Thanks for the clarification Kevin,

A couple updates from the VBRC that are worth bringing up.

We only meet physically once per year, but we are going to try to get an 
electronic vote in by the end of the year so that we can update the 
results from the County Quest.

Second, we are in the process of trying to come up with a more 
streamlined method for assessing which species need documentation with a 
Rare Species Documentation (RSD) form.  Right now this information can 
be gleaned from our website:
http://www.vtecostudies.org/vbrc/reporting.htm
but we believe this can be simplified further, so stay tuned for more 
information.

We appreciate all the RSDs that have been submitted by the VT birding 
community.  The most important aspect of writing up these reports is a 
clear description of the bird and how you distinguished it from similar 
species.  An example RSD is also up on the website which shows some of 
the pitfalls that we typically encounter.  We really agonize over these 
reports and spend a lot of time with each of them.  We take this 
responsibility very seriously.

I hope that helps explain the process,
Allan



On 12/4/2011 12:00 PM, MARIE HEMEON wrote:
> I am glad to have joined the ranks of the birders with the Rufous Hummingbird on their lists. I am getting some questions about why it is not showing on people's lists, as well as, other oddities. I thought I would take a second to explain and perhaps Kent would jump in for more clarity. Birds like these are extremely rare in Vt and with the difficulties of IDing this species and sex especially, it is important that the records are as accurate as possible. We were lucky to have a pro come in and do the in hand measurements needed to confirm the ID of this bird. Now it will be in the competent hands of the RBC to give the final approval. I understand the bander was to fill out the needed forms as he did the actual measurements. Once the RBC approves this (if justified), I will then be able to go in and approve the sightings at once. Of course they have already met recently in an attempt to go through their list to help with the Quest. Since they are from all around the state, it will be some time before they get the chance to gather again. In the meantime, the records remain and should show in your personal records for now. There are some other sightings that for reasons of being more than a month out of the expected window etc, that will also need to be treated the same. This vetting is extremely important to maintain the accuracy of the data base. The RBC takes their own time and probably has to put up with some disgruntlement for their decisions (I don't think any of them collect a salary for this effort) but, provide an important task for the community as a whole. Yes I have had records turned down too (not that I am God). As for the ebird filtering, I try to get to the filtered records as soon as I can, I did have a long period of downtime earlier. I try to let you know if confirmation with an RBC form or just better clarification of notes is needed when I send the form letter provided by ebird. Please let me know if you need more clarity from my request. I recommend trying to do this as soon as you can while the events are fresh in memory. Thanks to all and thanks for patience with the process and keep up the great birding. It has definitely been an interesting year. Kevin (not Marie)

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Allan M. Strong
University of Vermont
The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources
007 Hills Building
Burlington, VT 05405
802-656-2910
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