<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;">Hi Jim —<div><br></div><div>If you're interested in targeting a specific species in Washington, you might want to consider the Washington Birder’s Dashboard (<a href="https://birddash.net/us/wa/">https://birddash.net/us/wa/</a>).</div><div><br></div><div>It’s a great tool with a <u>very user-friendly front end</u>, and is essentially a compilation of all bird species seen in Washington (<u>and reported on an eBird list</u>) in the prior 14-day period. The tool makes it easy to zero in on rarities, but it’s also easy to focus on more common species.</div><div><br></div><div>Hope this helps.</div><div><br></div><div>Doug Santoni</div><div>Seattle, WA</div><div>Dougsantoni at gmail dot com</div><div><br id="lineBreakAtBeginningOfMessage"><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Jan 18, 2025, at 9:26 AM, Jim Betz via Tweeters <tweeters@u.washington.edu> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div><div>Hi,<br><br> I'm wondering what others do to target (seek out and find) a specific bird species?<br><br><br> I am -not- talking about rare/unusual birds ... I'm interested in viewing and<br><br> photographing species that are new to me.<br><br><br> I look on eBird and find pics and checklists and pay attention to the date and<br><br>location - usually I can find a few sightings here in Skagit that are from<br><br>approximately the same date. And the pics help to understand probable<br><br>habitat for a sighting. But going to the same location often does not<br><br>produce that bird - and usually is even an 'unbirdy' location. Even checking<br><br>recent checklists on eBird does not produce a high probability of finding<br><br>any particular species.<br><br><br> I do most of my birding alone, I'm 80 so I can't just go scramble up a<br><br>mountain easily. I'm pretty poor about birding-by-ear ... I hear the<br><br>birds (most of the time) but id-ing them is not one of my strong skills.<br><br>I don't carry a scope - I have a long lens on my camera and use it.<br><br>However, I usually find the bird visually before I use the camera. I go<br><br>birding about 3 to 5 times a week and usually for 3 to 5 hours -<br><br>always with my camera.<br><br><br> Is there something else that you do that I'm not doing?<br><br> - Jim in Skagit<br><br>P.S. An example of this kind of search is the Northern Pygmy Owl which I<br><br> just looked up today ... but have close to zero confidence I'd be able to<br><br> find one in even a week of birding.<br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>Tweeters mailing list<br>Tweeters@u.washington.edu<br>http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters<br></div></div></blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>