Tweeters and Inland Birders,

There is a brand-new and very detailed online birding guide for Oregon at
http://birdingoregon.info . I haven't seen any mention of it yet on
TWEETERS, so here goes. Chuck Gates of the East Cascades Audubon Society was
instrumental in putting this together. I'm sure he will not mind if I
forward to TWEETERS the message he sent to OBOL about a week ago, announcing
the new guide.

P.S. to Judy Clinesmith: The Owyhee country of Oregon would be covered
under Malheur County, which has 44 birding locations (!!) mentioned in this
guide. It won't help for Owyhee County in Idaho, but at least this is a good
start.

Sincere thanks to Chuck Gates, the East Cascades Audubon Society, and all of
the many individuals that were involved in putting this tremendous resource
together.

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net



-----Original Message-----
From: obol-bounces at oregonbirds.org [mailto:obol-bounces at oregonbirds.org] On
Behalf Of Charles Gates
Sent: April-04-10 6:05 PM
To: obol
Subject: [OBOL] ECAS State-wide Site Guide is here

The East Cascades Audubon Society is excited to announce the completion of
their state-wide birding site guide. This guide directs birders to over
1000 birding locations throughout the state. Each location contains the
following information: DeLorme Map information, geographic coordinates for
those of you who use GPS technology, a Google Map which allows the viewer to
zoom in and out for maximum ease of viewing, a Google Earth link that will
give you a satellite view of the site (you can zoom in and out with this
tool as well), detailed written instructions on how to get to each site, and
a description of what kind of birding you might experience once you locate
the site. In addition, many sites have added links to resources like bird
lists, site brochures, or alternative activities which are site specific.

All sites are grouped by county. A state map is provided and access to
each county is achieved by clicking on the map for that county. Basic
information like elevation, county seat, top county listers, and documented
rarities are included at the top of each page. A county contact person has
been established for each county and this person, when emailed, will provide
assistance in birding the chosen county.

County checklists have been developed for each county. The checklists
come in two forms: a complete checklist of all documented species in that
county and a diluted checklist designed to be more useful in the field. It
is thought that the complete checklist will be used as a informational
resource by visiting birders and the diluted (brief) checklist will be used
as an actual field checklist. The diluted list lacks the county and state
rarities that are not likely to show up on an average birding trip to the
county. This allows for a much larger font and easier to use, printable
checklist.

This is only stage one of this project. An integration with birdnotes.net
promises to provide the user with access to additional utilities that are
useful to most birders. This process will begin almost immediately and
should be fully integrated fairly soon. Other items to be added include
species finding guides and "best sites" listings that will help those who
have limited time to bird a particular county. The web page is designed to
be a living document that will continually change as Oregon birding changes.
Input from the general birding public will be used to fine tune and add to
the overall document. Suggestions for additions, deletions, or changes will
be welcome.

To access the site, go to http://birdingoregon.info and click on the
county of your choice. Don't miss the additional resource information below
the site guide map. Here you will find information about local blogs,
birding projects, birding news, Oregon birding organizations, and all kinds
of birding information that will help improve your birding experience and
birding skills. It's sort of like having everything you need to know about
Oregon birding on one page.

We hope you will take a few moments and visit this site guide. No longer
will you have to ask for directions to the "birdiest" parts of the state.
It's all right here at your fingertips. Over a year's worth of hard work
has produced the most comprehensive state site guide in the country. We
hope you will enjoy it and participate in the process of keeping it
up-to-date and accurate.



Chuck Gates

East Cascades Audubon Society (formerly East Cascades Bird Conservancy)
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