Sunday, October 5, 2014

New eBird Filter for Muskegon Wastewater


I wanted to update the nature club on a substantial improvement to eBird relating to Muskegon.  As I laid out in our blogposts at the Team eBird Michigan blog ...

http://teamebirdmichigan.wordpress.com/

... we have been implementing a new set of filters for Michigan, breaking the state from just a handful of filters, each incorporating multiple counties (up to 15!) into a final tally of about 60 filters for the 83 counties.

But the news more relevant to Muskegon is that we just created and activated a new site specific filter for Muskegon Wastewater! This means that users will see far fewer unnecessary flags (things like high counts of Ruddy Ducks and Northern Shovelers [which only congregate in the thousands at Muskegon Wastewater], summering Redheads, and a slew of other species). The best way to view the filter is to begin entering a checklist for Muskegon Wastewater and look through the list of species that come up. Make sure to click the "show rarities" tab to see additional updates.

Some more examples of things I have updated just for the Wastewater filter, but not for the general Muskegon County filter:

Snow Geese - up to 200 allowed in fall
Trumpeter Swan - none allowed now, since it's locally rare there
Gadwall - 300 allowed in winter; used to allow just a handful
American Black Duck - 250 allowed in winter now
Northern Shoveler - 7,500 allowed at fall peak
Ruddy Duck - 13,000 allowed at peak (this is one of the peak sites in the US; counts higher than this will require some documentation of count methodology)
Eared Grebe - 7 in spring, 8 in fall; the only site in Michigan which allows more than 0)
Shorebirds - substantially relaxed filters compared to inland southern Lower Peninsula counties, especially for species like Red Knot, Sanderling, Ruddy Turnstone, Baird's Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, etc.)
Red-necked Phalarope - only site in Michigan where allowed - up to 20 in late Aug/early Sept
Common Raven  - allowed year round, up to 4 when family groups around
American Pipit - up to 500 in fall, one of best sites in Michigan
Swallows - all species except Purple Martin allowed at exceptional levels in August and into September
Grasshopper Sparrow - up to 35 during breeding season; highest filter in Michigan
Savannah Sparrow - up to 125 during fall when they are abundant on the roadside
Brewer's Blackbird - up to 50 during March -October, highest filter in Michigan
Orchard Oriole - up to 5 during breeding.

I hope you all enjoy this upgrade.  Comments and suggested changes are always welcome!

Good Birding,
Caleb Putnam

1 comment:

Ric said...

Caleb, thanks for changing the eBird filters and for posting this article. Having to explain normal Wastewater numbers for species like Horned Lark, Tree Swallow, and the waterbirds you've mentioned used to be a bit of a nuisance. Those of us who report to eBird appreciate your efforts!