Hi Tweeters & Inland-NW Birders-

A late update to the county checklist. I've returned from a summer
out of town and updated the excel sheet based on the Summer 2005
edition of Washington Birder that came out a couple months back.
Sorry for the delay -- on the upside, if anyone wants info in
preparation of a trip to China [birding or otherwise], drop me a
message.

The newest version of the excel-based county-by-county checklist of
Washington birds is available online. The excel file can be found
at: <http://www.wos.org/CountyList.htm>www.wos.org/CountyList.htm
(thanks WOS & Michael Hobbs for hosting).

This version is based on the latest issue of Washington Birder [vol.
13 #2]. Changes include the addition of Glossy Ibis to the state
list, county firsts, and a full update of the data for Island County.
Note that the latest changes have not yet been included, but will be
when they are written up in the next issue of WABirder. This includes
the addition of the Red-necked Stint, as well as the lumping of the
Wagtails - and anything else I've missed this summer!

If you are looking for a quick reference for how common a given
species is in any county, this excel file can be handy. Further, if
you are interested in keeping track of your county lists, this file
works as a checklist for each county and the state as a whole.

Thanks again to the Knittle's for making this data available in
Washington Birder, and thanks to those who have sent questions,
comments or suggestions. Let me know if you have any problems working
with the sheet or ideas for changes.

Finally, for anyone already using the old file who wants instructions
on how to transfer your information from that one to this new one,
read on (for everyone else, I'd recommend skipping the dry
instructions that follow):


Short version: Use the "Old AOU order" to sort your old file. Add a
blank line the where new species will be inserted. Copy color-coded
cells portion of old file, and paste "values" only into the new file
[using paste-special].

Longer Step-by-step Explanation:

1. Download newest file from webpage [save under a different name
than your own file]

2. Open both the new file and your old one.

3. Make sure old and new files are sorted according to column C
"older AOU ordering." To do this, select the entire file and click
'sort' from the 'Data' menu. Check the box for Header Row, then
select 'older AOU order' in the top box, with the default setting of
Ascending selected.

4. On your[old] file, insert a blank row where a new species will be
added. For example, to make space for Glossy Ibis, insert a row
beneath White Ibis and above White-faced Ibis.

5. On your [old] file, highlight all of the cells that have the color
coding in them and press control-C to copy this section. In the
present file (once you've added the blank rows for the new state
species) this would be all the cells from E4 to AR490.

6. Click on the E4 box of the new file, and then choose 'paste
special' from the edit menu. In the dialogue box that opens, select
'values' under the paste section [instead of 'all']. It is important
to paste only the values -- otherwise you will bring over all the old
color codes too!

7. All your data should be pasted into the new file. Do some double
checking to ensure the formulas are adding up to the same numbers
they did in the old file. Also check to be sure you haven't brought
over the old color codes [check a county first like the Lewis Co.
Red-throated Loon].

That should do it.

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA
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