Hi Jim,

Any eBird user can create a patch in any region of the world, and eBird will show your patch totals in comparison to others.  A good introduction to eBird patch and yard lists can be found at the link below.  I also pasted a few paragraphs from that link at the bottom of this message. 

http://ebird.org/content/ebird/about/yard-patch_rules

Although I haven't done the experiment myself, I'm sure you could use a dial-up connection to access and use eBird.  But if you have access to a faster connection (perhaps through a public library, for example), I think you will find eBird much more enjoyable.  But maybe someone else knows more about that subject.

Also, we do have our annual report of yard lists in the Maryland List Report.  I hope you sent your numbers in to Russ...

I hope you decide to look further into eBird--it's such an amazing resource and a really fun way to keep track of all your bird records.  Best of all, every record you submit is one more contribution to bird science and conservation.  Please feel free to email me with questions if you decide to give it a try.

Have fun,

Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD



From eBird:

"Our Patch Listing pages provide a new way to view and explore data from a favorite birding site, affectionately known as a “patch”, by many birders. A patch is meant to be a fairly small area that you cover regularly or where you really care about tracking your bird lists. A patch can be your local park, neighborhood walk, favorite lake or sewage plant, or refuge wildlife drive. It can consist of a single eBird location or a group of locations; since we always appreciate fine-scale submissions, we encourage patches that consist of multiple small locations. Yard lists are popular among birders as well, and are really just the “patch” where we live.

The new Patch and Yard listing pages provide an easy way to see your total list for the sites that you care about. Once you define your patch or yard, your stats will appear on top of the summary page, and if you click any of the totals (for life, year, or month) you will see your patch/yard list totals. From your current year list, you can generate past year lists using the year selector at the top right. These new pages give you the ability to compile lists for groups of sites. Using the “add a patch” or “edit a patch” feature, you simply select the locations that comprise your patch or yard. If you create a new birding location within the patch on a later date, make sure to edit your patch and add the new site!

Patch comparisons: Below your personal stats for your patches, you can see a list of other eBirders' patches that have been registered in the region. This lets you see how your yard or patch compares with others in the area, lets you share your findings with your friends and keep track of what they are finding, and even opens the door for developing friendly competitions. For example, in Ithaca, NY, most of Team eBird participates in an annual yard listing competition. Check out the Tompkins County, NY, Yard lists if you want to follow along and see how any of the team is faring -- Chris Wood (eBird project leader), Tim Lenz (our eBird programmer), Jeff Gerbracht (Lead Developer for eBird), Ken Rosenberg (Director of Conservation), Steve Kelling (Director of Information Science--we are all cheering for him, he’s our boss!), and John Fitzpatrick (Director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology--actually, maybe we should cheer for him!) are all avid participants in the annual Tompkins County yard list competition."
############################

To unsubscribe from the MDOSPREY list:
write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
or click the following link:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MDOSPREY&A=1