Date: 4/16/26 7:30 pm From: Dan office mac 2025 <editor...> Subject: Linn wetlands (Washington County) and frustration with Merlin
Thursday, April 16
I went to the playa wetland northeast of Linn again this morning and spent quite a bit of time there, but only added a couple new species since yesterday:
2 Northern Pintail
1 Gadwall
7 Ring-billed Gulls
The surface area of the standing water did shrink. I did have to tolerate some local traffic flying by on their way to get coffee at Mo’s, but one adjacent neighbor stopped and I started listing off all the shorebirds for him and he was astonished, thinking there were just “birds” out there haha. This is a small enough town, I did know everyone who went by, and I’m sure they knew what I was doing there.
There was a notable decrease in white-faced ibis (only 2 found) and Pectoral Sandpipers (only saw 1). But both Hudsonian and Marbled Godwits were still present in huge numbers, which is unusual in this area. I’ve never seen so many. Also got good looks at American Golden Plovers on the ground rather than flying off while calling overhead.
I’ll be heading out there again late morning.
I did want to note my frustration with Merlin. I’m a big believer in learning to ear bird as a skill for birders. I’ve gotten pretty decent at it for birds that are generally around. But I have enjoyed using Merlin as more of an alert device, where I allow it to listen and then if it picks up something interesting, I’ll try to find it. I also like to spend time “fact-checking” its results, and this is where I’ve gotten really frustrated. The last couple days, I’ve almost had an experience where it is seemingly speculating what “should” be present rather than what is absolutely present. I should’ve kept the list, but it was dropping some identifications that I absolutely knew were not present. Like, they would have absolutely been present in different habitat a half mile away, but unless it has super hearing, there is no way it was correct.
This speculative nature is something I’ve experienced with AI when I’ve had “discussions” with ChatGPT. I don’t know. I like Merlin as a potential tool, but I think it has a long ways to go and I’m sad that new birders probably use it as a crutch rather than a tool. I’m very thankful I came into this hobby in an era where I had to rely on the little arrows on the Peterson field guide pages!
-Dan
Dan Thalmann
• Owner – Washington County News, Washington, Kansas www.backroadsnews.com
785-747-6980 (cell, feel free to text me)
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