Hi All,
I have often written on this line about the
Garden Bird Survey (GBS) that has been running in
Canberra continuously since July 1981. I have previously reported to this line
that the book "Birds of Canberra Gardens"
was launched on 14 June. This is built around the results of this survey and
contains summaries of many of the species, based on monitoring over a 17 year
period, from 1101 observer years of data. The text is somewhat derived
from the analysis work I did on that quite immense database. It describes
monthly abundances of the bird species and long term aspects. It is based on
real data, rather than just impressions. It chronicles many major changes in our
bird fauna over those 17 years. It is illustrated by mostly original, nice
photographs and has a really great cover.
Several people who subscribe to birding-aus, have bought one of these
books through me and I am notifying again (only because it is five weeks since
my earlier message) that this offer is still available. If you are interested,
to obtain one of these books, please contact me. I will then send details
privately.
I am still working on my report on the COG
Garden Bird Survey. This will have many
similarities to but also differ from the book. It is intended for a more
bird-savvy audience and won't be as pretty as the book. It will be based on 18,
rather than the 17 years of continuous data included in the book. It describes
the survey history and methods in detail and explains the results. It will
include notes on all the species where there is something useful to say, that
being far more species than in the book. Information covered is monthly patterns
of abundance, interpreted relative to migration, changes in habitat use over the
year, seasonal changes in behaviour and breeding, also long term trends in
abundance such as increases, decreases and stability. Also timing and duration
of breeding. It discusses the aspects of bird abundances and recording rates and
looks at the data as a whole, describing rates at which species are recorded or
found breeding etc. It also won't have the book's errors (or at least I hope it
will have fewer, very different ones).
Philip Veerman (Phone 02-62314041)
24 Castley Circuit
Kambah
ACT 2902
