Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 15:09:32 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM> Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM> From: Walter Ellison <rossgull@CROSSLINK.NET> Subject: Re: Atlasing MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Paul and Maryland Atlasers, This is always a judgement call. More conservative atlas workers will go for the fuzzy youngster's that just hopped out of the nest but such workers may be cautious about using "FL" even for birds still being actively fed if the kids look too mobile. I tend to be a bit more liberal. I base my judgement on the underlying biology of the bird, the abundance of the species in the block, and the likelihood the young could have moved from a neighboring block. Some birds can move very far within a week of leaving the nest, this is especially true of seabirds and swallows so I am especially careful of such birds. On the other hand if a bird is common in a block, such as Barn Swallow, and I see fairly mobile fledglings across from the barn in which they likely were raised I might be less fastidious. I'm less worried about woodpeckers, crows and jays not nesting in my block than I am of say Spotted Sandpiper. If I am within easy flight distance of a block boundary I will also stay my hand unless the young are in one of those cute little fuzzy, family groups begging regularly for morsels from mom or dad. As with so much in life you must be judicious but reasonable. Good Atlasing, Walter Ellison MD/DC Atlas Coordinator - MOS 23460 Clarissa Rd Chestertown, MD 21620-3645 410-778-9568 rossgull@crosslink.net "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast." - E. B. White ----- Original Message ----- From: "Zucker, Paul A." <Paul.Zucker@JHUAPL.EDU> To: <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM> Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2002 11:23 AM Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Atlasing > Walter and MDOSPREY, > > Your recent message contained the sentence repeated below. This raises a > question that has been bothering me: namely what is the criterion for > considering fledged young to be too independent to count as confirmed FL? > In particular, I came across a bluebird family group of a pair of adults and > three immatures. They hung around the same area and flew about pretty much > together. I did not see the young beg for food nor did I see them feed > themselves. I did see the adults feed themselves. Are they still considered > "dependent young" meriting a FL designation? I strongly doubt that they > nested in the next block and were traveling through. > > Paul Zucker > paul.zucker@jhuapl.edu > Howard county > > -----Original Message----- > From: Walter Ellison [mailto:rossgull@CROSSLINK.NET] > Sent: Monday, July 08, 2002 1:51 PM > To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM > Subject: [MDOSPREY] Atlasing in Caroline County > > > Hi All, > > There are still quite a few fledglings about but many are now too mobile and > independent to count as confirmations.... > > Good Atlasing, > > Walter Ellison ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================