...much appreciated - almost to a person, each message began with an explanation with what "Anonymous eBirder" comes from and means on the eBird checklist instructions - I had no idea that there are many folks who choose, for a variety of reasons, to submit their data in 'public privacy'. The eBird post reviewers do know who each of these AE people are, so that, should any post not meet eBird standards, they can and do let submitters know, and then remove the post - if the poster has more substantiation of the post info or can otherwise 'fix' the problem, I guess they can resubmit.
I also was glad to hear that the sightings of both the Great Gray Owl (Skagit Co.) and the Indigo Bunting (Snohomish Co.)
Beyond this issue, the rest was and is, a matter of opinion. After reading everyone's responses, I now find myself thinking that, should I ever decide to submit a sighting or 2 to eBird, I will likely join the 'no-name' group, mostly for personal security reasons. In my opinion, those individuals with the technical know-how, certainly can wiggle in to the system, be it for nefarious purposes or some "just because" reason. However, because I personally am not likely to come upon a rarity, nor am I interested in spending much, if any time, recording data or being involved in competitive birding, my appearance on eBird is highly improbable. I will continue to write my occasional reports to submit to Tweeters and/or to my nature-loving friends, purely for enjoyment. I will now have to control, even more than I already have been, the urge to share raptor sightings with everyone - you can always write to me privately and extract a bite of extra info that wasn't mentioned in the report you read :-)
As you've probably noticed, in the past couple of years there have been fewer and fewer reports of raptors on any of the lists, likely due to the popularity and sensitivity of quite a few of the species or the importance of not always broadcasting nest sites and the fact that there are big declines in populations of some raptors. Besides a reduction in postings, I do know that many posters wait awhile to post about a sighting, sometimes for months, to protect a bird, or a property owner. or to keep the sighting to themselves. This approach is not always possible, especially in places that attract a lot of visitors or viewers, in general, but it does seem reasonable.
Thanks ever so, to the following respondents of my "hoaxer" post: John, Michelle, Carol, Kevin, Ryan, Josh, Michael C and Michael P, Ann Marie, and Marcus. A special thanks to Carol for all the helpful suggestions and info as to how to proceed on eBird, should I wish to submit myself to submission !


Barb Deihl
Matthews Beach Neighborhood - NE Seattle
barbdeihl at comcast.net