birding-aus

BA Atlas

To: Peter Shute <>, "" <>, "" <>
Subject: BA Atlas
From: "James O'Connor" <>
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:07:01 +1000
Eremaea surveys can be passed onto the BA Atlas at the discretion of the 
observer, but Birdpedia doesn't currently offer this option.

James O'Connor


-----Original Message-----
From:  
 On Behalf Of Peter Shute
Sent: Thursday, 17 June 2010 12:21 AM
To: ; 
Subject: BA Atlas

I know Eremea can, and I think Birdpedia too.

After you've completed an Eremaea survey, there's a link to prepare it for 
export to the Atlas if you want. That takes you to an Atlas form where you add 
the extra information BA wants, like coordinates, survey type, etc.

I think I read that so far around 8,000 surveys have been submitted that way.

Peter Shute


--------------------------
Sent using BlackBerry

________________________________
From: 
To: 
Sent: Wed Jun 16 22:22:51 2010
Subject: BA Atlas

Hi Folks,

This has probably already been suggested BUT...

Can the BA Atlas suck info out of Eremaea and Birdpedia??? Or they export to BA 
Atlas?? That would make it easy!!

Cheers

Steve Potter

m: 0407 398 234

e: 





BA Atlas

from [Frank 
O\"Connor<http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/cgi-bin/namazu.cgi?query=%2Bfrom%3Afoconnor%40iinet.net.au&idxname=birding-aus&sort=date%3Alate>]
  [Permanent 
Link<http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/cgi-bin/mesg.cgi?a=birding-aus&i=20100616081509.B18C3700247B%40mwinf3607.me.freeserve.com>][Original<http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/cgi-bin/extract-mesg.cgi?a=birding-aus&m=2010-06&i=20100616081509.B18C3700247B%40mwinf3607.me.freeserve.com>]
To:     <>
Subject:        BA Atlas
From:   "Frank O\"Connor" < <>>
Date:   Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:15:08 +0100

In reference to Tim Dolby's reference to not submitting the Pilbara Elegant 
Parrot records to the Atlas.

I contributed 1000s of surveys to the Atlas. And I do feel guilty that I 
haven't contributed as heavily to the Ongoing Atlas. Generally I do it for the 
more out of the way areas that I might visit.

For me, the strength of the Atlas will be for monitoring changes in the more 
common birds, and especially for changes at specific sites. I don't see the 
Atlas as having much value for recording rarities, or for birds outside their 
normal range. They need to be monitored and protected within their normal range.

One weakness of the Atlas is that it requires a fairly specific definition of 
the location. This meant that when I did Atlas, that I completed a lot of 
incidental surveys. e.g. when heading east from Geraldton I put in incidental 
surveys for my first sighting of birds like Pied Butcherbird, Spiny-cheeked 
Honeyeater, etc. I also filled in a lot of incidental surveys for raptors. 
Despite this, I used to estimate that maybe only 80% of the species that I saw 
that day would appear on the surveys, because I was moving around a lot. Even 
when I was based in Broome (or Anna Plains Station) for an extended period for 
things like the wader banding expeditions, I would find that maybe only 60 to 
70% of the species ended up on the survey forms. For this reason, I would fill 
in a WA Database Card for the area so that all the species were recorded, but 
on a far less specific location. The WA Database accepts cards for shires, or 
National Parks, or stations, or islands, or lakes, etc.

The other weakness of the Atlas is the time it takes to complete the surveys. 
By the time that I have recorded my sightings on my computer, and everything 
else, I don't have the time to then fill in Atlas forms as well. e.g. when I am 
on tour with a group of people. You are birding from dawn to dusk and then 
having dinner and doing a bird call, etc. I can (and do) complete WA Database 
cards for areas like Dryandra SF, Stirling Range NP, Albany Shire, etc as these 
take little time. I also don't have time during the day to take GPS readings 
for survey sites. It is simply not feasible for people like George Swann in the 
Kimberley to Atlas. There are not enough hours in the day.

Don't get me wrong. The Atlas is a fantastic resource, and I applaud everyone 
who has or still are contributing data. But it does have limitations. But for 
me, the Atlas data is far more valuable for repeatedly surveying a specific 
site, rather than for recording major rarities or a bird out of its normal 
range. The fact that Elegant Parrots occur in the Pilbara in winter is 
documented in books like the two volume reference published by the WA Museum, 
and by papers like that by Rob Davis. Having it in the Atlas does not 
contribute very much extra.


_________________________________________________________________

Frank O'Connor           Birding WA http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au

Phone : (08) 9386 5694 Email : 
<>


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