Last night I made of a Google map of the swan flock information reported to the listserv. I updated the trajectories and markers this morning adding some deductive/speculative text. Cayuga Bird Club 2013 CBC Swan flock map (click markers to read text – if you have a Google acct and log in you can add information to the map)
The evidence suggests some flocks were double and even triple counted, but as Ken pointed out there are still some things that don’t add up. Two pieces of information that would help complete the picture would be more description on the location and trajectory of the flock of 21 (@ ~2:45pm) seen by Marty’s group. I don’t have that flock on the map and it doesn’t seem like it could have been the same flock of 19 I had at 2:15 or Ken had at 2PM, which were plausibly the same flock. Also, any swan flock information from section V (Sandy’s section) would be useful in determining whether the 40 seen there were unique flocks or flocks that had already been counted. Anyone else who saw swan flocks on January 1st, please have a look at the map and see if your information matches or suggests additional unique flocks. As of now there is a fairly solid case for a minimum of 163 southbound swans on count day. This presumes that swan flocks that exited the city of Ithaca in southbound flight didn’t return. Bill E -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
