For the birds

[altivo]

So the monitor for this area came and sat in our driveway all afternoon, hoping to see that woodpecker. He didn't (no surprise, I'm sure it's many miles away by now) but he did see some other birds that I hadn't seen yet this year (yellow rumped warblers) or at all in this location (both the ruby and the golden crowned kinglet.)

He agreed that the holes in one of our dead oaks look as if they were likely made by a pileated woodpecker. There is one confirmed just about ten miles east of here, so it's at least possible.

I was horrified to find out this morning that my observation was echoed to more than one website as a "rare bird sighting" with links to a Google map that pointed right to our house and barn. This was apparently generated automatically by the ebird.org site where I reported the sighting. At least one other birder showed up during the day looking for the bird. I have altered my profile on the website to hide my name, and erased all the location information except township and county. I also removed that particular observation from my report, not because I don't still think we saw what I said we saw, but because I don't want to be pestered by people asking about it. I had planned to dump bird count information going back for more than ten years into that database, but now I'm more inclined to wipe out everything I'd already given them. This was a real backhand to the face that I didn't expect, and I don't like it one bit.

Comments

[moonhare]

Well that's invasive! I know they "mean well" but it's not something I'd want to find all over the internet.

Not totally related, but Dankin used to have a free email area on their site, and I used it to send a friend a note about a wonderful horse plush I had just bought. Thankfully (luckily) I didn't say anything that would be too embarrassing if printed in the local news, but something went wrong with their site not long after and all the emails became apparent and searchable by google. I found out when searching my nickname for cached activity.

[moonhare]

*snicker* a yogurt horse! That would be Dakin, of course of course!

[altivo]

Invasive is a good word for it. I went back and looked at the privacy statement on the site, which does say that location information will be shared but only in vague terms. To me it seemed to imply that it would be used for statistical purposes. Nothing about explicit "alerts" being published to other websites that could easily be traced to my real name and address. The changes I made got rid of the alerts and the location information, and concealed my real name. People were looking me up in the phone book and calling about it. I consider that just too pushy.

Actually, "Dankin" had me thinking of "Danskin" which led to costume imagery rather than plush. I loved Dakin critters but they were always on the small side. I have some cats here somewhere, but I don't remember horses. Whatever happened to them?

[hrrunka]

generated automatically

Bad site. I can see the value of collecting accurate location information for historical purposes, but publicising ICBM co-ordinates for alerts is asking for trouble. They really should not do that without your explicit consent. First there's your privacy. Even if the location had been somewhere public there's still the risk of disturbance of habitat, and disturbance of other wildlife by too many visitors. I'd say there's a case for never releasing co-ordinates any much more accurate than, say, a 6-character Maidenhead grid locator (though it would be better to use a scheme that's a bit more equal-area than that).

[altivo]

I agree. Their privacy policy doesn't make it clear that information will be spread to other web sites or that personal identities will be made so obvious. I had to work to figure out how to change it on the site too. They don't make it easy, but the observation is gone now and my identity is removed from the obvious realm. Those who already got so far as calling for permission to come look may still make the connection, but no one else will.

I won't be posting exotic observations there, either. Not that I see unusual birds very often, this is only the second in several years, Last spring four of us saw Lapland longspurs in a field on the southern end of the county. They should have been up in the arctic by then, and though they can be seen here in winter, they are not in breeding plumage as these were.

[hrrunka]

I think I'd be sorely tempted to put all data in a week or two late^*, just so that by the time it's noticed it's too late for the chasers...

^* However, it would be a record-keeping headache, at best, to do so...

[altivo]

We think alike. I've already decided that delaying data entry is good idea for this very reason.