From Scott Kruitbosch: 04/11/09 - Stratford yard -- 1 BROWN CREEPER, 22 PINE SISKINS. This was quite a sudden increase, as I was topping out at 8 PISI lately. I'm glad so many people have Siskins lingering, but please try to put find a number instead of simply confirming the presence of the species. It does a lot more for the world of data. Speaking of data, please, please, please...please...put these guys and all your other sightings into eBird. While ideally you'll put everything from every birding excursion you go on, at least try to start with your feeders. No one else is going to be in your backyard counting your Siskins. The world of science will not know they're there. http://ebird.org/ Setting up a location amounts to finding your house on a map and naming it. It's that simple. Then all you'll have to do is enter time/date and effort information followed by the number of birds for whatever species. You do not always need exact numbers - just very good estimates. Try to avoid using the dreaded "X" for sightings, as it could mean 1 or 100,000,000. This information will then be available for use on a global scale, which is much better than piles of paper locked in a room or files sitting on a hard drive. While this is a CT birding list, it's important to remember that our birds are obviously moving all around the country and the world, and thus it's critical to pool the world's data into one safe, secure, monitored, and vetted pile. We have hundreds of great birders on this list, and our data would be improved infinitely if everyone entered their sightings on a regular basis. Please start using eBird. If you really want to help the birds you love then take a few moments each day and do this for them. It's free and easy. I know it will help Connecticut's birds tremendously. If you need help on it or have questions feel free to email me privately. -- Scott Kruitbosch Stratford, CT http://vimeo.com/kbosch/videos kbosch@gmail.com