> On Sat, Mar 31, 2018 at 12:29 PM Gus Keri wrote: >> Hi everyone, >> >> [Note: this email is not personal against Sean or Joshua who are some of the >> nicest people I have met along my birding adventure] >> >> Three weeks ago, I deleted all my social media birding-related accounts >> (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Flicker) and sworn not to go back >> again. I kept this emailing list subscription for rare birds alert because I >> still love birding. But I will make an exception today and write this email >> in support of David. Somehow, I feel responsible for what is going on >> between him and what I call the Secret Society of Brooklyn Elite Birders >> (SSBEB). [More on this society below.] >> >> Let me first start by saying that David’s Twitter account, Brooklyn bird >> Alert, is the best thing happened for Brooklyn birders in a long time. I am >> saying this as a Brooklyn birder and speaking on behave of many Brooklyn >> birders who are in support of David’s work but too afraid to speak out. >> >> David is doing a great job in surfing the net (eBird, Twitter accounts, >> email Lists, etc.) in search of the best information to provide to birders >> all over the city. He is working hard and his effort is well appreciated by >> the majority of birders. I applaud him and I Hope he will continue his work >> undeterred by few criticisms. >> >> I feel responsible for all this because I am the one who asked David to >> start this account. I had been following Manhattan Bird Alert for years and >> I liked it very much. When David created Bronx Bird Alert, I begged him to >> start one for Brooklyn. Initially, he hesitated because he doesn’t want to >> upset Brooklyn birders. >> >> I conducted few discussions with Brooklyn birders and found that the opinion >> is split among the elite birders but the majority of the regular (non-elite) >> birders were in support of it. After further discussion, David agreed to >> start the account. >> >> It wasn’t long before the account became very popular. Almost more than 90% >> of the Brooklyn birders I know followed it and some of them started using >> the hashtag #birdbk. I was happy. And many birders benefited from this >> account. They saw birds that they wouldn’t have heard about if it wasn’t for >> David. >> >> At the same time, I noticed that few birders didn’t follow this account. I >> had some bad experience with some of them. (Some of them might have hatred >> against me since the infamous injured Snowy Owl I tweeted about last >> November) But I thought, they will eventually come to their senses and >> recognize that this account is good for all Brooklyn birder. >> >> I was wrong. >> >> One month ago, A friend birder (I am not going to mention his name) told me >> that there had been a discussion taking place about my involvement with this >> account and some believe that I am the one who is doing all the work. And >> some birders don’t want to help this account because of me. I told him the >> account is owned and managed completely by David and he does all the work. I >> have nothing to do with it except that it was my idea. >> >> I was shocked to hear that. I couldn’t believe such level of personal hatred >> even existed. I knew about this SSBEB for a long time but I never though >> they will descend to this level. I knew they have monopoly over every thing >> birding in Brooklyn and they don’t like any dissent. They bully the rest of >> Brooklyn birders into silence. >> >> Those who know me well also know that I don’t keep quite when I see >> something wrong. I express my opinion freely. Some of you might remember the >> Facebook posts about birding ethics I posted a couple of months ago. >> Apparently, these posts didn’t go well with the Junta, which is the SSBEB, >> in the banana republic, that is Brooklyn, and I have always thought I was in >> America, the land of the free. >> >> One week after that encounter with the friend birder, I knew something is >> brewing. I received an email from another friend birder; also he will remain >> unnamed, addressing me in a very formal way. We had exchanged many friendly >> emails in the past year. He is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. >> I knew then that whatever discussion taking place behind a closed door had >> gotten to him also. Apparently, the SSBEB is exerting pressure on the whole >> birding community. >> >> What happened two days later was the straw that broke the camel’s back and I >> decided to exit Brooklyn birding community altogether. >> >> David tweeted about a Snowy Owl in Floyd Bennett Field which is 10 minutes >> away from where I live. I immediately got in my car and drove there. The owl >> was still there. I love Snowy Owl. I know many birders also love them and
Re: [nysbirds-l] Real-time bird alerts for Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens
tl;dr On Sat, Mar 31, 2018 at 12:29 PM Gus Keri wrote: > Hi everyone, > > > > [Note: this email is not personal against Sean or Joshua who are some of > the nicest people I have met along my birding adventure] > > > > Three weeks ago, I deleted all my social media birding-related accounts > (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Flicker) and sworn not to go > back again. I kept this emailing list subscription for rare birds alert > because I still love birding. But I will make an exception today and write > this email in support of David. Somehow, I feel responsible for what is > going on between him and what I call the Secret Society of Brooklyn Elite > Birders (SSBEB). [More on this society below.] > > > > Let me first start by saying that David’s Twitter account, Brooklyn bird > Alert, is the best thing happened for Brooklyn birders in a long time. I am > saying this as a Brooklyn birder and speaking on behave of many Brooklyn > birders who are in support of David’s work but too afraid to speak out. > > > > David is doing a great job in surfing the net (eBird, Twitter accounts, > email Lists, etc.) in search of the best information to provide to birders > all over the city. He is working hard and his effort is well appreciated by > the majority of birders. I applaud him and I Hope he will continue his work > undeterred by few criticisms. > > > > I feel responsible for all this because I am the one who asked David to > start this account. I had been following Manhattan Bird Alert for years and > I liked it very much. When David created Bronx Bird Alert, I begged him to > start one for Brooklyn. Initially, he hesitated because he doesn’t want to > upset Brooklyn birders. > > > > I conducted few discussions with Brooklyn birders and found that the > opinion is split among the elite birders but the majority of the regular > (non-elite) birders were in support of it. After further discussion, David > agreed to start the account. > > > > It wasn’t long before the account became very popular. Almost more than > 90% of the Brooklyn birders I know followed it and some of them started > using the hashtag #birdbk. I was happy. And many birders benefited from > this account. They saw birds that they wouldn’t have heard about if it > wasn’t for David. > > > > At the same time, I noticed that few birders didn’t follow this account. I > had some bad experience with some of them. (Some of them might have hatred > against me since the infamous injured Snowy Owl I tweeted about last > November) But I thought, they will eventually come to their senses and > recognize that this account is good for all Brooklyn birder. > > > > I was wrong. > > > > One month ago, A friend birder (I am not going to mention his name) told > me that there had been a discussion taking place about my involvement with > this account and some believe that I am the one who is doing all the work. > And some birders don’t want to help this account because of me. I told him > the account is owned and managed completely by David and he does all the > work. I have nothing to do with it except that it was my idea. > > > > I was shocked to hear that. I couldn’t believe such level of personal > hatred even existed. I knew about this SSBEB for a long time but I never > though they will descend to this level. I knew they have monopoly over > every thing birding in Brooklyn and they don’t like any dissent. They bully > the rest of Brooklyn birders into silence. > > > > Those who know me well also know that I don’t keep quite when I see > something wrong. I express my opinion freely. Some of you might remember > the Facebook posts about birding ethics I posted a couple of months ago. > Apparently, these posts didn’t go well with the Junta, which is the SSBEB, > in the banana republic, that is Brooklyn, and I have always thought I was > in America, the land of the free. > > > > One week after that encounter with the friend birder, I knew something is > brewing. I received an email from another friend birder; also he will > remain unnamed, addressing me in a very formal way. We had exchanged many > friendly emails in the past year. He is one of the nicest people you will > ever meet. I knew then that whatever discussion taking place behind a > closed door had gotten to him also. Apparently, the SSBEB is exerting > pressure on the whole birding community. > > > > What happened two days later was the straw that broke the camel’s back and > I decided to exit Brooklyn birding community altogether. > > > > David tweeted about a Snowy Owl in Floyd Bennett Field which is 10 minutes > away from where I live. I immediately got in my car and drove there. The > owl was still there. I love Snowy Owl. I know many birders also love them > and they enjoy looking at them. > > > > I believe God send Snowy Owls to NYC every winter, especially the coldest > ones, so people can take a break from their miserable busy lives and enjoy > the beauty of this majestic bird, even if
Re: [nysbirds-l] Real-time bird alerts for Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens
Hi everyone, [Note: this email is not personal against Sean or Joshua who are some of the nicest people I have met along my birding adventure] Three weeks ago, I deleted all my social media birding-related accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Flicker) and sworn not to go back again. I kept this emailing list subscription for rare birds alert because I still love birding. But I will make an exception today and write this email in support of David. Somehow, I feel responsible for what is going on between him and what I call the Secret Society of Brooklyn Elite Birders (SSBEB). [More on this society below.] Let me first start by saying that David’s Twitter account, Brooklyn bird Alert, is the best thing happened for Brooklyn birders in a long time. I am saying this as a Brooklyn birder and speaking on behave of many Brooklyn birders who are in support of David’s work but too afraid to speak out. David is doing a great job in surfing the net (eBird, Twitter accounts, email Lists, etc.) in search of the best information to provide to birders all over the city. He is working hard and his effort is well appreciated by the majority of birders. I applaud him and I Hope he will continue his work undeterred by few criticisms. I feel responsible for all this because I am the one who asked David to start this account. I had been following Manhattan Bird Alert for years and I liked it very much. When David created Bronx Bird Alert, I begged him to start one for Brooklyn. Initially, he hesitated because he doesn’t want to upset Brooklyn birders. I conducted few discussions with Brooklyn birders and found that the opinion is split among the elite birders but the majority of the regular (non-elite) birders were in support of it. After further discussion, David agreed to start the account. It wasn’t long before the account became very popular. Almost more than 90% of the Brooklyn birders I know followed it and some of them started using the hashtag #birdbk. I was happy. And many birders benefited from this account. They saw birds that they wouldn’t have heard about if it wasn’t for David. At the same time, I noticed that few birders didn’t follow this account. I had some bad experience with some of them. (Some of them might have hatred against me since the infamous injured Snowy Owl I tweeted about last November) But I thought, they will eventually come to their senses and recognize that this account is good for all Brooklyn birder. I was wrong. One month ago, A friend birder (I am not going to mention his name) told me that there had been a discussion taking place about my involvement with this account and some believe that I am the one who is doing all the work. And some birders don’t want to help this account because of me. I told him the account is owned and managed completely by David and he does all the work. I have nothing to do with it except that it was my idea. I was shocked to hear that. I couldn’t believe such level of personal hatred even existed. I knew about this SSBEB for a long time but I never though they will descend to this level. I knew they have monopoly over every thing birding in Brooklyn and they don’t like any dissent. They bully the rest of Brooklyn birders into silence. Those who know me well also know that I don’t keep quite when I see something wrong. I express my opinion freely. Some of you might remember the Facebook posts about birding ethics I posted a couple of months ago. Apparently, these posts didn’t go well with the Junta, which is the SSBEB, in the banana republic, that is Brooklyn, and I have always thought I was in America, the land of the free. One week after that encounter with the friend birder, I knew something is brewing. I received an email from another friend birder; also he will remain unnamed, addressing me in a very formal way. We had exchanged many friendly emails in the past year. He is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. I knew then that whatever discussion taking place behind a closed door had gotten to him also. Apparently, the SSBEB is exerting pressure on the whole birding community. What happened two days later was the straw that broke the camel’s back and I decided to exit Brooklyn birding community altogether. David tweeted about a Snowy Owl in Floyd Bennett Field which is 10 minutes away from where I live. I immediately got in my car and drove there. The owl was still there. I love Snowy Owl. I know many birders also love them and they enjoy looking at them. I believe God send Snowy Owls to NYC every winter, especially the coldest ones, so people can take a break from their miserable busy lives and enjoy the beauty of this majestic bird, even if it is only for minutes. I believe every New Yorker has the right to look at one of them every winter. I immediately took photos and videos and posted them on social media (e
Re: [nysbirds-l] Real-time bird alerts for Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens
Even though “the world is turning and you can’t slow down,” I have chosen never to have tweeted, retweeted, used instagram, Ingraham, facebook, linked in or willingly participate in any form of social media. Getting old is not so bad considering where the world is going even if you miss a bird “here, there and everywhere”, as reportage of bird sightings migrates to sources one may choose not to use. It seems to me though not knowing any of the participants to this debate; isn’t the whole point of the social media thing once it’s out there it’s out there for better or perhaps more often for worse and if you choose to give the the new robber barons like Zuckerberg your personal info, well and if you choose to follow what Kim Kardashian eats, well; and if you tweet the identity and location of a bird, well Seems this newest bird community feud is merely a redux of the photographer v. birder antagonisms not to mention the debate regarding the absurd -unethical many would say - use of incessant play back by some charging $ to lead bird walks so their customers can get better photographs — all issues that hopefully won’t Trump reports of actual bird sightings as migration gets in to full swing. Happy birding. As for birds, I did see a meadowlark at Croton Point today. L. Trachtenberg Ossining, NY. P.s. “Can’t we all just get along” — kidding 🙃 Sent from my iPhone On Mar 30, 2018, at 8:37 PM, Sean Sime mailto:s...@seansime.com>> wrote: There has been much discussion off-list regarding the Twitter alert systems you have set up and the many unknowns I'm hoping you may be able to shed some light on to the list and therefore I'm replying here. We all agree there can be great benefit to information sharing via social media. Yet there are many who are concerned regarding your practice of posting sensitive species locations, currently daytime roosting owls, but given line #4 in your post, "There are no restricted species" it would imply nesting species as we move into season as well. While many people in Kings County were eager to give the birdbk hashtag a try it quickly seemed to push the limits of our local birding community's ethics in this regard. This post is in no way an attempt to have a discussion regarding what level of intrusion on bird life is appropriate. While most of us follow the ABA Code of Ethics or follow similar guidelines via local organizations or eBird it is easy to understand different people have different opinions on the matter. What I am wondering and I'm hoping you will shed some light on is the apparent harvesting of data outside of the purview of people who are using the hashtag, whether from eBird, local text alerts or what have you. What seems particularly troubling is that multiple people have specifically DM'd you and asked that you do not use their tweets and you continue to retweet them anyway, although apparently stripping their names from your posting. Given the current events, it seems appropriate people should have a full understanding of how their data is being gathered, stored and used. While reasonable people may disagree on what is ethical birding or not I see less room for different interpretations when it comes to ignoring a member of the birding community's direct request to have you not use their data. As one human being to another this seems to be completely lacking in civility. I hope you will take the time to respond to these concerns to the list as they are shared by many people in the NYC birding community. Kind regards, Sean Sime Brooklyn, NY On Fri, Mar 30, 2018 at 7:52 PM, David Barrett mailto:mil...@gmail.com>> wrote: Birds are back! There have been 38 Manhattan alerts already today, including American Bittern. It's been a big day in the other boroughs, too. And the season is just getting started. These alerts cover both rarities AND non-rarities of interest, such as the first few arrivals of expected migrants, like the Palm and Louisiana Warblers we had today. Posts of birding news or general birding conditions are fine, too. To receive these alerts, follow the accounts on Twitter that are of interest to you. The alerts are always publicly-viewable and searchable, both on Twitter and on the web. Click on the links to see the stream of recent alerts: Manhattan: @BirdCentralPark, https://twitter.com/BirdCentralPark, #birdcp Bronx: @BirdBronx, https://twitter.com/BirdBronx, #birdbx Brooklyn: @BirdBrklyn, https://twitter.com/BirdBrklyn, #birdbk Queens: @BirdQueens, https://twitter.com/BirdQueens, #birdqu You can set your phone to notify you with sound or vibration as alerts arrive. To issue alerts yourself, first become a followed user by sending a direct message on Twitter to one of the above accounts. Or email me and I will get you set up. Then to send an alert you just "tweet" using the appropriate hashtag as above. For example, to send an alert for Queens: Piping Plover a
Re: [nysbirds-l] Real-time bird alerts for Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens
David, I truly believe you have nothing but the best intentions for these alerts and want them to enrich and expand the birding experience for all. But at the same time, your product has entered an existing Twitter community that had certain norms, and has not respected those norms you disagree with. Not all of those norms were or are universally agreed on by everyone in that group, but they were and are largely shared. You are right that you are not violating any terms of use or actual rights. But many of us who enjoyed our local Twitter community in Brooklyn no longer do, as a direct result of #birdbk. Many of that community's most active posters are restricting our Twitter use or migrating to other platforms. I, at least, do not mean to make you defensive. But please see that many of the intended users of your product do not enjoy it the way you had hoped, at least in this pocket of the birding world, and that as a result it is having an effect opposite to your intent. I don't want to exaggerate the importance of Twitter, but let's say it is is ever-so-slightly lessening the birding experience rather than ever-so-slightly enhancing it. On Fri, Mar 30, 2018 at 11:19 PM David Barrett wrote: > Sean and all, > > Let me address your issues point-by-point. > > No one is required to post on anything, and no one is required to "chase" > any of the alerts. You and all birders are free to post as you see fit or > not post, for whatever reasons you have -- ethical or otherwise. None of > the county alerts have ever posted on a species on the eBird Sensitive > Species List, and it is likely that they never will. Though if a Gyrfalcon > ever chances to visit Brooklyn again, I suspect you will want to see it. So > will a lot of other people. > > I strongly encourage all users of my alerts to treat wildlife with > appropriate respect. Ultimately, what anyone does with the alert info is a > matter of personal choice. > > The alerts rely on public information and on tweets contributed freely and > willingly by followed users. In particular, publicly-visible eBird reports > are *public* information: anyone can view these reports online. > > That said, as a general rule and out of respect for people's privacy, I do > not attribute names to reports of eBird users who do not follow the county > alerts on which I post the info. I may rarely include the eBird list as a > link, a permitted use of eBird info. The report itself is a matter of > public record. My posting that there is a "Eurasian Wigeon at Marine Park" > does not infringe on anyone's privacy. > > In further point of fact, I do not see any Direct Messages on my account > of people asking that I not use their tweets. Not that it would matter -- > for reasons I discuss below. I do have a lot of messages thanking me for > running a great site and helping them to see the birds they wanted to see. > > As a Twitter user you are aware that tweets posted on Twitter enter the > public realm -- same with anything you post on the internet. Private > information is a different matter, and Twitter has a policy on that: > > https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/personal-information > > But I am not posting people's credit card numbers (of course that is > against Twitter rules). Twitter allows posting people's names, but I do not > even do that -- nor do I even post their Twitter handles -- if they are NOT > followers. > > I run sites that provide birding information, and I post such information > as I am made aware of it. That is most certainly a fair use of Twitter > info. > > Often other users pass information along to me from what they read or see. > If someone I trust tells me, "There is an Eastern Phoebe at Lullwater" I > will tweet "Eastern Phoebe reported at Lullwater." Maybe you were the > initial finder of the bird. Maybe you even tweeted it -- I don't know. If > you want credit, ask to follow my alerts and use them. But, no, you do not > get to decide that I cannot tweet that a certain wild bird might be in a > certain public place just because you saw it there! > > Major League Baseball, by comparison, legally sells the rights to > broadcast its games. Still, I can tweet, "Severino struck out the side in > the 3rd" if I want -- even if the hitters he struck out would prefer that > information be kept quiet, and even if a hundred other fans tweeted the > same thing. > > To be clear, I am just another Twitter user. You see how Twitter works -- > people say stuff on Twitter, and then other people respond to it. Sometimes > people say embarrassing things they immediately wish they had not said, and > then that stuff gets retweeted or quote-tweeted a million times and jobs > are lost and lives ruined. The excuse, "Sorry, I wanted that tweet to be > kept private" carries no weight. That is just not how Twitter works. > > So no, there is no Facebook analogy here. I do not own any of your data. I > do not even make any money from the alerts -- in fact, I pay f
Re: [nysbirds-l] Real-time bird alerts for Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens
Sean and all, Let me address your issues point-by-point. No one is required to post on anything, and no one is required to "chase" any of the alerts. You and all birders are free to post as you see fit or not post, for whatever reasons you have -- ethical or otherwise. None of the county alerts have ever posted on a species on the eBird Sensitive Species List, and it is likely that they never will. Though if a Gyrfalcon ever chances to visit Brooklyn again, I suspect you will want to see it. So will a lot of other people. I strongly encourage all users of my alerts to treat wildlife with appropriate respect. Ultimately, what anyone does with the alert info is a matter of personal choice. The alerts rely on public information and on tweets contributed freely and willingly by followed users. In particular, publicly-visible eBird reports are *public* information: anyone can view these reports online. That said, as a general rule and out of respect for people's privacy, I do not attribute names to reports of eBird users who do not follow the county alerts on which I post the info. I may rarely include the eBird list as a link, a permitted use of eBird info. The report itself is a matter of public record. My posting that there is a "Eurasian Wigeon at Marine Park" does not infringe on anyone's privacy. In further point of fact, I do not see any Direct Messages on my account of people asking that I not use their tweets. Not that it would matter -- for reasons I discuss below. I do have a lot of messages thanking me for running a great site and helping them to see the birds they wanted to see. As a Twitter user you are aware that tweets posted on Twitter enter the public realm -- same with anything you post on the internet. Private information is a different matter, and Twitter has a policy on that: https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/personal-information But I am not posting people's credit card numbers (of course that is against Twitter rules). Twitter allows posting people's names, but I do not even do that -- nor do I even post their Twitter handles -- if they are NOT followers. I run sites that provide birding information, and I post such information as I am made aware of it. That is most certainly a fair use of Twitter info. Often other users pass information along to me from what they read or see. If someone I trust tells me, "There is an Eastern Phoebe at Lullwater" I will tweet "Eastern Phoebe reported at Lullwater." Maybe you were the initial finder of the bird. Maybe you even tweeted it -- I don't know. If you want credit, ask to follow my alerts and use them. But, no, you do not get to decide that I cannot tweet that a certain wild bird might be in a certain public place just because you saw it there! Major League Baseball, by comparison, legally sells the rights to broadcast its games. Still, I can tweet, "Severino struck out the side in the 3rd" if I want -- even if the hitters he struck out would prefer that information be kept quiet, and even if a hundred other fans tweeted the same thing. To be clear, I am just another Twitter user. You see how Twitter works -- people say stuff on Twitter, and then other people respond to it. Sometimes people say embarrassing things they immediately wish they had not said, and then that stuff gets retweeted or quote-tweeted a million times and jobs are lost and lives ruined. The excuse, "Sorry, I wanted that tweet to be kept private" carries no weight. That is just not how Twitter works. So no, there is no Facebook analogy here. I do not own any of your data. I do not even make any money from the alerts -- in fact, I pay for the cloud computing time that allows my software to run so the alert accounts can gather and relay data quickly. You and I have no contract between each other, implied or otherwise. If you want your bird reports to be completely private, don't post them to Twitter or eBird or anywhere else on the net. Then we'll all be the worse off for it. I created Brooklyn Bird Alert because I wanted to help grow the birding community in Brooklyn and provide it with a top-notch, free service that organizes real-time reports and makes it simple for everyone to gain access to them. Instead of everyone having to laboriously follow 100+ other birding accounts and then get those 100+ to follow them back, I offer a simple solution: follow the @BirdBrklyn account and it will provide all relevant reports and handle following all other users. It also gives credit to those followed users tweeting reports with it. We have a lot of happy Brooklyn followers. This is all I have to say on the matter. I am happy to discuss further with you (or anyone) by email, but I will not say anything more here. I think we all would like to focus on enjoying the start of the season and on reading bird reports here. David Barrett Manhattan On Fri, Mar 30, 2018 at 8:36 PM, Sean Sime wrote: > There has been much discussion off-list regard
Re: [nysbirds-l] Real-time bird alerts for Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens
There has been much discussion off-list regarding the Twitter alert systems you have set up and the many unknowns I'm hoping you may be able to shed some light on to the list and therefore I'm replying here. We all agree there can be great benefit to information sharing via social media. Yet there are many who are concerned regarding your practice of posting sensitive species locations, currently daytime roosting owls, but given line #4 in your post, "There are no restricted species" it would imply nesting species as we move into season as well. While many people in Kings County were eager to give the birdbk hashtag a try it quickly seemed to push the limits of our local birding community's ethics in this regard. This post is in no way an attempt to have a discussion regarding what level of intrusion on bird life is appropriate. While most of us follow the ABA Code of Ethics or follow similar guidelines via local organizations or eBird it is easy to understand different people have different opinions on the matter. What I am wondering and I'm hoping you will shed some light on is the apparent harvesting of data outside of the purview of people who are using the hashtag, whether from eBird, local text alerts or what have you. What seems particularly troubling is that multiple people have specifically DM'd you and asked that you do not use their tweets and you continue to retweet them anyway, although apparently stripping their names from your posting. Given the current events, it seems appropriate people should have a full understanding of how their data is being gathered, stored and used. While reasonable people may disagree on what is ethical birding or not I see less room for different interpretations when it comes to ignoring a member of the birding community's direct request to have you not use their data. As one human being to another this seems to be completely lacking in civility. I hope you will take the time to respond to these concerns to the list as they are shared by many people in the NYC birding community. Kind regards, Sean Sime Brooklyn, NY On Fri, Mar 30, 2018 at 7:52 PM, David Barrett wrote: > Birds are back! There have been 38 Manhattan alerts already today, > including American Bittern. It's been a big day in the other boroughs, too. > And the season is just getting started. > > These alerts cover both rarities AND non-rarities of interest, such as the > first few arrivals of expected migrants, like the Palm and Louisiana > Warblers we had today. Posts of birding news or general birding conditions > are fine, too. > > To receive these alerts, follow the accounts on Twitter that are of > interest to you. The alerts are always publicly-viewable and searchable, > both on Twitter and on the web. Click on the links to see the stream of > recent alerts: > > Manhattan: @BirdCentralPark, https://twitter.com/BirdCentralPark, #birdcp > > Bronx: @BirdBronx, https://twitter.com/BirdBronx, #birdbx > > Brooklyn: @BirdBrklyn, https://twitter.com/BirdBrklyn, #birdbk > > Queens: @BirdQueens, https://twitter.com/BirdQueens, #birdqu > > You can set your phone to notify you with sound or vibration as alerts > arrive. > > To issue alerts yourself, first become a followed user by sending a direct > message on Twitter to one of the above accounts. Or email me and I will get > you set up. > > Then to send an alert you just "tweet" using the appropriate hashtag as > above. For example, to send an alert for Queens: > > Piping Plover at Rockaway Beach Edgemere #birdqu > > I have written software that will see your tweet and immediately and > automatically relay it from the main account to all followers. > > If you have never used Twitter before, it's easy. You can make a free > account for yourself in a few minutes on the web or by downloading the > Twitter app on your device. See my site for complete directions on getting > started with Twitter and on using these alerts: > > https://bigmanhattanyear.com/ > > I hope these alerts will make your birding more productive and enjoyable. > Email me with any questions. > > > These alerts are a great adjunct to eBird -- you can post quickly to them > without having to halt your eBird list and go through all the steps of > finalizing and sending your list. > > > Twitter also has some advantages over listservs: > > 1) It allows you to attach map screenshots, photos, and videos *directly* > – no photo site needed. > > 2) It allows followers to immediately view these multimedia files without > opening a browser. > > 3) It's faster to use in the field -- no need to write a topic heading or > provide name/city signature. > > 4) There are no restricted species. > > 5) You'll get "likes!" And you can carry on discussions publicly or > privately with other birders. > > 6) You do not need a smartphone -- just a regular phone that can send text > messages. > > 7) Twitter has millions of users, offering the potential for wider > exposure and more participation. > >
[nysbirds-l] Real-time bird alerts for Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens
Birds are back! There have been 38 Manhattan alerts already today, including American Bittern. It's been a big day in the other boroughs, too. And the season is just getting started. These alerts cover both rarities AND non-rarities of interest, such as the first few arrivals of expected migrants, like the Palm and Louisiana Warblers we had today. Posts of birding news or general birding conditions are fine, too. To receive these alerts, follow the accounts on Twitter that are of interest to you. The alerts are always publicly-viewable and searchable, both on Twitter and on the web. Click on the links to see the stream of recent alerts: Manhattan: @BirdCentralPark, https://twitter.com/BirdCentralPark, #birdcp Bronx: @BirdBronx, https://twitter.com/BirdBronx, #birdbx Brooklyn: @BirdBrklyn, https://twitter.com/BirdBrklyn, #birdbk Queens: @BirdQueens, https://twitter.com/BirdQueens, #birdqu You can set your phone to notify you with sound or vibration as alerts arrive. To issue alerts yourself, first become a followed user by sending a direct message on Twitter to one of the above accounts. Or email me and I will get you set up. Then to send an alert you just "tweet" using the appropriate hashtag as above. For example, to send an alert for Queens: Piping Plover at Rockaway Beach Edgemere #birdqu I have written software that will see your tweet and immediately and automatically relay it from the main account to all followers. If you have never used Twitter before, it's easy. You can make a free account for yourself in a few minutes on the web or by downloading the Twitter app on your device. See my site for complete directions on getting started with Twitter and on using these alerts: https://bigmanhattanyear.com/ I hope these alerts will make your birding more productive and enjoyable. Email me with any questions. These alerts are a great adjunct to eBird -- you can post quickly to them without having to halt your eBird list and go through all the steps of finalizing and sending your list. Twitter also has some advantages over listservs: 1) It allows you to attach map screenshots, photos, and videos *directly* – no photo site needed. 2) It allows followers to immediately view these multimedia files without opening a browser. 3) It's faster to use in the field -- no need to write a topic heading or provide name/city signature. 4) There are no restricted species. 5) You'll get "likes!" And you can carry on discussions publicly or privately with other birders. 6) You do not need a smartphone -- just a regular phone that can send text messages. 7) Twitter has millions of users, offering the potential for wider exposure and more participation. Good birding, David Barrett Manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
