Hi Tweeters & Inland-NW Birders-

I've just completed the latest update to the excel version of the WA
County Checklist , based on the Fall 2006 issue of WA Birder.

This 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.
14 #3]. With this issue, the taxonomic changes introduced by the
47th AOU supplement have been incorporated. The biggest change, of
course, is the splitting of the Blue Grouse into Sooty & Dusty Grouse
- the checklist now reflects the known range & abundance of each of
these species in WA. In addition, there are new scientific names for
several shorebirds & terns [and a reordering of each of these
groups], a new list location for the jaegers, and the all-important
switching of the order of Black-billed & Yellow-billed Cuckoo [part
of a larger resorting of the cuckoo family].

Other changes include the addition of Smith's Longspur and Ashy
Storm-petrel to the state list, a revised Yakima county list, and
other county firsts. Whew!

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. There
are now 3 different sort orders available - the 'old order' [the way
most books are still organized], 'newer order' [the short-lived order
that hasn't shown up in the field guides yet], and the 'newest order'
[AOU47-compliant]. As needed, the list can be sorted back & forth
between any of these. Eventually, I'll probably remove that 'newer
order' option, since it lasted only a short while....

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).

This time around, we've got to accommodate the addition of three new species:

Short version: Use the the same tax order to sort both your old file
and the new one. Add blank lines 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 both old and new files are sorted according to the same
taxonomic order - either the 'old' or the 'newer' one. 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' or 'newer AOU
order' in the top box, with the default setting of Ascending selected.

4. On your[old] file, insert blank rows [using the 'rows' option on
the Insert menu] where new species will be added. For example, to
make space for Ashy Storm-Petrel, insert a row beneath Leach's
Storm-Petrel. To add space for the Sooty/Dusky split, insert a row
beneath Blue Grouse. To make space for Smith's Longspur, insert a row
beneath Lapland Longspur.

Those changes will leave your data ready for transfer.

6. On your [old] file, highlight all of the cells that have the color
coding in them and press control-C to copy this section [or use the
'copy' option from the Edit menu]. In the present file (once you've
added the blank rows for the new state species and deleted the lumped
species) this would be all the cells from E4 to AR498.

7. Click on the F4 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!

All your data should be pasted into the new file.

8. Next, you need to fix your records for Blue Grouse. After the
'paste' you've just completed, all your old Blue Grouse ticks should
be sitting in the Dusky Grouse row. You'll need to move those that
are Sooty records down to the next lower row. For all but 3
counties, the decision is pretty simple, since only one of the 2
species is recorded - just move any ticks into the choice that has
color coding in it. For Kittitas, Chelan & Okanogan Co., you'll have
to first decide which grouse you saw, then mark the correct row as
necessary.

9. 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 Adams Co. Indigo Bunting].

That should do it.

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA

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