birding-aus

Re: twitchathon

To: "Birding-Aus" <>
Subject: Re: twitchathon
From: "Steve & Tamara Gross" <>
Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2007 21:16:19 +1000
The distance factor was certainly a point in the twitchathon planning that
Chris Dwyer and myself talked about. We did our first twitchathon in the
2002 Outback Twitchathon which perhaps advantaged us in proximity here in
Orange as compared to the coastal based teams. We happened to do very well
in that event and then had a comparatively short drive back to Orange.
We later entered the 2004 twitchathon but did not really wish to finish at
the coast and then have to drive back to Orange that evening. To counter
this we decided to begin with a Saturday morning drive to start at Newcastle
and finish the event in the Capertee Valley on the Sunday afternoon.
Although it was an enjoyable event, in terms of us being able to score a
large of number of birds it was a disaster.

Chris and I have also talked about competing as part of the Main Race but
just travelling around the Central West area of NSW - our local patch. Again
numerically this would place us at a severe disadvantage. However, having a
handicapping system or something similar would certainly allow us to feel we
had a real competitive chance in scoring well. As a thought perhaps it could
be based on the actual percentage of species recorded as compared to what
could be potentially recorded in a given area. Thus in the Central West NSW
I estimate there could be about 250 potential species to see. Coastal areas
may be more like 350. There are probably basic flaws to this as it is just
an idea off the top of my head at present. Of course it may just complicate
the whole process.

Even though ultimately the twitchathons are about raising money there is a
competitive edge to the Main Race and any methods to make all teams across
NSW work on a more equal footing would be a big added encouragement for all
in entering the Main Race.

Steve Gross
Orange NSW

-----Original Message-----
From: 
 On Behalf Of Paul Taylor
Sent: Saturday, 31 March 2007 7:18 PM
To: 
Subject: Re: twitchathon

(This reply was supposed to go to the list.)

Perhaps the answer is add a handicapping system.

Teams can still vie for "line honours" with the most species seen,
plus results would be corrected for handicap (distance travelled,
or whatever) to decide the overall "handicap honours".

--

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    Paul Taylor                                  Veni, vidi, tici -
                            I came, I saw, I ticked.
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