[CT Birds] the Daily Report Compiler

[Clay Taylor]

Hi all -

The original CT List was started by Dori Sosensky in much the same format as 
Roy is continuing with the Daily Report.   It was a great way to find out 
the highlights (a CT Birding Lite, if you will) of what was going on 
bird-wise in CT, but omitted all the observations, opinions, RFIs, and 
things that CT Birds now delivers.

My own way of subscribing to CT Birds is to get ALL of the posts sent to my 
Inbox - I scan each one, then reply to, save or delete as I wish, and I am 
done with it.    Personally, I like to read the "full reports" from people - 
it makes the birds / places / observers much more enjoyable to me.

While Roy's efforts are admirable, I really don't make use of them.   Am I 
saying the Daily Report is useless?   Heck, no!     It's just that by the 
time his report comes, I already HAVE that information.

It is apparent to me that there are a LOT of relatively new birders in CT 
that are benefiting greatly from all the information that is passed daily 
through CT Birds.  This is what I was quietly agitating for a few years ago, 
and I am very happy to see how well it works.   I only wish we could have 
had such immediate access to information back in the 70s and 80s.

There might be a second aspect to the Daily Report that is less obvious - 
recognition at getting your sighting listed "on the Daily Report".      I 
can remember back in the late 70s and early 80s when there were only two 
ways to be "recognized" for finding a good bird - have your sighting make it 
onto the CT Rare Bird Alert telephone tape recording (updates twice a week), 
or (huzzah!) making it into American Birds Magazine Field Notes that came 
out 6 to 8 months after the fact.     Nowadays, you can see the rewards of 
your efforts that evening.   Especially for a new birder, that must be very 
satisfying.

 I think this is a great tool to motivate people to send in their sightings 
to CT Birds, but the overall health of birds and our environment is probably 
better served by sending your entire day's list into eBird as well as 
sending the highlights to CT Birds.     I have to admit here that I run hot 
and cold about eBird submissions - sometimes I am diligent, and other times 
I blow it off.   My reporting is more spur-of-the-moment, off-the-cuff, and 
to be honest, I never seem to remember the correct format for my sightings 
to qualify for the Daily Report, or if I try to construct the format from 
memory, I get it wrong.    Yes, I could look it up.    No excuse there. 
Just no incentive to.

I guess my summation of the above message is this - if I find a REALLY good 
bird (Ross' Gull or Redwing), I'll take the time to format it correctly for 
the Daily Report, but otherwise I'll continue to jam multiple sightings, 
species, locations, and my own personal observations into my posts to CT 
birds.   To paraphrase the quote about a certain Red Sox left fielder, 
"that's just Clay being Clay."

Good birding,

Clay Taylor
Moodus, CT
ctaylor at att.net

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott Kruitbosch" <kbosch at gmail.com>
To: <ctbirds at lists.ctbirding.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 10:50 PM
Subject: Re: [CT Birds] A Plea from the Daily Report Compiler


> An excellent request, Roy, which I hope everyone treats as necessary for
> observations. I am sure all of us are grateful for the time you put into
> this list.
>
> Personally, I go to my sent messages folder and open an old post to the
> list. I then copy the "standard format" and paste it into my new email,
> changing the necessary information.
>
> I know a line like this...
>
>>From Scott Kruitbosch:
> 3/12 - Stratford yard  -- 1 FOX SPARROW, at least 3 BROWN CREEPERS
>
> ...does not take too much time for us to type on our own, but it takes an
> enormous amount of time for Roy. He has to do it for all the reports which
> lack it, as well as figuring out the vital information for himself. So
> please, at least for his sake, add that to any observations.
>
> The COA website has a page of guidelines for just this very thing, along
> with what is considered a "common bird" for CT:
> http://www.ctbirding.org/ecommittee.htm
>
>
> -- 
> Scott Kruitbosch
> Stratford, CT
> kbosch at gmail.com
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