Date: 1/5/25 2:39 pm From: Richard Littauer <richard.littauer...> Subject: [VTBIRD] Counting all the Scaup
Hey all,
It's been good to see all of the reports from Addison County this year! There's often a rush around this time as people try to get new birds for the year. There is a Tufted Duck in the large scaup rafts, so good luck finding it.
When logging Scaup rafts, it'd be great if people could add a short note about how they got to the amount that they put in their checklist. "It looked like a thousand" isn't all that helpful, as is "Large raft." Something like, "Counted small group to 50, and then used that to chunk the rest", or "Counted by 100s", or "Counted to 128, and then 76 flew in" - all of those are good. I am trying to ensure that if numbers change over the years that we can reliably show that in the data. Scaup may not be on the lake in 50 years, so this counting information is really important.
Another note: eBird does not care about state lines when it comes to counting birds. If you see birds from the bridge that are on the Vermont side, great; but if you also see a large raft in the far distance near New York, those also should be counted or guessed at. eBird asks observers to count all birds where they are, not just in their jurisdiction - unlike the CBC counts, which ask people to only count birds within the circle or their own part of the circle. If all birds haven't been counted (including birds in another state) , then please do not mark your checklists as "complete".
Happy to talk this over at length with anyone, and thanks all for being patient as I've been emailing many asking for notes on counting.
