5-Mile Radius "orphaned" eBird Hotspots
Work your patches, know where to find the birds within those patches, where they nest, when they arrive and depart, and know when something is different. Know the habitat and how it changes over time. Work your patches!
That is mantra I had in mind when I decided that I was going to adopt of all of the eBird Hotspots in my 5-mile radius patch. I had noticed, when researching areas to bird within my patch, that there were two Hotspots with 1 checklist and less than 15 species and another 16 Hotspots with less than 50 species. This isn't even to mention the other great birding spots which aren't eBird Hotspots. I felt bad for these under birded spots. Why should they not get the attention of other more popular spots? What birds are hiding in those spots which were being missed by those of us at the popular spots?
The first thing I did was create a snapshot of the current situation of the Hotspots in my patch. I went through each one and, in a Google Sheet, ordered them by how many species had been eBirded at each one. I also am keeping track of the amount of checklists which each Hotspot has as well. The smallest was Ludlow St pond at 2 species while the highest was Gilsland Farm at 254. My initial thought is to start by getting every one of them up to 50 species. Once I get those initial 18 Hotspots up to 50 then I'll start to focus on getting the 46 Hotspots below 100 up to the 100 mark.
In addition to working these "orphaned" Hotspots, I have created a list of parks, land trusts, cemeteries, farms, and other potential Hotspots that I will start exploring with an eye to suggesting them as official Hotspots or at least adding them to my list of spots to start working.
Now each day when I go out the bird, if there isn't a rarity I'm chasing then I swing by the Hotspot at the bottom of the list with an eye towards getting it higher. So far, I've gotten the 2 lists under 15 up over the 15 mark and am working on getting the lowest ones up to the 50 mark.
Further, because I've been exploring new areas, I've found not only some new birding spots but also some fun birds. At the Ludlow St pond, I pished up two kind-of-late Orange-crowned Warblers and at a local high school football field, I had a flock of Evening Grosbeaks fly over. I'm curious to see what else I find in my new endeavor.
Comments
Do you have a picture showing the area within your 5 mr? I have so many stops I don't think I could bird them all. I know some of them are not very good.
This one shows personal and hotspots I have birded, but it gives a good sense what is around. This one is just the area.
What about you? Do you have a picture of your area? I'm curious to see what other people are working with.
How did you create those maps?
This should get you started on creating a 5-mile radius map. And this one should help you figure out how to map your eBird. If they are both still up to date. I haven't checked them in a while.
Unfortunately Google Maps has started charging all these open maps groups using their maps to create stuff and they have had to shut them down.
Try this one. With a screen shot you should be good to go.
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