Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2000 15:37:49 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Marshall Iliff Subject: Call for bird sightings (NAB letter) - PART II MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS: WHAT IT IS To those not familiar with North American Birds, below is a quick summar= y=20 of the magazine and what it includes. North American Birds is published=20 quarterly (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) and is meant to summarize the=20 significant observations of field birders throughout the United States and=20 Canada. The two countries (as well as the West Indies) are divided into 26=20 Regions, each of which has one-several Regional Editors. The Regional=20 Editors collect information from birders in their Region and, at the end of=20 each reporting season, compile the sightings into a Season Report. The=20 deadline is 1 =BD months after the end of the season, so reports are asked f= or=20 two weeks after the end of the season, but email reports can be received up=20 to a month after the end of the season. The reporting seasons are: Spring: March 1-May 31 Summer: June 1 - July 31 Fall: August 1-November 30 Winter: December 1-February 28(29) The Season Reports always include information on rarities, early and lat= e=20 migration dates, high counts etc... but also usually include significant=20 other news relating to birds in the Region. For anyone interested in birds=20 and birding in the U.S.A. and Canada the magazine is invaluable - no other=20 publication summarizes birding news from across the country so completely. =20 Recently, feature articles have returned to Field Notes/North American Birds= :=20 recent articles have featured the patterns of vagrancy of eiders in the West= ,=20 the spread of Eurasian Collared-Doves across the nation, and the hurricanes=20 of 1996 and the birds associated with them. Pictorial Highlights have=20 returned, and in addition to the black-and-white photos shown throughout the= =20 magazine, feature from 15-25 full color photos of (usually) rarities from=20 around the country. Each issue also features a Changing Season column, whic= h=20 is a summary of all the Season Reports from different Regions, and attempts=20 to identify some of the more noticeable trends of the season (i.e. Winter=20 Finches were scarce south of Canada, Rufous Hummingbirds were found in=20 unusual numbers on the East Coast, and most fall migrants lingered unusually= =20 late). Many state publications (Maryland Birdlife for example) publish=20 similar summaries for their states and Regions, which are typically more=20 detailed than the North American Birds season report, but the advantage of=20 North American Birds is that it assimilates national trends. If you want to= =20 track the spread of Eurasian Collared- Doves across the U.S., find out how=20 the Attwater's Prairie-Chickens and Whooping Cranes are faring in Texas, or=20 what rarities the latest trip to Attu turned up, North American Birds is for= =20 you. =20 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS: HISTORY The magazine has undergone a number of changes in its lifetime, with the= =20 most major change occurring in the summer of 1997. In the early years of it= s=20 existence, Audubon Field Notes was a small publication which included only=20 the Season Reports. Eventually, the magazine was beefed up with color photo= s=20 and feature articles (on everything from identification, to conservation, to= =20 out of range records) and assumed the new name, American Birds. In the earl= y=20 1990's National Audubon fell on hard times, and the magazine was cut back to= =20 a bare minimum with only the Season Reports and Changing Season columns=20 persisting. In the summer of 1997, it was agreed that Field Notes would be=20 turned over to the American Birding Association (A.B.A.). Recently revived=20 sections and a new management promise continued improvement in the quality o= f=20 the publication. The first few issues look drastically better than ever. =20 Recently Field Notes has changed its name to North American Birds but=20 continues with the same quality articles and photos. If you let your=20 subscription slide I urge you to sign back on! =20 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS AND RECENT CHANGES=20 By now those of you that do subscribe to North American Birds should hav= e=20 received your first several issues that A.B.A. has put out (from Volume 51 #= 4=20 on). Some substantial format changes ave been made, feature articles have=20 returned (see the article by Brinkley et al. on the Hurricanes of 1996 in 51= =20 #4 and the article on the discovery of two A.B.A. area firsts in 51 #5) and=20 color photos have returned to the back section (Pictorial Highlights). The=20 recent issue for the Summer 1999 Season, edited by Tom Will, is the last in=20= a=20 series of issues with a guest editor. All issues from now on will be edited= =20 by Michael Patten out of California, who has many years of experience birdin= g=20 both there and across the nation. His influence insures continued=20 improvement in the magazine. Delivery of issues, erratic at best under=20 National Audubon, has showed marked improvement and has been prompt and=20 timely. Subscription has more than doubled since A.B.A. took over and is=20 still growing. If anyone would like information on how to subscribe please=20 contact the American Birding Association at (800/850-2473). Subscription is= =20 $20 per year. =20 =20 THE LOCAL STAFF Starting in the fall of 1995, I have been the Middle Atlantic Coast=20 Regional Editor. During that time I have had enormous assistance from Jim=20 Stasz of North Beach, MD. His guidance and local knowledge has been=20 invaluable over the past several years. Most importantly, he has helped by=20 computerizing the reports so that their value may extend beyond the skeleton= =20 produced in the North American Reports report. ALL sightings of ALL species= =20 reported to us are included (yes, every starling and every House Sparrow). =20 We now have almost five years' worth of reports in the working database,=20 which is available to any interested parties. Reports should continue to go= =20 to Jim at P.O. Box 71, North Beach, MD 20714 jlstasz@aol.com. =20 The Middle Atlantic Coast Region includes all of Maryland and Virginia=20 east of the mountains. Essentially, in Maryland I cover all reports from=20 Frederick County east, and in Virginia I cover all areas east of the Blue=20 Ridge Mountains. The majority of reports I receive are from Maryland birder= s=20 (calling all Virginians!), and a huge volume of reports also comes from the=20 Voice of the Naturalist, Virginia Birdline, and Baltimore Birdline (which=20 each send me ALL their reports), as well as from monitoring such email=20 discussion groups as VA-BIRDS and MDOsprey. Individual reports are most=20 valuable though, so I urge anyone willing to send me a separate report for=20 each season, even if you regularly call your sightings into the Voice or=20 Virginia Birdline. A large number of sub-regional editors help with the=20 assimilation and computerization of the data. If you actively bird any of=20 their regions, I ask that you submit reports directly to them rather than to= =20 me. If you are willing to serve as a sub-regional editor for any of the=20 uncovered counties or Regions of Maryland (or any part of Virginia), please=20 let me know promptly. It would be a GREAT help! Currently, the sub-regiona= l=20 editors are: Patty Craig: Saint Mary's County (P.O. Box 84, Lexington Park, MD 20653)=20 pattycraig@mail.ameritel.com Elizabeth Pitney: Wicomico County (7218 Walston Switch Rd., Parsonsburg, MD= =20 21849) Jo Solem: Howard County (10617 Graeloch Rd., Laurel, MD 20723)=20 Odenata@email.msn.com Debby Bennett: Caroline Co. (Caroline Co. Bird Club, PO Box 404, Denton, MD=20 21629) dbennett@caro.lib.md.us=20 Helen A. Patton: Montgomery Co. (429 Hamilton Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20901)= =20 helen@dataprompt.com Al Haury: Anne Arundel County (852 Redwood Trail, Crownsville, MD 21032)=20 cactuswren@erols.com Janet Shields: Frederick and Washington Counties (13105 Fountain Head Rd.,=20 Hagerstown, MD 21742 JANETBILL@prodigy.net) =20 Sincerely, Marshall Iliff Mid-Atlantic Coast Regional Editor North American Birds 901 Crystal Spring Farm Rd. =20 Annapolis, MD 21403 miliff@aol.com (410) 269-1589 Please send reports to: Jim Stasz, Secretary, A.B.A. Field Notes, P.O. Box=20 71, North Beach, MD 20714, jlstasz@aol.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================