I would like to support the suggestion - it would be very helpful to
this particular COG newbie. Even if there are no 'right' answers, it
would be useful to hear some different points of view. Specific issues I
would like to see addressed include:
. where a breeding observation is made outside of a survey, should it
always be recorded as an incidental? Or is there a subset of species
breeding records that would be more useful?
. are regular surveys of some grids more valuable than those for other
grids? If so, which grids?
. which of the ABA survey types is most useful?
. are there incidental sightings which are more valuable than others?
For example, from time to time I see a raptor. I don't see them all that
often but would be willing to enter incidental records, including with
GPS lat/long, if someone thought that this would be useful.
. are there other species that should always be recorded? I notice, for
example, that there are sometimes references to 'species of interest'. I
imagine that there would always be an interest in recording any
sightings of Swift Parrots? Is there a list of species for which records
of any sighting, at any time, would be useful?
Con
John Brannan wrote:
Julian Robinson wrote:
I would like to encourage a knowledgeable person to give a short talk
or article for novices and others on *what reports of sightings (COG
Records for database) are useful and welcomed*. I'm aware that some
members report the results of each expedition they make, no matter
how mundane, as a matter of form. Is this encouraged from
non-experts or would I be making work for someone without adding to
the store of useful knowledge?
I'd like to second Julian's excellent suggestion. I've often wondered
whether to report things I've seen. I suppose one slowly learns what
constitutes a really unusual or significant sighting, but it seems to
me that there is also significance in apparently mundane events. For
instance, I am now seeing Noisy Miners regularly at the Pinnacle NR
near Hawker. This was inevitable, I suppose, given that they are
common in nearby Cook, but their arrival may be quite significant for
the other residents of the Pinnacle.
Even less obvious to me is how many or which of my incidental
sightings are useful? This was stirred up by Jack's request in
latest G-gang to "make sure all your sightings are provided..." The
context was early spring sightings. I wondered which if any of the
following common birds all mentioned by Jack would be usefully
reported?...
- having not seen a single Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike for months, I've
seen 3 in different places in the last week.
FWIW, I saw 2 today in the trees on Ainslie Ave, directly in front of
the Canberra Center (near that conical fountain).
John Brannan
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