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Zoroark

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Posts posted by Zoroark

    Changes to Exotic Species in eBird

    in Birding News

    Posted · Edited by Zoroark

    7 minutes ago, Charlie Spencer said:

    @Zoroark, eBird updates ever fall.  It was either changed in 2022 as part of the exotix species changes, or this fall as part of the normal update.  You could check the update announcements for details. 

    This one just happened, though. The last news item was in October. I updated my signature a few days ago after adding the Long-tailed Duck (bringing it to 469), which was my last change to my year count (381). I then re-analyzed that Chihuahuan Meadowlark sighting and photo from 2020, which brought the life list count to 470, and I know I saw 470 on eBird. However, it now says 471, and my year list says 382.

    Screenshot from 2023-12-08 14-30-08.png

    • Like 1

    Changes to Exotic Species in eBird

    in Birding News

    Posted · Edited by Zoroark

    I think this is probably the best topic for this.

    I just noticed I gained a countable lifer, so I went looking through my list and found that the Swan Goose not only is now countable, but it's not even considered exotic. Is this normal, or is eBird updating something?

    BRDL

    in General Birding Topics

    Posted · Edited by Zoroark

    Using the list of 2,326 codes here, I whipped up some Python to tally up the letters. Here are the results.

    A - 873
    B - 667
    R - 639
    S - 634
    O - 588
    W - 582
    C - 581
    T - 533
    H - 453
    E - 450
    P - 448
    L - 410
    G - 404
    U - 402
    I - 339
    F - 250
    M - 245
    N - 239
    Y - 141
    D - 108
    K - 96
    V - 93
    J - 72
    Q - 35
    Z - 16
    X - 4

    So, ideally you'd want five codes that use every letter except JKQVXZ, with each code sorted by using as many letters towards the top of the list as possible. BARS (Barn Swallow) looks like the winner for best starting code if you aren't taking the other guesses or letter positions into account.

    Code: 

    codes = "ABDUABFLABTOACCAACFLACGOACHH..."

codecount = {}
for i in codes:
    if i in codecount:
        codecount[i] += 1
    else:
        codecount[i] = 1

for k, v in sorted(codecount.items(), key=lambda x: x[1], reverse=True):
    print(k + ' - ' + str(v))

    BRDL

    in General Birding Topics

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, lonestranger said:

    My first few guesses are intended to elimitate as many groups of birds as possible.

    That's a good process. There are some spoilers here, so rather than highlight half this post in white, I'll just quote it.

    Quote

    I have four codes I usually start with, and I go through them until I have enough yellows, or especially greens in weird places, to confidently start guessing.

     

     

     

    RWBL
    PEFA
    CONI
    THGU

    If I change RWBL to RSBL, I can additionally get KWQD as a fifth code without duplicating any letters:

    RSBL
    PEFA
    CONI
    THGU
    KWQD

    This leaves six letters I haven't used after five guesses: JMVXYZ. Ideally, I'd prefer getting either M or Y in before using the Q. V is fairly common as well, but typically with a vowel.

    Unlike Wordle, where you can guess up to 25 out of 26 letters before you must make a final guess, with BRDL you can only guess 20 letters, and many of the "words" don't have any vowels or follow any language rules like English. I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to take all the codes and figure out which letters are most common; I doubt it'll be anywhere close to ETAOIN SHRDLU. Then you could make an ideal order of codes to work through.

    • Like 1

    BRDL

    in General Birding Topics

    Posted

    BRDL 682

    🥚🥚🥚🪶
    🪶🥚🥚🥚
    🥚🪶🥚🥚
    🥚🥚🥚🥚
    🐦🐦🐦🐦

    I have photographed this bird before.

    I don't even consult my field guide because it's often not an ABA area bird. Lately, I've been punching in the same few codes at the start (not always in the same order), only changing it up when I see yellows.

    • Like 1

    Eponymous Names Changing

    in Birding News

    Posted · Edited by Zoroark

    31 minutes ago, Jerry Friedman said:

    Trivia question: Which birds on the ABA list have personal names in the origin their names but are not directly named after people?  E.g., Carolina Wren, named after Carolina, named after King Charles I.  There are also ABA birds whose names include parts that originated as human nicknames (not things that sound like human nicknames).

    I think most of the place names are going to be left alone, even though a few of them are also dubious (e.g. Cape May Warbler) or overly specific. Otherwise, what about all those "American" birds?

    Back to Southern California

    in Birding Trips

    Posted

    31 minutes ago, IKLland said:

    Isn’t Joshua tree such an amazing place?! 

    Definitely. I've been there a few times, and it's fascinating to see all the desert flora and granite formations. Unfortunately, it was quite busy when we went, enough that some of the parking lots were overflowing.

    Plenty of people weren't heeding the warnings at the cholla garden: wandering off the trail, walking their dogs, picking up fallen segments with their bare hands, children running wild... As we were leaving, I heard one of the folks off the trail shout in pain. I've had multiple family members get stuck with cholla segments, and it's apparently extremely painful.

    • Sad 1

    2023 Year Lists

    in General Birding Topics

    Posted · Edited by Zoroark

    You folks on the California coast have it easy. 😁

    Anyway, between the California trip and two lifers today (see the checklist thread), I'm at 380 countable for the year (381 with both PSFL/COFL). That's already more than last year, but I can almost certainly count the remaining birds for the year on one hand. There are three other active vagrants I haven't gotten this year:

    • Rufous-backed Robin at Corn Creek
    • Long-tailed Duck at Willow Beach (potential lifer)
    • White-winged Scoter at Willow Beach (potential lifer)

    Other uncommon birds for December that are still absent from my year list:

    • Burrowing Owl
    • Cackling Goose (hasn't been seen since October)
    • Cactus Wren
    • Sagebrush Sparrow (potential lifer)
    • LeConte's Thrasher (potential lifer)
    • Merlin

    There are plenty of other scarcities that show up from time to time. I've got tomorrow plus four more weekends.

    I will again state that I don't really plan to care about my year list in 2024, but we intend to get our passports soon, so perhaps an international trip might change my tune. Or perhaps not.

    • Like 4

    Your checklist of the day!

    in General Birding Topics

    Posted

    A Greater Pewee had been reported an hour and a half away as the second state record. I knew what I had to do this weekend. It was very little trouble finding the bird with its extensive vocalizations. A photo and audio recording were a slam dunk. I played tag with several birders hitting hotspots on the way back home in an attempt to also add a Tropical Kingbird to the county list. (I failed.) I did, however, snag an additional lifer with a Ferruginous Hawk (with an awful photo).

    The important list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S155598695

    The whole day: https://ebird.org/tripreport/175900

    • Like 4
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