Subject: [Tweeters] Washington County Year List Project 2017 summary & 2018 launch
Date: Mon Jan 15 21:04:10 PST 2018
From: dlmoor2 at coastaccess.com - dlmoor2 at coastaccess.com

Thanks to you Matt, and to Laurie and Ken Knittle for keeping us on
track....and my personal thanks to all of you who contribute to the
Grays Harbor County list by posting on eBird, Tweeters, or directly to
me. Your interest and help are greatly appreciated.

Dianna Moore

On 2018-01-15 7:52 am, Matt Bartels wrote:


> Hi Tweeters and INWBers -

>

> Here's the year-end report for the 2017 iteration of the county year list project. Results posted here:

> http://wabirder.com/county_yearlist.html

>

> Another year has wrapped in this project of compiling county year-lists to build up a snapshot of the state. For 12 years, we've recruited compilers from every county to keep track of sightings. The idea behind the project is to get behind the fun of individual county listing to compile a 'community' list -- rather than just birds seen by a single individual, we attempt to pull together birds seen by anyone over the course of the year. It provides one perspective on the birds of Washington in 2017.

>

> SOME RESULTS FOR 2017:

> 397 SPECIES WERE REPORTED STATEWIDE. That a little above average [395.3] and three higher than last year.

> 318 SPECIES FOR EASTERN WASHINGTON. That's our lowest total ever, and well below average [324.3]

> 366 SPECIES FOR WESTERN WASHINGTON. That's above the average [363.8] and two higher than last year.

>

> RECORD HIGH TOTALS were reported for ten counties: Clallam [306 - wow], Island [226], King [277], Lewis [203], Pierce [260], Snohomish [262], Chelan [235], Columbia [200], Ferry [206], and Whitman [224].

>

> 23 COUNTIES CAME IN WITH TOTALS HIGHER THAN LAST YEAR, 14 CAME IN LOWER, AND TWO REPORTED THE SAME RESULT HIS YEAR AND LAST.

>

> 28 COUNTIES HAD TOTALS HIGHER THAN THEIR 2006-2017 AVERAGE. 22 counties were within 10 species [+/-] of their average, a number lower than we're normally seen and a sign perhaps that this year had more volatility in the coverage &/or bird appearance.

>

> Another way to look at year-list effort is to compare a county's year list with the overall total for that county's list.

> SIX COUNTIES FOUND OVER 75% OF THEIR TOTAL COUNTY LIST THIS YEAR. This gives a little more attention to the surprisingly good year less-birded counties like Columbia, Ferry & Stevens had:

> Yakima [78.7%], Clallam [77.9%], Columbia [77.5%], Ferry [77.4%], Lincoln [75.2%], and Stevens [75.1%].

>

> SPECIES:

> 83 species were seen in all 39 counties, 166 were seen in 30 or more counties. At the other end of the spectrum, 30 species were reported in only one county this year. Ten of those 30 species were seen only in Clallam County - to give a sense of Clallam's recent stand-out status for rarities, the most 'solo ticks' any other county has is down at two.

>

> There really were no totally surprising misses this year - the only missing species that is not a Washington Bird Records Committee review-list species was Black-throated Sparrow - an erratic species in the state.

>

> In addition to the regular info at the link [http://wabirder.com/county_yearlist.html] , I've included a simple sheet that compiles the annual county totals for each county from 2007-2017-- if you'd like to see how any county has trended over the years, this is the sheet to study.

>

> 2018 compiling is underway, and I encourage you to look up the compiler for counties you bird in and send along unusual sightings -- most compilers are checking eBird reports already, but eBird still misses a good bit and we appreciate the help making sure we hear about these sightings. You can find a list of the compilers at the above link

>

> One more request: If you've read this far, and if you do any birding in Klickitat County [or would like motivation to do so this year] -- I'm looking for a compiler for Klickitat and would love to hear from you!

>

> Thanks to all the compilers who track each county, and here's to a fun and surprising 2018. If you notice anything not noted on the 2017 list, let us know and make a resolution to report your sightings to the compiler this year .

>

> Matt Bartels

> Seattle, WA

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