I copy here a note I sent tonight in response to one of my birding "heroes" Allen Chartier. On the listserv, Allen asked his annual fall question about reporting the last date of sighting a Ruby-throated Hummingbird in our area. I always love to report to Allen my first and last hummer sightings every year because he always thanks me and I know my data are being used! I have never had either the first or last sightings, but I know he really appreciates the county data! Obviously I gave him more than the desired response tonight , but Allen and the Michigan Birders listserv will understand for I am prone to ramble. I found my exercise tonight very rewarding. It was one of the first times I actually played with my eBird data rather than just entering it! WOW! What a powerful tool! I hope you like.
Begin copy:
Allen –
I saw my last hummer (aka “Kid Hummer”, i.e., (s)he
rocked!) on 9/25/2013.
This is all you needed from me. But, I just wanted to tell a
story tonight, so I continue…
RAMBLE:
I still have feeders up and hope for something special as
always. Gotta keep your “line in the water” to catch a fish … or a bird!!!
Someday I want THE last county record, or even better, a new hummer for my life
list!
It really did seem to me to be a very slow year for
hummers. I remember seeing on the Michigan birders listserv that others had
thought the same thing this summer. Where are the hummers? So that gives me
license to explore my mind and ramble a bit (as if I needed it …)
Maybe I was too expectant. Like, I DO have out a feeder
(actually this year I added another and that increased my expectancy …). I
clean the feeders regularly. Hey, if I clean it, they will come! So where were
they? Do they like my neighbors better than me? Must be something I was doing
wrong? Worry, worry! Fret, fret! But keep on cleaning and hoping …
Gotta keep my “line in the water”. OK, I really do not take it
personally, but this IS a ramble …
So tonight I entered my most recent month of data into
eBird. Yes, I am always behind. I record daily in my journal, but there are so
many things to do before entering eBird data. But I really wanted to answer my
personal question of whether this really was a slow year at my place for
hummers. So having done that, I now can go into eBird and ask questions based
on my data. I still need to enter data for 2012, but I was great about data
entry in 2011, so offer comparisons for that year to 2013.
I chose to look at the number of days per month in which I
saw a hummer to see if they were really missing this year. Actually I had to do
a small bit of mental manipulation since sometimes I record more than once/day,
and I filled in from my journal for a couple of months where I have not yet
recorded my data in eBird, but it was not too hard. Here are results from my
deck.
2013:
Month vs.
numbers of days with at
least one sighting
April
0
May
7
June
15
July
5
August
26
Sept
19
First sightings: May 10 male; May 26 female
Last sighting: Sept 25
2011:
Month vs.
numbers of days with at
least one sighting
April
2
May
11
June
8
July
7
Aug
22
September 13
First sightings: April 27 male
Last sighting Sept 15
So what did I learn? At least for MY yard, they came about a
week and a half earlier in 2011 and left about a week and a half earlier. Now
it would be interesting to check the weather patterns and many other factors
for these years… If I add May and June together for both years, I get 22
days (2013) vs. 19 days (2011). July is a very slow month (5 vs. 7) in both
years! I suspect that is when folks on the listserv missed their presence. I
sure did. Probably they were busy doing the nesting thing. Then I saw a bunch
of hungry hummers – mostly kids – in August and September in both years. Gotta
bulk up! (I will never comprehend how such a dinky bird beating its wings too
fast to even to be able to see it - or barely even photograph it at less
than super high speed - can migrate so many miles!!!)
Even without a massive sample, I judge the data from both
years to be much the same! Interesting! I took my best pics in 2011 and thought
it was the best year ever! It is just what we remember or imagine …
I really DID feel 2013 was a “bad year” for hummers. Too
expectant? But the numbers now tell me it was about average. I guess I
just never noticed patterns before! Fascinating! They are probably starving
when they arrive and love my feeders. After a while, they locate local food
sources (bugs?) to fill their hunger and then go off to do hummer things. Then
later the kids certainly need energy for the migration.
A really cool thing is that these numbers are from my OWN
data! Data speaks louder than preconceptions! If you really want to know
something, you need good data! That is what the scientific approach is all
about – even on a personal level!
This is why we should all enter our data into eBird!
It became personal for me to answer my own question tonight, but just imagine
hundreds or thousands of reports from the same geographical area! Just imagine
this being done on a global scale! So cool!!!
Gotta really think about what our local birding champion and
my hero Allen Chartier does for us in southeast Michigan!!! Sometimes I tend to
take it for granted. Just imagine what we would be missing without his reports!
And, all his reports are upwardly compiled for a global picture of
hummingbirds! That is how birders really put together a comprehensive picture!
WOW!
And, gotta thank Cornell University and eBird staff for such
a great tool for the rest of us! I use it for my “life list”, but really take
much pride in knowing that I am contributing to a much larger cause! (Now I
just gotta get the rest of my data entered …)
QUESTION:
I record all sightings of hummers in my journal. This
includes how many sightings I have during my recording time of visits to the
feeders. I use tic marks to record multiple visits. I only report to eBird the
highest number of identifiable birds I saw during the period. So if I saw
multiple visits by an immature hummer (or many different individuals?!) during
the hour or so when I was watching, I record one bird! In August, I
often recorded maybe 8-10 visits during my observation time! Very busy bird(s)!
I still recorded one bird on eBird! If I knew they were different birds, I
would count them differently, but all kids look alike to me.
So, how would I relay the multiple visits to the community?
Or should I record each one as unique?
Summary:
It was a long story – I gave Allen what he needed on the
first line – but just had to tell a story (“ramble”). I feel more satisfied and
hope others enjoyed. Bottom line, it was an average year here for hummers.
--- “Dr. Bob” Setzer”.
Teach a man to fish, and without a boat, he might grab
binoculars and a camera and become a birder who can “fish” everywhere …
