Ted Hillary: featured eBirder
Ted Hillary studying the birds of Salmon Arm Bay
Name: Ted Hillary
Residence: Salmon Arm, BC
Years eBirding: 3
eBird Life List: 258
Number of eBird locations: 37
Number of complete eBird checklists: 2774
We’ll let Ted tell the rest of the story:
“I have been entering my bird observations into eBird for just over 3 years. When Dick Cannings contacted me about it I thought it would be a good idea for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I could record my data electronically and get away from the paper system I had where I couldn’t find anything. Secondly, it would showcase the importance of Salmon Arm Bay as bird habitat to a very wide audience. Although many birders and biologists recognized the importance of the Bay, the hard figures to confirm this fact were lacking. My hope is that a substantial database can be built up to recognize Salmon Arm Bay as an Important Bird Area, and to provide data to analyse long term trends.
For a more personal reason, I am also able to record my observations of birds in my yard and in the community of Salmon Arm away from the Bay. eBird makes it so much easier to organize my daily observations. Now, when I am travelling throughout the Shuswap or on holidays, I record my observations so that I can enter data on eBird. This makes me a much more observant birder and also adds to the database of the areas I am travelling through.
Perhaps most importantly, eBird has given me the incentive to try to visit Salmon Arm Bay daily and to record all that I see, regardless of weather conditions. Previously my visits were more hit and miss, but these regular counts graphically show how the bird life in the Bay changes from day to day. I believe that this consistent data is very important in providing a better understanding of the comings and goings of birds in the Bay, and can provide a foundation for future studies and comparisons. This information can also place Salmon Arm and the Bay in the wider context of British Columbia and North America. In 2009, for example, over half a million birds of more than 180 species were counted in Salmon Arm Bay.
The use of eBird has more than met my expectations. Data entry and data retrieval are easy, and it is adaptable for personal use. I can compare, for example, the same week in different years for what birds have been present, or I can highlight a particular species for data about it in my own personal locations, or in British Columbia, or farther afield. I have become so convinced of the value of eBird that I am now entering my observations from periods before I started on eBird. The more data entered and the longer the time period it covers, the more useful it will be for any future studies.”
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To see the results of Ted’s work, check out the Salmon Arm Bay hotspot. While many birders have entered data for this site, the great majority of checklists there are from Ted Hillary. Congratulations, Ted, and thanks for eBirding!
Team eBird.
