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CBC proposal

I just ran across this on the Tweeter's (Washington State) list, and think it is relevant for all to think about going into this CBC season:

Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 17:21:35 -0800
From: Mike Patterson <celata@pacifier.com>
Subject: From the CBC Regional Editor: a modest proposal
To: Tweeters <tweeters@u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <437BDAF9.61F25999@pacifier.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

A modest proposal

Those of you who know me, also know how much I like to sit down at a spreadsheet and
generate statistics. Well, here's a dataset for you.

In the 2000-01 Christmas Bird Count season, counters in Oregon logged 10560.8 miles driving
around inside count circles. The average number of miles driven per count was 293.4 (with a
range between 46 and 613). According to the Audubon Database there were 2022 count run last
year (2004-05). Assuming the average miles from Oregon in 2000-01 is reasonable estimate
for all counts last year, that works out to 593165 miles. If I further assume 25 mpg for
the average vehicle used on these counts, that works out to about 24000 gallons of gas per
CBC season.

Again using the 2000-01 dataset, Oregon count participants logged 837 miles on foot, 20 on
motorized boats, 10 on non-motorized boats, 4 on a bicycle and about 35 on skis. Hopefully
most of you have figured out where I'm going with this.

I would like to ask count compilers to look hard at their circles and identify ways to cover
the same ground while reducing the number of car miles driven on their count. Are there
routes that could be done as efficiently by bicycle? Is there a bus route that could move
participants from bird spot to bird spot? Could a kayak or canoe cover an area as well as a
car on a roadway?

And I would like count participants to ask the same kinds of questions. Could I walk from
birdfeeder A to Birdfeeder B rather than drive? Could I ask Team B to pick me up on the way
to their area and drop me off at mine? Is there a non-automobile way for me to do my part
in the CBC?

I know what some of you are going to say... biking in December?

I've been doing CBC's since the early-70's. I've done them in snow. I've done them in gale
force winds with driving rain. I've done them while running a fever of 101°F. But I've
also done them on days when I had to worry about getting a sunburn. Obviously this request
is weather dependent. Not every participant is capable of spending the day on a bicycle or
doing a 20 mile hike. Not every part of a count circle can be practically done by any means
other than a car. But I can say from personal experience that much of what I choose to do
by car could just as easily be done on foot or by bicycle.

I can remember doing the Cottage Grove Count by bicycle way back when it still existed. I
was the only person who found Hutton's Vireo and White-throated Sparrow that year and it was
because, riding down the road, I could hear every chickadee flock, not just the ones at the
official stopping places. On foot or on a bicycle, stopping is almost never a problem. You
hear everything. Areas are covered more thoroughly, more birds get counted.

I think it's time to evaluate the way we do CBC's and make changes where changes make sense.
And to that end, I will be strapping my spotting scope to the luggage bar of my brand new
bicycle and taking it along on the CBC's I do. I'm going to try to cut my miles by car in
half, if not more. And only a gale force wind or a 101° fever is likely to get in my way.

--
Mike Patterson
Astoria, OR
celata@pacifier.com

Mark Stackhouse
www.westwings.com
mark@westwings.com
801-487-9453 (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
011-52-323-285-1243 (San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico)


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