eBird patches

[paulos]

I have been making a lot of use of the "Patch" feature on ebird, especially since moving to the Cariboo. Because our area is so vast and there are roads in almost every direction, I've divided my usual birding areas into several patches to track the total. But I had been using this in Chilliwack and Creston as well.

In Chilliwack, I made a patch for the highlands between the Fraser Valley and Chilliwack River Valley (so from Promontory to the Cheam Range, especially my old home in Ryder Lake). When I left Chilliwack I was to 152 species there.

In my year and a half in Creston I managed 220 in my Creston Valley patch.

My current main patch is 100 Mile House to Lac la Hache (I live right in the middle near 108 Mile Ranch). This has a lot of shallow lakes with breeding ducks, relatively dry Douglas Fir forest and Aspen parklands. Songbird-wise, I have to head east to find more warblers. I'm to 196 at the end of this year. But building up my patch list adds a new dimension to local birding. I'd be excited for a Goshawk, a Spotted Towhee, or a Veery in my home patch even though I have seen them elsewhere nearby.

I also frequent the area east and south of 100 Mile House, from Lone Butte to Interlakes. There are a ton of wooded lakes and some of the best songbird habitat around, but it is a struggle to find shorebirds.

The Green Lake/70 Mile House area is much more barren, with short pines from fires and logging and lots of aspen parklands. Green Lake itself has lots of surprises, with regular Long-tailed Ducks. One lake nearby has breeding Avocets and one visiting Black-necked Stilt. Mynumber there sits at 126.

My goal next year is to focus on the area east and north of 100 Mile House, from Forest Grove to Mahood Lake and North. This is the lowest elevation area nearby, and some of the lakes have a great diversity of songbirds. Occasionally I have found shorebirds on a couple of flooded fields and the edge of Canim Lake. This is an area where I hope some boreal species might show up, given the range of altitudes and the transition to spruce-dominated habitats north of Canim Lake. Here's a map of the pretty large area:

Does anyone else use ebird patches?

[Chris]

I started using eBird patches before I went to the Peace but stopped when I went up there. I do have two on the go, Boundary Bay and Manning Park. When I was out at Boundary Bay I was thinking about how many species I have seen there. I never did check because I thought it will be too time-consuming to determine that. I forgot I had a patch so just checked and added a few more locations to the patch.

I do enjoy adding new species to hotspots such as Island 22, Cheam Wetlands, etc.

Thanks for the reminder I'll make a few for the Fraser Valley.

[Gord]

That's a feature I've not tried. Thanks for the reminder I'll give it a go.