DURATION: How much time do I have to observe for? What is the minimum time?
- It can be as brief as you need to do a count/estimate of all the birds you can see in, on, above and very near the water. That might be just 20 minutes for some areas or even less, depending on how many birds, etc. It could be longer if you have to find and estimate large numbers of birds seen from different vantage points.
- If everything else was equal, we would ask for a morning count, for maximum comparability across locations, but even more important is the time when the gulls and other birds may congregate to feed in the water, often in the afternoon. So you are free to count at any time which is convenient for you, and hopefully when the most birds are in your area.
DISAGGREGATION: Should I break my location into 2 or more reports?
- Not unless you are counting across 2 or more discontiguous different areas of water. Just follow your common sense and we will accept however you do it. Just remember that somebody else may do this count next year or twenty years from now, so you need to include in your report a clear explanation of your location(s) geography, your viewing spots, and how you worked its waters, so that they can replicate your counting process.
HISTORY: What is the history of gulls massing in LIS?
- We are researching this, but a good place to start is the interesting 2012 post by Keith Mueller at his blog: New England Coastal Birds: Long Island Sound Barnacle Larvae Gull Feeding Blitz
