Ebird- AN ESSENTIAL TOOL FOR BIRDING
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Ebird has revolutionized birding. It makes it easy to keep track of the birds you are seeing, see what is being seen in our area as well as in the world. It is not for just hard-core birders but for the beginner as well. It is also for the backyard birder. By being on eBird you are helping scientists keep track of the birds and this helps us protect the birds we love. Now we can list our birds on our smart phones and it is easy to do. Join us on Tuesday, April 9 as James Wheat will give a workshop on eBird for your smart phone. We'll walk through all the features on the app; you'll be able to see everything projected onto a screen. Next we'll go through the use of eBird in the field. Feel free to bring your smart phone with eBird installed, and create your own checklist as a hands-on exercise.
Our meeting is at St.Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2822 Frankfort Ave, Louisville, KY 40206, 38.254256, -85.689458. St. Mark’s is at the corner of Frankfort Avenue and Kennedy Ave. Please enter by way of the back door near the parking lot. See you there. |
The birding Derby is back!
After two years, the Jefferson-Fayette Birding Derby (otherwise known as Global Big Day) is all tied at one win apiece.
After crushing our Lexington counterparts, 137-113, on the second Saturday in 2017, the Louisville group was edged out, despite recording a single-day-record 157(!) species on Derby Day 2018. With the advantage of better weather (no torrential rains) Lexington tallied an impressive 160 species.
The fine feathered folks at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology still think that the Biggest Day in Birding trumps the Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports, so GBD is on Derby Day again this year. Since the annual madness didn’t prove to be a handicap last year, if the weather cooperates this year, the BBC has a chance at another record and a tie-breaking victory. Birders will be needed to do everything from listening for nightjars and owls at dawn and dusk to covering the best hotspots in the county to hiking into the hills in search of elusive species (Worm-eating Warblers at Jefferson Forest, for example). You can put in as little time as you wish (tick the Mississippi Kites in Cherokee Park) or all day.
The official tally will be kept via eBird, so it is vitally important that all Global Big Day observations are entered as eBird checklists.
It is also important that every good birding spot in the county gets covered. Andrew Melnykovych is coordinating the effort. If you plan to participate and have a location or locations in mind, let him know where you will be birding on May 4. If you don’t have a favorite spot you want to cover, let Andrew know and he will assign you a location. He can be contacted via email at estiles74@gmail.com or on his cell phone at 502-608-4655.
After two years, the Jefferson-Fayette Birding Derby (otherwise known as Global Big Day) is all tied at one win apiece.
After crushing our Lexington counterparts, 137-113, on the second Saturday in 2017, the Louisville group was edged out, despite recording a single-day-record 157(!) species on Derby Day 2018. With the advantage of better weather (no torrential rains) Lexington tallied an impressive 160 species.
The fine feathered folks at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology still think that the Biggest Day in Birding trumps the Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports, so GBD is on Derby Day again this year. Since the annual madness didn’t prove to be a handicap last year, if the weather cooperates this year, the BBC has a chance at another record and a tie-breaking victory. Birders will be needed to do everything from listening for nightjars and owls at dawn and dusk to covering the best hotspots in the county to hiking into the hills in search of elusive species (Worm-eating Warblers at Jefferson Forest, for example). You can put in as little time as you wish (tick the Mississippi Kites in Cherokee Park) or all day.
The official tally will be kept via eBird, so it is vitally important that all Global Big Day observations are entered as eBird checklists.
It is also important that every good birding spot in the county gets covered. Andrew Melnykovych is coordinating the effort. If you plan to participate and have a location or locations in mind, let him know where you will be birding on May 4. If you don’t have a favorite spot you want to cover, let Andrew know and he will assign you a location. He can be contacted via email at estiles74@gmail.com or on his cell phone at 502-608-4655.
Birder's Bucket List for 2019
- Come to a BBC meeting if you have never been to one.
- Join in on a field trip if you have never been to one.
- Make plans to go to the March Dinner Meeting at Big Springs Country Club on Tuesday, March 14.
- Join the Kentucky Ornithological Society (KOS).
- Go to one of the KOS weekends in April or September.
- Plan a trip to Magee Marsh in Ohio around the first two weeks of May.
- Donate to the BBC Birdathon.
- Submit your bird list to ebird. It is so easy.
- Subscribe to birdKY
- Take a child birding.
- Keep your cat indoors and encourage others to as well.
- Buy bird friendly (certified shade-grown) coffee.
- Plant native species in your yard.
- Donate your old/unused binoculars and scopes to nature centers, school groups interested in birding.