Would indeed be great. I have been working for some time on a site
www.birdingsites.com.au which attempts to solve some of these issues - with
the cooperation of both Martyn (from Bridpedia) and Richard (from Eremaea)
there is a graphical representation of all of the locations that they have
records for. There are many issues to overcome - both organisations have
records for some sites and it is not easy to reconcile the two - and to date
I have not tried very hard to interest BA in collaborating, but it may be
the start. If you look at "Where to Bird" and select "Western Treatment
Plant, Werribee" you can access lists from Eremaea, Bridpedia and my own
records - although not alas in a single screen yet. You can also see all of
the Eremeae and Birdpedia sites (all 10,000 or so of them)
You need a broadband connection and a reasonably modern PC and browser - and
it is very much a work in progress with quite a few bugs and lots of "things
to do" - but I would welcome comments and hope that maybe one day BA, BOCA,
Eremaea and Birdpedia may all agree to share data in a truly useful and
comprehensive national system!
On 11/07/07, michael norris <> wrote:
Interesting site, thanks Steve.
There is obviously a lot of skill that goes into sites like that (I am
thinking also of Birdline Victoria for instance), and a lot of effort into
maintaining them and recording observations.
I wonder if there is any effort to create computerised links between them,
and with the Australian Bird Atlas (and analogues overseas and here eg.
reporting banded shorebirds, nest records, AVW...)
What would - might - be ideal is for the international bird organisations
to
develop some sort of bird listing computer protocol to enable exchange. I
realise that would have to include some sort of assessment, accreditation
or
rating of records to prevent misleading data getting on to the
authoritative
databases. But even these could have a second tier for observations which
are not officially accepted. Some interesting patterns might be detected
in
this way which would otherwise be missed.
Another plus would be for observers who wish to report their records to a
variety of audiences through a variety of sites.
Wishing I had the time and skill and money to contribute myself!
Michael Norris
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