Eagle-eyed Larry Haugh has spotted a rather key typo.
Here is the proper wording of a sentence below:
"As a general theme, based on eBird data all three species are as close
to absent as they can be in June, July, and August in the Lake
Champlain/Champlain Lowlands. Virtually all reports during these three
months to eBird are inadequately documented and/or prove to be in error."
Thanks Larry ...
Ian
======================================
On 5/31/2019 4:12 PM, Ian Worley wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> Many of you know that I am the eBird reviewer for the four Champlain
> Valley counties of Vermont. And eBirders know that Philadelphia
> Vireos are usually flagged for review. Pertinent to the ID
> conversation here started by Bridget is some information of
> expectations for that species and two species of flycatchers that are
> often flagged as well ..... Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Olive-sided
> Flycatcher.
>
> All three share a similar pattern in the Champlain regarding
> seasonality and geographical distribution.
>
> The Champlain Valley counties include Lake Champlain, the Champlain
> Lowlands, and the Green Mountains (foothills and mountains).
>
> Most of the ID errors of the three species occur with submissions to
> eBird from along Lake Champlain and from the Champlain Lowlands.
>
> As a general theme all three species are as close to absent as they
> can be in June, August, and September in the Lake Champlain/Champlain
> Lowlands. Virtually all reports during these three months to eBird
> are inadequately documented and/or prove to be in error.
>
> In spring migration Philadelphia Vireos appear in the Lowlands in
> quite low numbers, mostly in the last two weeks of May. ID errors and
> inadequately documented birds are very common during this period.
> During fall migration is when the species is most likely to be seen in
> the Lowlands, almost always in September. For many birders this is
> one of the Fall highlight birds. This is the peak time for their
> observation in the Lowlands, and well documented individuals seem to
> help other birders locate the species more easily as the month wears on.
>
> With a few exceptions Yellow-bellied Flycatcher submissions during
> spring migration in the Lowlands are usually inadequately documented
> or errors. Overall, the few documented individuals have been in the
> last three weeks of May. Documented individuals are very sparse
> during fall migration, from the last week of August through the first
> two weeks of September.
>
> Olive-sided Flycatchers, of these three species, are the most scarce
> in the Champlain Lowlands; at least as reflected in the eBird data.
> They also have a high level of inadequately documented and mistakenly
> identified birds. The very few documented reports are during the last
> three weeks of May during spring migration. They are essentially
> absent in the Lowland during the Fall migration.
>
> ---------------------------------
> Overall, these three species need good quality documentation whenever
> located along Lake Champlain and the in the Champlain Lowlands. Thanks
> to Bridget Butler for getting this conversation going!
>
> If only seen, multiple defining characteristics are important for a
> successful documentation. Vocalizations (with no recordings) by
> themselves are inadequate for documentation, and for Philadelphia
> Vireo almost useless in most cases. Audio recordings are best when
> there are multiple repeats of songs, and when the sonograms are
> clear. Multiple photos are much better than a single photo.
>
> As most of you eBirders know, the same bird is often reported by
> several birders. The more birders that see what is likely the same
> bird at a location, the subsequent documentation of the bird can be
> somewhat less thorough. But beware, every season there are instances
> where some birders will document a bird with the phrase "continuing
> bird", or "seen by others", or "known to be at location" ..... not
> knowing that the original observation was found to be in error or
> inadequately documented.
>
> -----------------------------------
> As most of us know these last three weeks of May have been an
> seemingly unrivaled Vermont bonanza of migrants, especially warblers
> and other passerines. Included have been numerous reports of
> Philadelphia Vireos and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers. For the most part
> I have been holding back on reviewing these submission until the flood
> is over. In the near future I will work my way through the three
> species, looking at all the submissions during this spring.
>
> Good birding all .....
>
> Ian
>
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