http://ebird.org/content/vt daily 1 2008-03-14T17:41:23Z http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/vermont-ebird-welcomes-the-vermont-audubon-chapters Members of the Vermont Audubon Chapters from around the state have been adding valuable data to Vermont eBird for years. Now, the chapters have given an annual combined gift to us to help keep Vermont eBird strong. It takes the entire birding community to create a robust system like eBird. Thank you so much for all you do and welcome as the newest affiliates of Vermont eBird! No publisher kmcfarland 2010-03-10T19:07:49Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/new-feature-ebird-state-needs-alert We've just launched a new tool that will help birders find new birds at the state level--the eBird State Needs Alert. By subscribing to this alert, you'll get an email alert every day highlighting the birds that have been reported in a state that you haven't seen before. This tool compares all the birds you've reported in a state with the new reports coming in, and then sends you a list of the reports for species that you have not yet personally reported to eBird. This tool will make it easier for you to keep abreast of recent records of birds you might want to see in a given state that might not necessarily be rare enough to make it to the eBird Notable Birds Google Gadget. No publisher kmcfarland 2010-03-05T12:11:50Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/records-of-vermont-birds-historic-data-help From 1974 until 2004, bird sightings in Vermont were collected by birders and sent to a project called Records of Vermont Birds at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. A corps of dedicated volunteers assembled the information into a statewide summary each season that was printed and mailed to birders. All of the original records were archived in boxes for the historical record. The 30 years of data undoubtedly hold many conservation and scientific discoveries, but the lack of a computer database for retrieval of these data has proven to be a roadblock to examining them for years, not to mention the inability to save these records in event of a catastrophe such as fire or flood. The Vermont Institute of Natural Science has now joined the other Vermont eBird affiliates. They have provided us with all of the Records of Vermont Birds historic data to be entered into the Vermont eBird database. We need your help! No publisher kmcfarland 2010-02-19T14:48:28Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/subscribe-to-new-ebird-alerts We are very excited to introduce a new feature: eBird Alerts! By going to the eBird Alerts page from "View and Explore Data" you can view a list of all the national-level rarities recently reported in North America and Canada. These are defined by the ABA Codes, which we explain below. You have the option to subscribe hourly (!), daily, or just to visit this page and click to see the results from the past seven days. In the near future, we hope to add similar alerts for birds you "need" (i.e., birds not already on your eBird list) for a given state or province. So please, sign up for our ABA Alerts to keep up on what rarities--like Ivory Gulls--are being reported around the country! No publisher kmcfarland 2010-01-21T17:51:43Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/superbowl-of-birding-vermont-youth-team For the second year, North Branch Nature Center will be bringing a group of young birders to Cape Ann, MA for the Superbowl of Birding. We still have room for a few more members on our team! In 2009, our first bird of the day was an Eastern-screech Owl and our last was a Snowy Owl, with 57 others in between including Harlequin Duck, Black Guillemot, Lapland Longspur, and White-winged Crossbill! We even had the Boston Globe follow us for part of the afternoon. No experience is necessary and beginners are welcome. We hope you'll join us! No publisher kmcfarland 2010-01-12T13:57:59Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/new-iphone-app-harnesses-the-power-of-ebird-check-out-birdseye “BirdsEye is the best invention for birding since binoculars,” says Kenn Kaufman, renowned birder, author of the Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America and team member of a partnership that has created BirdsEye, a new birding app for the iPhone® and iPod touch®. “It’s like having thousands of local birding experts in your pocket,” Kaufman says. The application was developed by Birds in the Hand, LLC, of Virginia, and brings together content from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and Kaufman. BirdsEye is now available on the App Store℠. No publisher kmcfarland 2009-12-09T00:26:15Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/vermont-bird-records-committee-report-2008 We would like to thank you for making 2009 an exciting year for birding in Vermont. It was an incredible year for first state records. Your birding prowess contributed four new species to the state list: Cave Swallow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and Le Conte's Sparrow. The Vermont Bird Records Committee met in November to review all the rare bird reports submitted in the past year.We are excited to announce that you can now log on to http://www.vtecostudies.org/vbrc/reports.htm to view a list of all the species were accepted as state records. No publisher kmcfarland 2009-12-05T13:00:29Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/a-new-bird-in-town Vermont's first confirmed Eurasian Collared-Dove has provided a rare, unexpected sight for birders from all over the region since its presence was made "public" on November 25. The bird has been a reliable visitor since mid-month at the feeders of Norwich residents John and Dianne Dunn, who quickly realized that the large, pale dove chasing their resident Mourning Doves was out of the ordinary. Their initial ID was right on target, and they called VCE to inform us about the first-state record. A couple of listserv messages later, and birders have been congregating in the Dunn's back yard. No publisher kmcfarland 2009-11-29T23:39:16Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/two-new-ways-to-make-your-birding-count From its inception, the grand hypothesis of eBird has been that the observations of birders can make a valuable contribution to understanding broad-scale patterns of bird distribution and abundance. With its vast geographic scope and dedicated contributors, eBird has a growing capacity to help answer questions about birds at scales never before imaginable. As the eBird dataset continues to mature, scientists are just beginning to explore and tap its potential. Early results are promising, and thanks to our close working relationship with talented computer scientists and biologists, we’ve identified two ways that you can help greatly improve the utility of the eBird dataset. Read more by clicking the image at right. No publisher kmcfarland 2009-11-14T22:13:26Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/ezbird-enter-ebird-checklists-by-email One of the most frequent requests we get from eBirders is for a way to make data entry easier and quicker. We have done our best to develop new quicker ways to enter data and to publicize new and quicker ways that others have developed. To that end, we are excited to announce the release of EZBird, which allows you to create an uploadable file just by sending a formatted email message. You can even submit directly to eBird, which makes it possible to use your handheld or smartphone to enter sightings from the field. No publisher kmcfarland 2009-11-07T23:52:01Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/8-years-of-marsh-monitoring-available-in-vt-ebird On July 16 a group of Rutland County Audubon members and friends completed 8 years of monthly marsh monitoring of the birds associated with the West Rutland Marsh. The first of these walks around the 3.7 mile perimeter of the marsh took place on August 16, 2001, with 15 observers during which 45 species were tallied. The number of species tallied is now 137 while observer participation has reached 1127. The lowest number of species ever recorded on a monthly walk was 28 on April 16, 2005, and the highest number was 70 on May 18, 2006. All of the bird sightings for West Rutland Marsh can be viewed in Vermont eBird! No publisher kmcfarland 2009-11-04T13:41:36Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/ebird-is-for-every-birder Occasionally we hear about birders who tried eBird once, but then did not return because they felt they were not qualified to contribute, or that eBird caters only to “expert” birders. This is not the case at all! At eBird we believe that all bird observations have value. You need not be a globetrotting expert—some of the most valuable checklists are repeated observations from people who have never looked for birds outside their own backyard! You need not know every bird that flashes through your binoculars either, the eBird data quality process guards against many potential identification errors. Furthermore, the exchange of information between experts and beginners during this process is a valuable learning tool. We want eBird to be used by birders of all skill levels: our only request is that you try to use eBird to its fullest capacity, report the birds you see and hear to the best of your ability, and err on the conservative side if you are unsure about your identification. No publisher kmcfarland 2009-10-15T23:08:49Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/data-entry-overload-learn-ebird-tricks-and-tips We often hear from birders who use eBird that they'd like to use it more, but that they just "don't have the time". We know your time is valuable, and that’s why eBird has been working hard to make data entry easier than ever. Whether you’re an existing user or someone who is still considering contributing, the following tips can help you significantly streamline your data entry process. Even with extensive checklist comments, you should be able to enter any checklist in 3-5 minutes (OK, maybe 7 if you live in Panama and see 125 species per outing!). Three of the biggest time savers are in bold italics. No publisher kmcfarland 2009-08-07T20:43:51Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/help-shape-the-future-take-the-ebird-survey At eBird we value the input of our users. Your feedback has helped us decide how to prioritize the development of eBird, and has helped us make a better application that suits the needs of the birding and scientific communities. With many possible directions in front of us, it's time once again to turn to our users. We've created a participant survey to help quantify exactly what you, the people using eBird for its data output features and/or for its personal bird recording tools, find most important for the future development of eBird. Please take the survey and let us know what you think! No publisher kmcfarland 2009-08-07T20:38:39Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/youth-birding-opportunities-in-vermont-beyond-1 Attention: Parents, Kids, Teachers, Naturalists! Are you, or do you know someone, between the ages of 8 and 19, and have an interest in birds? Then join us on one of our many field trips! This summer we will be observing Bicknell's Thrush in the mountaintops, taking a cruise to see a Puffin nesting colony and much more. Whether an experienced veteran or just getting started, there are opportunities for you to get involved today. Click here for a complete list of programs and more information about North Branch Nature Center's Youth Birding Program. No publisher kmcfarland 2009-07-11T21:36:07Z Feature