Hi Guy (and Peter, and everyone on Birding-Aus)
Thanks for providing this extra info - those of us with the app certainly
appreciate hearing a bit more about it, and particularly the chance that
there may be upgrades down the track.
I've been entering my daily lists into the app, and once I got used to the
controls I found it fairly quick to enter species. I really like the fact
that you can include quite a lot of extra data with each sighting - or
none, if you choose. That's a winner as far as I'm concerned. Some apps
insist you enter a number for each species, and I find that tedious and a
waste of time. In my daily list-taking I record numbers of any less usual
species, or species where a count may be more significant, such as waders.
In my home patch it would be quite pointless to record numbers of Silver
Gull, Red Wattlebird, New Holland Honeyeater, Welcome Swallow, etc., but I
usually record more details for birds of prey, herons and egrets, and
oystercatchers, even when I see these species most days.
I think it is better to let the user decide whether or not extra data is
entered for sightings. Sometimes I'll want GPS coordinates, but most of the
time I leave that off because I'm recording from home, or work, or
somewhere in between. Being able to add to any one of my lists is also a
big winner.
One slight annoyance is that when I go from search results to calls, or to
adding to a list, then Save, I lose my search results and and up at the
start of whichever Guide I'd been using. Is there some way to make the
search results "stick" so I can go in and out of them to listen to a few
calls, or add a couple of say, Thornbill species to my list, without having
to run the search again?
Again, thanks for all the tips and extra info you've provided through this
forum.
Kind regards
Russell
On 3 December 2013 20:16, Peter Shute <> wrote:
> If I select a birding site pin, the right arrow works as you describe. The
> list icon on the left side just closes the app for me on my ipad. It works
> ok on my iphone.
>
> One problem with the help section is that, even if it mentioned all these
> things, you can't access it while you're trying things. You have to go to
> the main menu, get to the help, read a bit, then go back to the main menu
> again to get back to where you were. If makes experimenting very tedious.
>
> Peter Shute
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On 3 Dec 2013, at 7:06 pm, "Guy Gibbon" <> wrote:
> >
> > Hello Peter
> >
> > The distribution lists are based on the whole degree co-ordinates, and
> are
> > intended as shortlists to work from. But if you think that's too big an
> area
> > we can look at narrowing it down. Just when you are under pressure to
> > produce an entire app with all the data and functionality there is,
> getting
> > involved in a huge dataset of lists for much smaller areas seemed like a
> > mountain at the time.
> >
> > The birding site pins are dropped onto the map when you tap the binocular
> > symbol. Selecting a birding site pin will open a banner with the site
> name
> > and two icons. Tap the right arrow to open the birding site text page.
> Tap
> > the left list icon to open the bird list.
> >
> > I must admit I forgot to mention this functionality in the Help file. So
> > much to describe I suppose. I guess I also think of drop pins with
> banners
> > and functions as being standard iOS functionality that don't require
> > description. Sorry about that.
> >
> > Regards
> > Guy Gibbon
> > wwww.gibbonmm.com.au
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Peter Shute
> > Sent: 03 December 2013 09:24 AM
> > To: Guy Gibbon
> > Cc: John Leonard;
> > Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Pizzey and Knight app
> >
> > Guy, is the one degree square based on "whole degree" coordinates, or is
> it
> > half a degree either side of the chosen location? I.e could your location
> > turn out to be close to the edge of the square?
> >
> > How do I access birding site lists from the map? I worked out I can
> display
> > their locations by tapping the binoculars symbol. What then?
> >
> > Peter Shute
> >
> > Sent from my iPad
> >
> >> On 3 Dec 2013, at 5:47 pm, "Guy Gibbon" <> wrote:
> >>
> >> Peter is correct.
> >>
> >> The bird lists are based on bird distributions within your selected
> >> one-degree square, and represent what you may reasonably expect given
> >> a full range of habitats and long period of observation. Vagrants are
> not
> > included.
> >> I think of them as 'maximum potential' lists, as opposed to observed
> >> lists which represent limited areas, habitats and observation times.
> >> In an Australian context the degree square is quite a small area, but
> >> does mean that coastal areas may have a mix of inland, coastal and
> >> even sea birds on the list. The lists are however intended as
> >> shortlists to 'work from' in making your own list, and avoid having to
> >> scroll though 900 species when doing so.
> >>
> >> The birding site lists are also available from the My Location map,
> >> and these use a smaller area for the lists. I will however look into
> >> using a smaller distribution area for an app update. Perhaps we can
> >> refine those lists a bit more. And yes, you do have to select an area to
> > get a bird list.
> >> This is done by either selecting 'current location', or using the drop
> >> pin for a new location.
> >>
> >> As an aside, the Windows PC app has additional functionality in that
> >> you can 'draw' a much smaller area, colour in a larger area, or trace a
> > route.
> >>
> >> Regards
> >> Guy Gibbon
> >> wwww.gibbonmm.com.au
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From:
> >> On Behalf Of Peter
> >> Shute
> >> Sent: 03 December 2013 06:30 AM
> >> To: 'John Leonard';
> >> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Pizzey and knight app
> >>
> >> I think it generates the list for the the one degree "square" of
> >> latitude and longitude of your position, which works out to about
> >> 100km square at that latitude, so you should certainly get more than
> > coastal species listed.
> >> I think you also have to nominate the location of that "square", so
> >> perhaps something went wrong with that too.
> >>
> >> Peter Shute
> >>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From:
> >>> On Behalf Of John
> >>> Leonard
> >>> Sent: Tuesday, 3 December 2013 2:40 PM
> >>> To:
> >>> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Pizzey and knight app
> >>>
> >>> As I and tahini in ulladulla over Xmas I decided to use this app to
> >>> generate a list to remind me of coastal species to keep a look out
> >>> for.
> >>>
> >>> The app generated a list of 183 spp, but early in the alphabet it
> >>> listed
> >>>
> >>> Bellbird, Crested
> >>> Bowerbird, Western
> >>> Buzzard, Black-breasted
> >>>
> >>> I tried it again, and it returned a list of 0 species :-(
> >>>
> >>> John Leonard
> >>> ===============================
> >>>
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> >>>
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