[obol] Plaudits for Oregon Birds Field Notes

[david tracy]

Greg, OBOL:

I agree that the new field notes in Oregon Birds by Dave Irons  
deserve major kudos.  What he has done is invaluable in that it  
teases out the nuances and trends from the large amount of raw field  
notes data that is generated each season.  His report adds another  
layer on top of the work our regional compilers have been doing for  
the past several years, while at the same time boiling things down to  
something manageable and interesting.

As mentioned in the article, the raw field notes are compiled in a  
database format.  There are over 5000 entries for the spring 2006  
season from 9 regions.  We are certainly fortunate to have Dave's  
expert knowledge of Oregon birds to give perspective and insight into  
what is relevant and noteworthy among all these mind-numbing columns  
of data.  The raw database files will be uploaded to the OFO website  
(www.oregonbirds.org) in the next couple days, probably in .pdf  
format which can be viewed using Adobe's free viewer.   For those  
with more interest, the field notes data is compiled in Excel format,  
which we can provide upon request.  This is just the first small  
change in the way OFO will be utilizing our website for this kind of  
purpose.  More changes will be unveiled in the near future, stay  
tuned...

dave



david tracy
davect at bendnet.com

----Original Message----

Subject: Plaudits for Oregon Birds Field Notes
From: "Greg Gillson" <greg AT thebirdguide.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 17:54:51 -0700
OBOL,

I would like to applaud the change in format to the field notes  
section in
Oregon Birds (Dave Irons, "Field Notes: Spring 2006 - Statewide Season
Report", Oregon Birds 32(3):121-129). The change from a long list of  
names
and numbers to a format that explains the trends and significance of
sightings is far more readable, informative, enjoyable, and usable to a
wider audience.

And I can think of no better person than Dave Irons to author the first
article in this new format. His 30 years of experience with the birds of
Oregon and the US are invaluable in discerning long-term trends and  
regional
significance.

I was unable to find the link on the OFO web site to the referenced web
article (Gross, et al., 2007). I look forward to seeing how research is
affected using the promised electronic detailed field notes.

Thank you!

Greg Gillson
The Bird Guide, Inc.
greg AT thebirdguide.com
http://thebirdguide.com

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