Guidelines for the Field Trip Leaders
for the 2008 SCBC Big Year
1/14/08
Our leaders play a huge role in making our Big Year effort a success. Thank you!
Your efforts in leading a trip are key to the effort, but so is your attention to keeping track of the birds and reporting your findings. Please give consideration to these guidelines, and help especially with prompt reporting and updating of our lists on the web page.
Our main hope for the Big Year effort is that it will be fun for all involved, including birders who do not get out much but are following along vicariously. Species will be relatively easy to add early in the year, but increasingly harder as the year goes on. Not all trips will add new species for the overall list, but all trips can be great experiences for the participants, and many will give folks a chance to find new birds or add to their personal year list, county list, or life list!
See the end of this document for contact info and URLs.
Field Trip Guidelines and the Trip List
► What counts?
Any species found in Santa Cruz County on an advertised SCBC field trip. Advertised trips are those printed in the Albatross, or announced in some other fashion deemed acceptable to the Big Year planning team.
The “official” list of species for each individual trip includes those species recorded from (1) the time people begin to gather at the meeting place (“where two or three are gathered…”), even if this is somewhat earlier than the advertised meeting time, until (2) there is a formal conclusion and final parting of ways of the participants.
Species are included at the leader’s discretion. Species seen/heard by only one person count if the leader is satisfied with the report. The county bird records keeper will vet significant rarities, as usual.
Species seen while traveling from place to place during a trip count!
► What if a trip is cancelled and the leader wants to reschedule?
Simply pick another available date, post the information to MBB and send it to Barry for the web page. Be sure not to conflict with another already scheduled trip!
► What if the leader is the only one who shows up?
The leader may bird the areas s/he planned to visit and submit a list, even if no one else shows up for the trip. Similarly, if the leader fails to show up, then the participants may assume leadership and report accordingly.
► Any special target species?
Many trips are planned to try for certain species, and leaders are generally aware of what is hoped for on each trip. However, David will try to highlight any special needs as the year progresses, pending on what we need to find and what has been turning up.
► Please promote the Bird Club!
Make it a point to be welcoming and on every trip please be sure to warmly encourage any non-members to join the Bird Club!
Reporting
► How do I report Birds?
Following each trip, the leader is requested to fill out a checklist on the web page:
http://www.coincidence.net/birdsightings/default.taf?action=birdSighting
Bookmark the URL, or simply click on the photo of the oystercatcher to get to the entry screen. Use the pull down menus to identify the leader, general destination (may be just a first location for a wide ranging trip), and please include some brief, basic notes in the comments section (e.g., destinations, highlights, weather, # participants).
Please look over the list of species twice to make sure you have checked off everything that was seen on the trip. Be sure and save the info when you are done. If you need to make an edit after you save the entry page, send the changes to Barry and he will do it. Direct questions about data entry and the web page to Barry.
Please be timely in making a report on the web page, ideally the same day or the next day. If you will not be able to do it for several days or more, consider delegating the task to someone else, especially another SCBC trip leader who is already familiar with the reporting process.
We want a report for every trip! Even if there is nothing new, please file a report!
► What about narrative reports usually printed in the Albatross?
Due to the volume of trips, we have decided to probably forgo including most individual trip reports from Big Year trips in the Albatross. Instead, each issue of the Albatross will have a Big Year update, reporting on progress, highlights, lowlights, etc.
* * * But leaders are encouraged to prepare a narrative summary that we can add to the web page. See here:
http://www.santacruzbirdclub.org/Trip_Write-ups.html
These give an opportunity to provide some “color” and share more about the trips than would be included in the brief “comments” section when you fill out a trip list. Summaries should be not more than 475 words. Email them directly to Barry and also please cc a copy to Judy our Albatross editor so she can have the report in the event that she’d like to use it.
► Photographs?
If you can to take digital photos of people birding on your trip (or lunching, or otherwise having fun), that would be great! Please send good images (with a date and caption) to David for the history archive and David can forward some for possible use on the web page and in the Albatross.
► Contacts
Webmaster: Barry McLaughlin barry@coincidence.net
Field Trip Coordinator: Phil Brown phil@brown-herceg.com
Big Year Planning “Czar”: David Suddjian dsuddjian@aol.com
Albatross Editor: Judy Donaldson calqua@sbcglobal.net
Big Year Web page:
http://www.santacruzbirdclub.org/The_Big_Year.html
Reporting entry page: http://www.coincidence.net/birdsightings/default.taf?action=birdSighting
