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Subject:

Maryland Pelagic Data in eBird

From:

Bill Hubick

Reply-To:

Bill Hubick

Date:

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 15:22:06 -0800

Hi Everyone,

Disappointed about the Maryland pelagic being canceled this weekend? Well, here's an easy we can still contribute to improving Maryland's pelagic data in eBird! We've created a new eBird hotspot called "Maryland Pelagic (General)", and it's intended for use when no precise location is available for a Maryland pelagic report. This is rarely the case for current trips, but is certainly the case for most pelagic data from years past.

The Maryland pelagic map is pretty messy right now. While most of us would never dream of plotting a land-based sighting at a best guess within 100 miles, most of us have picked a random location at sea and plotted all of our pelagic data there. In some cases, there are reports of the same birds from vast distances apart. We understand that we can't go back and recover the GPS track for old trip, and we appreciate that so many users want their full lists in eBird. That's great! However, there are many benefits of merging all of this general pelagic data into one "general" hotspot:

- Significantly increased accuracy of our pelagic data
- Cleaner, more useful Maryland pelagic map
- Best of all, more useful pelagic bar charts once checklists are merged into this location

Maryland pelagic birders have been awesome about pelagic data collection for the last couple years. We keep full lists for each 30-minute block, capturing valuable, detailed information on where pelagic species are being seen. The eBird lists are compiled, usually by Rob Ostrowski (thanks, Rob!), and then shared with all participants. This process is time-consuming and sometimes takes a few days, but it's well worth the wait!  For observers who want to report sooner as a placeholder, please use the new "Maryland Pelagic (General)" hot spot.

Please consider merging all of your general Maryland pelagic reports into this new hotspot!

1. Look up the name of your general Maryland pelagic location. One way to do so it to check your Maryland life list and check the location for pelagic species such as Great Shearwater.
2. Go to My eBird > Manage My Locations.
3. Select the name of your general pelagic location.
4. Click the "Merge" button.
5. Find and click the "Maryland Pelagic (General)" hotspot.
6. Check the "Delete after merging" checkbox.
7. Click "Merge"
8. If you had just one catch-all pelagic location, you're done. Otherwise, repeat for the others as applicable.

THANKS!

Some photos from the weekend:
http://www.billhubick.com/photos/updates/20120226.php

Good birding!

Bill

Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland

http://www.billhubick.com

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