Date: 10/16/12 8:13 pm
From: jim green <jkgbirdman53...>
Subject: [MDBirding] ALACRITY of reporting bird sightings


Hi Everybody:

For anybody thinking that this is a new bird sighting it is not. I am
responding to a post regarding a sighting I had in Charles Co. on Sunday.
If you are reading in hopes of a new sighting there is no need to read on
any further.

As previously posted I was lucky enough to find a Clay-colored Sparrow
(CCSP) this past Sunday AM in Charles County. At the time I thought it was
a decent sighting (only because it was new to my county list). Shortly
after finding the bird I called John Hubbell to alert him of my sighting
since I knew he was an hour or so away. He and I had spent the previous
day birding together in Carroll and Baltimore Counties with our target
birds being Lincoln's Sparrows, Purple Finches, Pine Siskins (more for me
but some of these also for John). Our wish list also included crossbills
and other possible northern irruptive species but we had no luck with
those. We knew that we would both be birding on Sunday as well but decided
to take different routes and stay in touch since we would not be that far
apart...I was headed first to Charles and then St. Mary's County and he was
going to concentrate on Prince Georges and Anne Arundel counties.

After the CCSPsighting at Charles County at Indian Creek and calling John,
I then first texted and then called George Jett, who in my estimation is
Mr. Charles County as far as birding goes...he just needs to remember that
there are still good birds in Charles County these past several years and
look up once in a while from monitoring all those herps. He let me know
that it would be a county bird for both him and Gwen (Brewer). At that
point I made a decision to stick in the area, despite numerous hunters that
were running there dogs nonstop through the entire field edge and adjacent
hedgerow where the Clay-colored Sparrow was hanging out until the three of
them arrived. Later that morning after they arrived we were able to refind
the bird as well as a Lincoln's Sparrow (which John found and I previously
reported).

Shortly after this I left the three of them and continued on my way. I will
admit that I should have asked George to post when he returned home fully
knowing that I was gone for the day OR tried to call someone to post on
this listserve for me. To be truthful I did not think of it until much
later that day in the late evening when I was headed back to Gaithersburg.
For this I apologize for any birders that may have been in the area that
day and might have had a chance to chase the bird. I have a number of
birder contacts in my phone from throughout the state and there are not
many that I have that reside in Charles County...hence my call to George
and Gwen.

Again my apologies to anybody that may have been in the vicinity that may
have been able to try for the sparrow if they would have known about it. I
will also let you know that I am using an outdated phone...cannot upgrade
until DEC/JAN because of damaging a smart phone earlier this year and made
the decision not to pay the big $$$s until I can freely upgrade. Because of
this I cannot instantly message from the field to this listserve, or ebird,
or have any other instant avenue to reach all in the MD birding world like
many others do on a regular basis.
Now I would like to address Jim Moore regarding his comments...

Personally, I feel that I have been very loyal and prompt in posting my
sightings for many years on Norm's MDOsprey listserve and more recently on
this current one, let alone trying to get the word out while in the field
as best as I could. I feel that if you were to describe my communications
they would be punctual and current. I truly appreciate reading everybody's
posts and at the same time have stayed up many a late night to post my
day's observations before going to bed after long days in the field. I am
once again sorry for not attempting to get the word out however I could
have this past Sunday.

I have been prodded by many people over the last several years to report my
sightings to ebird and although I know the importance of this I also admit
to being lazy because for me it is very time consuming. With that said, I
have recently made a renewed interest to put my sightings into ebird as
soon as I can.

Jim, thank you for correcting both myself and the ebird gods for my
incorrect location through this listserve... The last thing I want to do is
mislead anybody...I have birded Washington County alot throughout the years
and with one eye open or should I say closed Sunday night while reporting I
entered the location as Indian Springs WMA (Wash. Co.) instead of correctly
listing Indian Creek NRMA (Charles Co.). I had several people contact me
off line and also Bill Hubick (via email at work) on Monday AM regarding my
incorrect county location). I promptly entered ebird and corrected the
location of my sighting. Hopefully nobody headed west to chase the
Clay-colored Sparrow on Monday morning. Sunday night I did post to this
listserve my sightngs for Sunday as well and gave ample phone numbers if
anybody wanting more info to chase the next day. I realize that the
majority of people work on Monday but not everybody does. I did not have
one person call me for directions, etc. Also, John Hubbell was nice enough
to post a google location for the NRMA CCSP as well.

Now, regarding ALACRITY...Earlier this summer our paths crossed in Garrett
County. I was with 4 other birders and we were just getting ready to leave
the Yough Reservoir at the end of Morgantown Rd. You pulled into the
parking lot. We all traded our successes in seeing the Allegany Co. White
Ibis earlier in the morning. You mentioned that you had just come from
RUSSELL RD. in Garrett County and "did not really see much at all...it was
pretty dead." You also mentioned that this was your first time at the
Yough.

You immediately asked us for a MD YELLOW BOOK and silently perused it for a
while and then after several minutes handed it back to us with no further
comment as to what you were looking for. You then mentioned that this was
your first time here at the Yough...we wholeheartedly told you where to go
for the shorebirds we had just seen as well as the FORSTER'S TERNS we had
(a countybird in Garrett County for all of us!). Then we departed telling
you that our next stop was RUSSELL ROAD. You were right..".it was
dead"...it was midday and we had next to nothing on Russell Road.

The next morning one of our group noticed that you had reported a
Philadelphia Vireo in ebird for your Russell Rd. list. This would have been
a great sighting for all of us..but you had told us earlier "it was pretty
dead" on Russell Rd? Then we started wondering why you asked for the
YELLOW BOOK...were you looking at early/late dates for Phila.
Vireo//Warbling Vireo or what. The most astonishing thing is you told
us.."it was pretty dead!"... Any of these vireos would have been of the
utmost interest to us...talk about ALACRITY!


What does this say about sharing of sightings when you are face to face
with people AND THEY HAVE SHARED WITH YOU...and the ALACRITY of sightings...

I could go on about this with other a few other examples and maybe I am out
of line...but I feel I made one slight mistake in reporting a sighting a
little belatedly and got called out for it unfairly...

Jim Green
Gaithersburg MD
work in moderation, BIRD IN EXCESS!!!

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