Nancy Taylor mentioned that her sighting records were stolen from her car at
Iona. I used to keep my first sightings of birds scribbled in the margin of
my field guide. Paranoid that I would loose the guide some day, I went ahead
and sprung for the Avisys computer program several years ago. It is now a
core part of my birding, I can easily tell which species I have seen where,
when and with who. I often generate a list of birds seen on a particular
outing and print or e-mail copies to birding companions. When I travel, I
can generate a "hit list" of life birds I haven't seen that are found in a
given state. I have a permanent record of my sightings, backed up onto
floppy disks.
A word of warning though, it can turn you into something of a lister.
Without Avisys (which automatically records these things) I would have no
idea I am 7 species away from 500 ABA area birds (but who's counting?)
For those interested, Avisys is available from the ABA or from the web site:
http://www.avisys.net/
I have no financial connection, just a satisfied user.

Jack Stephens
jstep02 at sprynet.com
Edmonds, WA