Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 01:34:06 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Marshall Iliff Subject: call for sightings reports to NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS Comments: To: VA-BIRD@list.audubon.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit 26 May 2001 Greetings friends, birders, and North American Birds contributors, May 31 will mark the close of yet another reporting period for North American Birds. The spring reporting period runs 1 March-31 May, so I will appreciate receiving reports of any significant bird sightings during the period 1 March-31 May 2001. Please send the reports via email or snail mail to arrive no later than 15 June. PLEASE NOTE THAT JIM STASZ IS NO LONGER THE CONTACT FOR THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC REGION. From now on please send any and all reports directly to me (address below). Jim will be focusing his time on other projects. I thank him for his vision and 5 years of work with North American Birds. Jim will continue to maintain a working database of sightings in the Maryland-Virginia-Delaware-Pennsylvania region and will still appreciate being copied on your reports as well. YOUR REPORTS While in the past I asked that submissions include all sightings of all species, and while I still welcome reports that are so thorough, it is only necessary to report seasonal highlights. An ideal submission would touch on unusual species, high or low counts, unusual range expansions or contractions, and any impressions of the season's migration and how any unusual weather affected bird populations. I monitor the local Rare Bird Alert, and two state listservs (MDOsprey and VABirds), but I am especially appreciative of specific reports from observers that provide their personal seasonal highlights, their impressions of the season's most notable avian events, and any other comments. Please note also that it is even worth reporting rarities that were widely seen and reported. Your report may be the last of the bird's stay and may help to establish the correct range of dates for that sighting. JIM'S DATABASE Jim's database will hopefully continue to be the complete archive of observer's sightings in the Region, so I implore observers to make contact with Jim (P.O. Box 71, North Beach, MD 20714 ) to coordinate submissions. An ideal submission for Jim will be in spreadsheet form. Many of you probably already store your bird sightings in a listing program or spreadsheet. If so, your efforts can contribute to a larger body of data which will be of use to future researchers on the birds of the Region. Note that unlike North American Birds reports, reports for Jim's database should include ALL species, not just that rare and unusual species. WHAT IS NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS? North American Birds is a quarterly magazine which summarizes bird news from across the country. It has previously been known as Bird Lore, Audubon Field Notes, American Birds, Field Notes, and most recently, A.B.A. Field Notes. The American Birding Association (A.B.A.) assumed control of the magazine in 1997-1998 (National Adudubon had previously been its custodian) and has made a number of minor changes in layout and format. Subscriptions are available from the A.B.A.. The U.S.A., Canada, Carribean, and some of Central America (as of 2001) are cordoned off into over 20 Regions. Within each Region, a Regional Editor compiles reports from field observers and summarizes the most notable bits of avian news. A sample Regional Report will certainly touch on any accidentals or vagrants, rare nesting species, unusually high counts, early arriving species or late departures, range expansions, alarming declines, or outstanding conservation concerns in the Region. Migration is a particular interest also and any particular weather events that affect bird migration are addressed. Perhaps the best feature of North American Birds is the "Changing Seasons" column, which assimilates all the Regional reports and highlights any pervasive themes on a National scale. "Changing Seasons" will be the place to look for any broad-scale changes in bird distribution that are sweeping across the continent and which may soon begin to affect your home Region or areas you like to visit. North American Birds also runs two-four lead articles, which typically deal with the status or distribution of birds in the area. Some recent articles have discussed the first nesting of Least and Little Terns in Hawaii, first A.B.A. area records for Chinese Pond-Heron, or the status of Magnificent Frigatebirds in inland Florida. The magazine is totally dependent upon the cooperation of field birders that share their interesting discoveries, and the observer's name(s) are listed with any sightings that are included. It is also an excellent place to share your photos of rare or uncommon species. Each Regional report may publish from 2-6 black-and-white photos and 1-3 color photos. Photographers are not paid for their submissions but it is an excellent arena to showcase your photography. THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC REGION The Middle Atlantic Region includes areas of Maryland and Virginia that lie east of the Appalachians. In Maryland this includes everything from Frederick County east, while in Virginia it is a line south and east of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Reports from Maryland or Virginia west of those lines should go to the Appalachian Regional Editor: Robert Leberman HC64, Box 453 Rector, PA 15677 (724) 593-7521 (no email address). I encourage observers in the Maryland-Virginia area to contribute to the magazine. I receive far fewer reports from Virginia than Maryland (despite that state's larger size) so would be particularly interested in reports from that state. LOCAL RESOURCES I would also like to make sure all North American Birds subscribers are aware of the two excellent email listserv groups covering the Region. MDOsprey discusses birds and birding in Maryland and is run by listowner Norm Saunders. Subscribe and get more information by visiting < http://home.ease.lsoft/archives/mdosprey.html>. VA- BIRDS is the Virginia analogue covering birds and birding in Virginia specifically. It was recently set up in September 1999 but now has a broad subscription base of birders across Virginia and beyond. To subscribe send a message to < LISTSERV@LIST.AUDUBON.ORG> and include "Sub VA-BIRD" in the body of the message. Alternatively check out . I encourage anyone interested in birding in either (or both) or these two regions to consider a subscription. Also of interest to some will be the BUGS listserv, which deals with insect (especially butterflies, moths, and dragonflies) from Maryland-Virginia-Delaware. Check out < http://www.egroups.com/group/VA-MD-DE-Bugs> for more information. Be sure to check out the M.O.S. website (www.mdbirds.org) if you carry an interest in birding in Maryland and the D.C. area.. In addition to a wealth of information about the Maryland Ornithological Society (M.O.S.) and its chapters, the website also carries information on the birding sites in Maryland, the Maryland/D.C. Records Committee, and even photos of recent Maryland rarities (including Kelp Gull, the possible Slaty-backed Gull, Arctic Tern, White-faced Ibis, and Fork- tailed Flycatcher). Recently it has been linked to a new shorebird page that details the local conditions and recent reports from shorebirding locations in Maryland. Thanks to Fran Saunders for doing such a great job maintaining this site! I will look forward to reading your reports. Please remember that the SUMMER SEASON ruins from 1 June-31 July, and is the shortest reporting season (Fall runs from 1 August-30 November). Please send summer reports to arrive no later than 15 August. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Good birding! Marshall J. Iliff Marshall J. Iliff Middle Atlantic Coast Regional Editor North American Birds 901 Crystal Spring Farm Rd. Annapolis, MD 21403 miliff@aol.com *********************** Marshall Iliff miliff@aol.com Annapolis, MD ************************ ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================