Coordinating a CBC is a lot like herding cats.

I don't think changing the "personality" of individual counts
is possible (wholesale change at any rate), because the folks
who participate come in with expectations and those expectations
are not centered on counting Song Sparrows and House Finches
(better examples, I think, then Starlings). And I routinely get
subtle grumbles from regular participants because they've been
stuck in the same area they did last year.

The Columbia Estuary count, which I've been compiling since
1989, averages 20 observers. I doubt I'll be able to permanently
increase participation. If one demands a fixed minimum
participation or fixed minimum coverage of the circle then most
counts in Cascadia will cease to exist. CBC's will only represent
large urban centers and one or to "special" wild(ish) areas that
are close enough to urban centers or likely to produce cool enough
birds to attract participants.

The single most useful change that can be instituted, in my
opinion, is training, not just training in December, but a year
round effort. And if the National Audubon Society has become
to focused on corporate bottom-lines and litigation to take this
on, then we need to look to other organizations.

I remember one year, Alan Contreras, setting out to count every
Fox Sparrow in the count he was compiling. There was method in
that madness; using the competetive nature of birders in a targeted
way. More Song Sparrows got counted in the process of going
for the Fox Sparrow record. It also explains the roots of my
fascination with sparrow habitats.

I still prefer spending my CBC day in a good sparrow patch
counting Song Sparrows and kinglets.

--
Mike Patterson Alas, to wear the mantle of Galileo,
Astoria, OR it is not enough to be persecuted
celata at pacifier.com by an unkind establishment,
you must also be right.
---Robert Park
http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html