<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Hello all!<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Michael Hobbs and I have updated the WA Birder Excel spreadsheet and the one page county checklists for the new year.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The Excel checklist combines all the county codes in a sheet that allows you to tally your county totals [and do a bunch of other fun things]. Both the ‘enhanced’ version and the plain version are available at the Washington Birder website at:<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="http://wabirder.com/combined_county_list.html" class="">http://wabirder.com/combined_county_list.html</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">Worth noting: </b><span class="">Three years ago, we added a feature that allows you to generate a one page pdf of any county list with all your species checked off automatically.</span> This is a really cool addition Michael coded up and I think it makes entering your ’ticks’ into the spreadsheet even more worthwhile.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">In addition to a state first and many county firsts ,Franklin Kittitas and Klickitat counties had their codes updated.<br class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">Background</b>:</div><div class="">Every year since 2003 I've updated this checklist, adding new species and county firsts, and revising it to comply with the latest taxonomic updates produced by the AOU & ABA. [I guess this is year #21 for this effort!] This year, the taxonomic sequence changed a bit again —the only notable change was in the Wren order. In addition, the checkist can be sorted by the eBird sort order.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">If you are looking for a color-coded way to track your county lists and/or see how abundant any species is in a given county, give the list a try.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">With the 'enhanced' spreadsheet, you can generate county needs lists, see which counties you've seen or need any given species, and more. Instructions on using the spreadsheet are on the <a href="http://wabirder.com/combined_county_list.html" class="">same page</a> linked above.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Instructions on transferring your data from an older copy of your spreadsheet to the new one are included at the website as well.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">The one page pdf blank county checklist</b>s are available at the following link: <a href="http://wabirder.com/county_map.html" class="">http://wabirder.com/county_map.html</a></div><div class=""><div class="">If you want to move away from the screen and enjoy some time filling in checks on a list, print out a few county lists and start marking it up.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div class="">A summary of all the new “County Firsts” is available at this link: <a href="http://www.wabirder.com/county_firsts.html" class="">http://www.wabirder.com/county_firsts.html</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">Finally, a reminder that your 2022 totals are due</b> <b class="">by the end of January</b>— I’d encourage everyone to take some time and fill out the portions you track. It is always a great community event to pull this info together into one annual report we can share. </div><div class="">List Report (and Big Day) forms are available on the Washington Birder website: <a href="http://www.wabirder.com/forms.html" class="">http://www.wabirder.com/forms.html</a>.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">We look forward to feedback or suggestions, and would be happy to help troubleshoot problems if you run across them.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Matt Bartels</div><div class="">Seattle, WA</div></div></div></body></html>