tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post7266943537633681914..comments2009-10-30T00:57:15.452-04:00Comments on Sibley Guides Notebook: So how many do we find?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-26980865509930922832008-12-26T15:05:00.000-05:002008-12-26T15:05:00.000-05:00In the name of accuracy, I had the wrong number of...In the name of accuracy, I had the wrong number of Kirtland's Warblers - it was 1791 males counted in 2008. <BR/><BR/>So the math changes a little bit, but either way, if birders find 30% of rare birds, we should still be finding a couple thousand migrant Kirtland's each fall.Chris Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10162412371727064867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-21190866560890172422008-12-25T14:03:00.000-05:002008-12-25T14:03:00.000-05:00I'm with David on the 3% or fewer number. Maybe i...I'm with David on the 3% or fewer number. Maybe it's partly because I'm in an area with few truly active birders, but even that seems high. Here's another way one could put a number on it:<BR/><BR/>1. In the Winging It that came this week I read that the Kirtland's Warbler survey this past summer counted 1697 singing males. Of course, they could have missed some, but let's be conservative andChris Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10162412371727064867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-48828429332087248742008-11-17T23:08:00.000-05:002008-11-17T23:08:00.000-05:00The website link mentioned above is http://www.mar...The website link mentioned above is http://www.marymoor.org/birding.htm<BR/><BR/>= MichaelAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-23324720036332907232008-11-17T23:06:00.000-05:002008-11-17T23:06:00.000-05:00So I'm actually a person who has found a Smith's L...So I'm actually a person who has found a Smith's Longspur - Washington State's only record. The bird was found at a county park that is birded heavily, though nowhere near as heavily as Cape May.<BR/><BR/>I've been doing a weekly survey there for - it'll be 15 years come April. I also maintain the park bird list. I've often wondered how many of the rarities that visit Marymoor Park are found byAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-49663024338478103832008-11-11T16:32:00.000-05:002008-11-11T16:32:00.000-05:00Thanks for the comments, and great examples! I'...Thanks for the comments, and great examples! I'm pasting on another comment that was sent in from Brian Schiefer:<BR/><BR/>>>>I tried doing this on the website, but ran into internet issues.<BR/>At any rate, I often have wondered how many Connecticut Warblers I was passing while speeding along the back roads of New Jersey. I’ve only seen 2 in my thirty years of birding! As far as David Sibleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17594789223586882529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-41847709511536985212008-11-10T09:45:00.000-05:002008-11-10T09:45:00.000-05:00I just found another example, of a Spotted Eagle. ...I just found another example, of a Spotted Eagle. This species was just recorded for the very first time in Hessen, one of Germany's states, not through direct observation but ONLY through tracking an eagle equipped with a satellite transmitter.<BR/>In Hessen, any species of eagle is excessively rare and this is quite a large species, so it wasn't simply overlooked, it was genuinely not seen by Jochenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852825311605464857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-33000309295898696302008-11-10T09:22:00.000-05:002008-11-10T09:22:00.000-05:00Another interresting piece of evidence suggesting ...Another interresting piece of evidence suggesting that the very vast majority of birds goes undiscovered are large migrating birds, e.g. raptors or geese, that are equipped with satellite transmitters.<BR/>Two examples from Europe: recently, it was documented through satellite transmitter data that a Lesser Spotted Eagle had migrated to Africa over the strait of Gibraltar, one of the prime hawk Jochenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852825311605464857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-60455715180973519352008-11-09T00:26:00.000-05:002008-11-09T00:26:00.000-05:00David, I agree with you. We probably miss quite a...David, I agree with you. We probably miss quite a bit because we aren't looking for them.<BR/>P.S. - Glad to see you back blogging and thanks for answering my question about the leucistic Canada goose in my area.Chrissyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12601130537200087299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-89791422625939225632008-11-08T00:28:00.000-05:002008-11-08T00:28:00.000-05:00This is a great topic that I think gets discussed ...This is a great topic that I think gets discussed among really active birders pretty regularly. I think the very act of talking about how many we are clearly missing, and discussing the possibilities, even extremely remote ones, directly increases the odds of us finding them. I'm in the Midwest where we generally assume the odds of really crazy stuff is much less than say California, Arizona, Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-75379487161259452602008-11-07T10:46:00.000-05:002008-11-07T10:46:00.000-05:00David, I wonder whether the low rate of re-finding...David, <BR/><BR/>I wonder whether the low rate of re-finding rarities has anything to do with potentially higher rates of predation? Vagrants, outside of their accustomed habitats, with inadequate camouflage, unfamiliar sources of food and at greater levels of stress because of all of those factors may stick out like a sore thumb to the average Cooper's Hawk even more so than they do to the MKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457596451870591993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-41429214658417059552008-11-07T09:19:00.000-05:002008-11-07T09:19:00.000-05:00Hi David,I agree with you on the bird's ID (RBGU)....Hi David,<BR/>I agree with you on the bird's ID (RBGU). I may have taken a bit of creative license with my closing line to make my point: I never saw the bird when it was in my viewfinder.<BR/><BR/>I was focused on the Lesser Black-backed Gull and if that bird had been a second-year Common Gull, I would have missed it...and we were making a point of checking all the gulls we came across for a MewGreg Neisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11170119340649095483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-52993296953050969692008-11-07T08:37:00.000-05:002008-11-07T08:37:00.000-05:00Hi Greg,Yes, I find that photography - with exposu...Hi Greg,<BR/><BR/>Yes, I find that photography - with exposure adjustments, framing the picture, and timing the moment of exposure - is particularly distracting, and I have ended up with pictures of birds I barely remember seeing!<BR/><BR/>That said, I think you can be reassured that the bird in the foreground of your photo is a Ring-billed Gull. It probably looks smaller because of "size David Sibleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17594789223586882529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-67634829450907305752008-11-06T22:03:00.000-05:002008-11-06T22:03:00.000-05:00David, I think you are SO right. Just last Sunday ...David, I think you are SO right. Just last Sunday I had a perfect example of simply not seeing what was (potentially) right in front of me. I was fiddling with the camera settings while trying to get a digiscoped shot of a Lesser Black-backed Gull, and didn't really pay attention to the birds it was with...a cursory glance dismissed them all and herring or ring-billed.<BR/><BR/>But that night Greg Neisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11170119340649095483noreply@blogger.com