RE: [MDOsprey] Wow! Lots of shorebird info!

Larry & Anne Brooks (birdfeeder@ibm.net)
Wed, 28 Jul 1999 09:40:17 -0400


Hi!
	Since I have entered all the Hart-Miller data from "96 to present on 
Excel, could we not find out arrivals of any bird from that data??  I would 
have thought you could do so.- Anne

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From: 	Jlstasz@aol.com[SMTP:Jlstasz@aol.com]
Reply To: 	mdosprey@ARI.Net
Sent: 	Tuesday, July 27, 1999 8:24 AM
To: 	mdosprey@ARI.Net
Subject: 	Re: [MDOsprey] Wow!  Lots of shorebird info!

Hi Folks!

There is lots of shorebird information, but we can make it even better. The 
easiest thing is counting how many of each kind. A checklist of all the
species will eventually yield arrival and departure dates, but counts will
help create the timing of population migration.....the changes in bar 
widths
in the Yellow Book.

Also, it is well know that adults and juveniles of many species migrate at
different times.  The adults tend to be the first wave, and the juveniles 
the
second wave. Counting the numbers and assigning them to age groups [ad. or
juv.] helps estimate population changes. We can start getting a handle on
what proportion of the Fall population are adults and the proportion that 
are
juvenile, and then evaluate the Summer nesting success.

I try to do this for many species. Two winters back, there were essentially 
no immature Tundra Swans. A field of 2000 might have had 20 immatures. Last 
year the proportion of immatures was much higher.

There is so much more we can learn about birds if we take the additional 
time
and effort to observe a bit more  take notes of what we find, and then 
report
them.

Good Birding!

Jim

Jim Stasz
North Beach MD
jlstasz@aol.com