<div><div dir="auto">Jim,</div><div dir="auto">I’d like to offer some advice:</div></div><div dir="auto">When you go birding, try not to spend your time in your phone. Merlin is a good tool but it’s not as good as your mind. </div><div dir="auto">Spend as much time as you can in the field paying full attention to everything you see and hear. Don’t worry about identifying everything, but be super curious. Keep a notebook in your car and write down sightings, questions that came to mind, notes about the weather, other wildlife seen, etc. When you get back home, get on your phone or computer and find the answers to your questions. </div><div dir="auto">What you are doing here is building up your birding database, which will serve you well for the rest of your life. It takes time, so have patience and enjoy! </div><div dir="auto">Regards,</div><div dir="auto">George Miller </div><div dir="auto">Longview </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Jul 9, 2024 at 01:34 Rob Faucett via Tweeters <<a href="mailto:tweeters@u.washington.edu" target="_blank">tweeters@u.washington.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204)"><div dir="auto">Jim - This is very cool. And perhaps more imptly I think it might be useful to the Merlin project managers. <div><br></div><div>Keep it up!!</div><div><br></div><div>Rob<br id="m_4159767306562785150m_645988874122361466lineBreakAtBeginningOfSignature"><div dir="ltr">—<div>Rob Faucett</div><div>+1(206) 619-5569</div><div><a href="mailto:robfaucett@mac.com" target="_blank">robfaucett@mac.com</a></div><div>Seattle, WA 98105</div></div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Jul 8, 2024, at 1:16 PM, Jim Betz via Tweeters <<a href="mailto:tweeters@u.washington.edu" target="_blank">tweeters@u.washington.edu</a>> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">
</div></blockquote></div></div><div dir="auto"><div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">
<p>Hi again,</p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">
</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> So here is the latest update on my adventures into birding by ear ...</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">
</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> I went to a location (The "Upland Trail" at Padilla Bay) that I've been going to</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">this summer. I was seeing and hearing about the same number of birds as</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">before ... and I was there at approximately the same time. This location has</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">a lot of times when you are out in the open (grassy fields) and then also a lot</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">of times when you are in the forest/understory - but also a lot of time when</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">the ability to view/look around is seriously impeded by brush/small trees.
</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> But! Using Merlin it 'found' no less than 38 different species. Of those</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">5 or 6 were "uncommon". So using Merlin Sound ID to 'discover what might</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">be around' is definitely good.</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> A couple of gotchas however ...</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">
</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> 1) Many of the birds SoundID found were never seen visually. I even spent</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> quite a bit of time sitting on one of the many benches and watching the</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> area and my phone to see if I could find the birds visually. I would say that</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> about half were never seen in the entire 2+ hours.</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">
</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> 2) I found it quite disconcerting that SoundId often did not hear bird calls</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> that I was hearing -very- clearly. I could hear the bird calling/singing</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> but SoundId never flagged them on my phone. It didn't flag anything at</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> these times.
</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">
</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> 3) A lot of the "never seen" birds (see #1) were also flagged ... when I</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> heard nothing at all. Is my hearing really that bad? I intend to test</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> this more ... even enlisting the help of others to confirm that they</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> "heard nothing/something" when I heard nothing and SoundId flagged.</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">
</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> 4) I have added several new (to me) bird songs/calls that I had been</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> hearing all along - but didn't know which bird it was.
</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">
</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> So, overall I am finding SoundID to be a very useful tool for learning bird</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">songs/calls.</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> - Jim</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">
</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">P.S. I got a very long look at a nestbox occupied by a family of Tree Swallows</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> where the adults were zooming here and there after insects and then</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> returning to the box to feed the young bird who had its head stuck out of</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> the hole and was blocking the entire hole. At one point I briefly thought I</span></p>
<p><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> saw a probable second young behind and above its head.
</span></p>
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