Date: 10/26/24 3:02 am From: Pam Hunt <biodiva...> Subject: [NHBirds] November cometh
I'm sure everyone has been wondering about the "November County Challenge," possibly even since last December 1, so rest assured it'll be back in just under a week!
For the uninitiated, the NCC is a friendly (?) intra-state competition wherein each of NH's ten counties vies for bragging rights relative to the number of species tallied in eBird during the month of November. Historically the winner has been determined based on the percentage of each county's ALL TIME species total found during the month. Over the last four years, the flaws in this system have become apparent, since counties with lower all time totals have a mathematical advantage and have tended to dominate the competition. This has led to some grumbling on the part of the more species-rich counties and bravado on the part of the less diverse ones (which, to their credit, have pulled out all the stops). Attempts to come up with a different system of scoring have so far come up short, but I'm going to try a couple of new things things this year. Specifically, I'm going to score based on THREE metrics and see if any of them results in a more even playing field as the contest proceeds. These are as follows:
1) All time species total (from eBird, 10/26/24) - the status quo
2) Maximum count from 2000-2023 (duration of the NCC)
3) Average count from 2000-2023
For reference, the table below lays out these numbers for each county:
County
All time
Max (4)
Ave (4)
Belknap
141
106
93
Carroll
155
107
100.25
Cheshire
168
111
102
Coos
140
94
87.5
Grafton
172
111
99.75
Hillsborough
172
112
108
Merrimack
190
119
110.5
Rockingham
273
177
170.5
Strafford
187
123
113
Sullivan
134
93
85.75
Statewide
307
207
198.75
There is just one core rule for the NCC: birds must be entered into eBird by the observer. In the past we've captured a few noteworthy records with a proxy, but I'd really like to avoid doing that in 2024. If you know some random person who finds a Common Eider in Coos County, for example, either go relocate it yourself or cajole the observer into using eBird.
Note that there is often something of a time lag for eBird to update totals for the month, and I'll be trying to provide contest updates at intervals that hopefully facilitate local birding efforts (e.g., right before the weekends). Rarities that end up in the eBird review queue will NOT show up on the county totals in eBird until they are approved, so there'll be another time lag there. Just bear with us. The whole point is to get people out birding during the shoulder season between fall migration and CBCs.
I'll now leave it to representatives from Belknap and Carroll counties to bluster as they see fit. Both have taken one of the top three spots in three of the four years of the CNC, with Sullivan close behind with two medals.
More later, and in the meantime enjoy the last few days of October...
Pam Hunt
Penacook
