From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Mon Jan 12 21:15:54 2004 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i0D5Dt2n004252 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 12 Jan 2004 21:13:55 -0800 (PST) Received: from conure.mail.pas.earthlink.net (conure.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.54]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i0D5Ci1l004207 for <[[email protected]]>; Mon, 12 Jan 2004 21:12:45 -0800 (PST) Received: from user-vcaurj5.dsl.mindspring.com ([216.175.110.101] helo=pavilion.earthlink.net) by conure.mail.pas.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 1AgGr6-000528-00 for [[email protected]]; Mon, 12 Jan 2004 21:12:44 -0800 Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.2.1 Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 21:17:38 -0800 To: [[email protected]] From: Bill Bousman <[[email protected]]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [SBB] South-Bay-Birds Annual Message X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.2+ Precedence: list List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Unsubscribe: , List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Folks: This is my annual message. There are few changes from previous years, so feel free to hit the delete button if you are familiar with the content. If you are new to South-Bay-Birds, I would appreciate it if you would take the time to look over the content. The following information describes the background and operation of the South-Bay-Birds Mailing List and is provided to users of the mailing list once a year. This mailing list is supported by Chuq Von Rospach who runs mailing lists for a living at Apple Computer as well as his own business. Chuq, a long-time member of SBB, supports our list gratis and his generosity is appreciated by all list members. The purpose of the South-Bay-Birds Mailing List is to communicate information on bird observations in Santa Clara County and adjacent areas in the South San Francisco Bay. Suitable communications include reports of recent discoveries, information on plumages for rare or difficult-to-identify birds, description of local birding spots that are not available in the local guides, and summary information on birds in the local area. Most of us have other interests beyond just birding and these interests, sometimes passions, lead us to believe that we should share some of these other interests with the people on this mailing list. Please don't. Please restrict your input to this mailing list to South Bay birds. Some background and information on how the data submitted to this mailing list are used and retained may be of interest. Prior to the formation of the South-Bay-Birds Mailing List there was an informal network of birders who communicated bird observations in the local area via the Internet using individually-maintained address lists. In late 1996, Jeff Finger at Stanford University transformed the informal network into a mail list based at Stanford. Jeff's initial shepherding work saw the list grow rapidly and we are indebted to him for his initial service. When Jeff left Stanford, Les Chibana took over the list maintenance and his years of service are greatly appreciated. When he no longer could support the mailing list, Chuq agreed to take it over which brings us to the present day. Although the list has evolved over the years, the original purpose has remained unchanged. Besides providing us all with rapid information on local birds, these records are also used as basis of the Santa Clara County notebooks that I maintain. Information from these notebooks are the source material for the "Field Notes" column in _The Avocet_, that I write six times a year, and also as a basis for the quarterly submission of Santa Clara County records to the Regional Editors of _North American Birds_. I will continue to use the records provided to this mailing list for the purposes mentioned above. I offer the following comments to describe how this information is normally used. 1. A record is considered complete if it includes the bird(s) seen, the numbers observed, the location of the observation, the date, and the observer(s). I will use records that are second hand if I am familiar with both the observer and the person passing on the record. In this case I annotate the record with _fide_ which is the accepted way of noting that a record has not been directly obtained, but has been provided by the _fide_ source. I rarely use third-hand records out of concern with the mischief that occurs during information transmittal as the number of pathways increase. 2. I am selective in which records I enter in the county notebooks. For the more common birds I may record a report of a particularly large number of birds or an unusual plumage. For uncommon birds, or those that I feel are marginally rare, I may record all observations, although I rarely provide these in _The Avocet_. These records are particularly useful for clarifying the temporal distribution of birds that are not permanently resident in the county. I attempt to record all species that are listed as rare on the current Santa Clara County Checklist. For common wintering species or summer residents, I attempt to record the first arrival and last departure dates. 3. The "Field Notes" column that I write is nominally due on the first of every other month (starting in February). I usually try to draft the column prior to that deadline and then fit the last few records in before I transmit the column to the _The Avocet_ editor, currently Grant Hoyt. 4. Four times a year I provide a "quarterly" summary of records for _North American Birds_. There are currently multiple Regional Editors and they each get a copy of my summary although they split the species up between them. If you would like a copy of this quarterly summary and your mailer is able to handle Word 6.0 attachments then send me a request at [[email protected]]. If I am delinquent in sending out this copy, please don't hesitate to remind me. 5. I entered all county records in the notebooks by hand up until the summer of 1993 when I started writing the records to Word files on a quarterly basis. I intend, eventually, to create a data base based on literal string recognition and I've designed my data entry structure accordingly. But at this time the computerized aspect is a simple computerized echo of hand-entry. 6. It is not always obvious to people providing records to this mailing list when they should provide additional details on a record or even if they should provide the record at all. There is no simple answer to this other than experience. A useful example to consider is stimulated by the detailed plumage description that Mike Rogers provided for a December 1996 Ash-throated Flycatcher. This species is a fairly common summer resident in the county, arriving in early April and leaving by the end of August. First and last records within that range are of interest as are very early or late birds. Wintering birds are so rare in the county that a detailed description is necessary. In part this is not just because of the rarity, but also to exclude other _Myiarchus_ that may just as likely be here at that season. 7. When a rarity turns up and this information is passed on, many people obtain the opportunity to see the bird. The very quantity of people seeing the rarity tends to encourage sloppiness in people's records after the initial observation. If the bird is missed for a week and then found a mile away is it the same bird? We may be able to answer these questions if people are careful to age and sex each rarity they see (if possible) and note any unusual characteristics. Rarities frequently come in clumps and these descriptions are useful. Please include these in your posts for the real rarities--it will help all of us. The South-Bay-Birds Mailing List provides many of us immediate information on the occurrence of rare birds as well as the vicarious pleasure of birding and discovery. That this mailing list has worked so well is a tribute to its many faithful contributors and, perhaps, to the mailing list rules that we've implemented. There is some arbitrariness, however, in these rules and I invite anyone to communicate directly with me, at [[email protected]], if they would like to discuss any of these issues. Bill _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]