USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Bird Banding Laboratory
12100 Beech Forest Road
Laurel, MD 20708-4037

MTAB 92:  MEMO TO ALL BANDERS

    NOVEMBER 2007

MEMORANDUM

To:      All Banders (Master Banders:  Please Forward to Sub-Permittees)

From:   Chief, Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL)       

In this issue:                                                                          
    1.  MTAB on BBL Website
    2.  People in the News
    3.  Permit Issues
    4.  Electronic Correspondence
    5.  Bandit
    6.  Web Encounter Reporting
    7.  Meeting Reports
    8.  Requests for Assistance
    9.  Amazing Record 
 
   1.   Please Note:  MTAB on BBL Website

This issue of the MTAB has been posted to the BBL website (see (www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/mtab/mtab.htm). To comment on the MTAB please contact us at BBL@usgs.gov or call us at (301) 497-5807. Previous MTABs and Notes to All Banders (December 2006 and March 2007) can also be found on our website.

   2.   People in the News 

DEPARTURES:
Wendy Manear, Encounter Data Processing Section Manager, left the BBL in June to return to her home state of Alabama. We wish her well in her new endeavors.

Kimberly Magruder, Wildlife Data Assistant in the Band Editing Section, left the BBL in June to work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Kim will be working with the Reward Band Study Program. We wish her well in her new endeavors.

Stacy Seamans, Biological Technician, has left the BBL in October to return to her graduate studies.

ARRIVALS:

Elbert Denkins joined us as a contract employee in September. He is a Monitoring Program Assistant working in the Editing and Permit sections.

Four senior high school students joined us in October through STEP (the Student Temporary Employment Project):  Sara Boyd, Anaga Nmuga, and Ria Price are from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt Maryland. Jonne Woodard is from Bowie High School in Bowie Maryland. They are assisting us with various clerical duties.

Susi Ponce, Biological Technician, returned in September following her summer work at Great Swamp NWR in New Jersey. She is working with auxiliary marker sightings and editing banding data.

Jorawar Singh joined us in September as our Data Base Administrator. He is well versed in Oracle and will be a valuable addition to our staff.

Jo Anna Leachman joined the BBL in October as our Encounter Data Processing Manager. She has a diverse background in bird banding, research, supervision, and project management and is IT savvy as well. She is originally from Kentucky and received her undergraduate degree in Biology from Berea College. After college Jo Anna participated in field studies of birds in Maine and Ohio, worked as an outdoor educator, and traveled extensively. Her graduate school education was from Frostburg State University. Her thesis work was done on nocturnal bird migration at the University of Maryland Appalachian Laboratory over the past 3 years. She also recently assisted with a large scale nocturnal bird migration study conducted by the USGS.

   3.   Permit Issues 

Reminder: It is the responsibility of the Master Bander to submit a signed application (http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/resources/forms/application.pdf) for renewal 30 days prior to the expiration of the permit. All delinquent data must also be submitted through Band Manager or Bandit. If we don’t hear from you, your permit will be inactivated. If you have any questions regarding renewal please refer to MTAB 89 and 90 (http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/mtab/mtab.htm).

Please be sure to include your permit number on all correspondence whether paper or electronic. If electronic, please include “Permit XXXXX” in the subject line.

  4.   Increased Electronic Correspondence 

We thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation in this matter as we further streamline our procedures. We encourage you to make suggestions that you feel will be helpful as we expand our changes to an almost paperless operation (send to bbl@usgs.gov ).

   5.   Bandit  

Everyone who is using Bandit should use version 1.03 and the Reference Manual which will answer most questions (http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/resources/bandit/index.html). Importing Band Manager data can be slow and we are working on improving the import time for the next release. We are also making other improvements to the software that will incorporate user-suggested enhancements. The next release should be available in spring 2008.We will notify banders of its availability at that time.

One problem we are routinely encountering is that data is not being submitted to the BBL when it appears to the bander that it has been sent. There are two common problems that can cause this:

• First, Bandit will submit only error free data. Some errors may be by-passed and that data will be attached to the submission file if you select “by-pass” for those records. It is easy to tell if a particular error may be by-passed because if it can’t, the program will not allow you to do so! In this case, you must correct the error. The Reference Manual does explain which errors may be by-passed and which ones must be corrected. To check for errors prior to submitting your data, click on the find function and type an asterisk (*) in the error text field. The program will sort through all the data and find the records that contain errors. Either correct or by-pass those errors and then when you submit your data, all of the records will be in the submission file.

• The second problem arises if you do not have your e-mail linked correctly to the program. There are ways to ensure that your file was actually sent when you submit data. First, check your sent mail file and see if it is there. If it is not there, the file did not get sent to the BBL. Second, you should receive an e-mail confirmation from the BBL stating that we received the submission file. If it is not in your sent mail or you did not get an e-mail from the BBL, open your e-mail as you normally would, attach the Bandit Submission file that was saved to your “My Documents” folder, attach it as you would when sending any attachment, and e-mail to Bandit@usgs.gov with “Bandit Data Submission Permit XXXXX” in the subject line.

We are working diligently on the next version so be sure to send us any feedback you might have on the current version (bandithelp@usgs.gov).

   6.   Web Encounter Reporting 

We encourage all banders to publicize the web site reporting capability (http://www.reportband.gov). Finders receive instant feedback if the banding data is in our files and they receive a confirmation e-mail acknowledgement. This also gives the finder the choice of receiving their Certificate by e-mail rather than standard postal service. In addition this capability will save the BBL both paper and time expenses.
 
   7.   Meeting Reports 

Web Encounter Program:

Terry Liddick attended the Outdoor Writers Association of America meeting in Roanoke, VA, June 15-17. The web reporting capability was presented and many writers took home information to advertise this new reporting method. Also, several radio interviews were conducted during the past several months. He also attended the summer Pacific Flyway study committee meeting in Spokane, WA, July 23-27.

Mitchell White attended the Ducks Unlimited Festival in Oshkosh, WI, August 23-27 and Migratory Bird Day, Washington DC, April 2007. The new web reporting capability was advertised and questions about bird banding were addressed at these meetings.

Terry Liddick and Mitchell White attended the 2008-2009 Federal Duck Stamp Competition at Ding Darling NWR on Sanibel Island, FL, October 11-14 to further the advertise the new web reporting capability. The contest had good attendance and many questions were asked and answered about bird banding and band reporting. Secretary of Interior Kempthorne and other dignitaries were in attendance. Mitchell will attend the USGS Open House on November 3.

Bird Banding Association Meetings:
Karen Jones participated in the Western Bird Banding Association meeting at the Point Reyes Bird Observatory Conservation Science Headquarters in Petaluma, CA, October 12-14. This is a beautiful and peaceful setting for meetings. There were over 50 participants and the papers were outstanding. She also presented an update on what is new in the BBL and led a two-hour Bandit training session.

Danny Bystrak represented the BBL at the annual AOU meeting in Laramie, WY, August 8-11 and the Inland Bird Banding Association meeting near Milwaukee, WI, October 19 to 21. He presented an update from the BBL and did Bandit training workshops at both meetings.

Other Meetings and Activities:
Terry Liddick and Karen Jones (Bands and Banding Data Manager) met with the Canadian Banding Office (BBO), June 4-8. They discussed coordination of the 2 programs as well as use of the Oracle data base system and procedures for communication between the BBO and the BBL.
Monica Tomosy and Antontio Celis Murillo participated a meeting sponsored by the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds Meeting, July 18-23 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. At this event, the BBL and Humberto Berlanga, of Mexico's CONABIO agency, held the second Western Hemisphere Bird Banding Network Workshop to increase awareness of the efforts to collaborate on bird banding information amongst western hemisphere countries, and to continue addressing the issues identified in the first workshop last October in VeraCruz.

Terry Liddick participated in the joint USFWS/CWS pre-season waterfowl banding program in Saskatchewan, Canada, during August. Approximately 30,000 ducks were banded during the month and training was provided for the new Bandit software.

Kathy Klimkiewicz participated in filming on September 28 for local cable TV advertisement for the upcoming USGS Open House in Reston, VA on November 3. She also attended the Northeastern Bird Monitoring meeting in Laurel, MD, October 4-5 and represented the BBL at the Patuxent Wildlife Festival on October 13. This festival was attended by over 1,100 persons and the BBL exhibit is always very popular at this annual event.

   8.   Requests for Assistance 

Need for ticks:  The Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale School of Medicine is doing research on Lyme disease to look at the role of birds in the spread of ticks (Ixodes scapularis in particular) and Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. It would be extremely valuable for us if banders could collect ticks found on birds and send them to us, especially if you are in any of the Northeastern (all states down to Virginia) or the Upper Midwestern States  (MN, WI, IL, MI, IN, OH). Ticks are especially needed from Fall banding and this is a multi-year study. If you're interested in participating, please email or call us and we'll send you tubes, tweezers and instructions (Maria A. Diuk-Wasser, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, 60 College St., P.O. Box 208034, New Haven, CT 06520-8034, Office 203-785-4434, Lab 203-785-2227, Fax 203-785-3604, e-mail: maria.diuk@yale.edu).

Transmitter Survey: With the assistance of the Canadian Wildlife Service BBO and the USGS BBL, we are compiling information on the effects of radio transmitters on passerines, and any damage that passerines can cause to transmitters. In order to complete this work, we request your help to complete an online survey that will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete.

Participation in this survey is entirely voluntary but it is strongly encouraged. The results will be used both to reduce the potential for telemetry to impact the birds being studied, and to improve the quality and efficiency of radio telemetry data collection. If you have previously taken this survey, we invite you to enter any additional information that was not included in your original response. Master permit holders are encouraged to pass this message on to any sub-permit holders who have used radio telemetry, but we ask that only one person enter data per study in order to ensure that samples are independent. Ideally, we would like the person most directly involved in day to day telemetry activities to complete the survey.

No personal information will be collected and your identity will remain completely anonymous to both researchers and the BBL and the BBO. To take the survey, please follow this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=BMLGMP_2bvj_2bp08_2f84xJX7LA_3d_3d. This research has been approved by the University of Connecticut-Storrs Institutional Review Board, protocol # X07-040. If further information is required, then please contact Jason Hill (Jason.hill@uconn.edu).

   9.   Amazing Record  

The first Satellite tracked Bar-tailed Godwit to be tracked from New Zealand to the Yellow Sea to Alaska has landed again in New Zealand. This will mark a complete record of the most amazing annual migration cycle of a shorebird.

For more go to the USGS website that provides an excellent overview of all its PTT marked birds (http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/shorebirds/barg.html). 

Return to BBL Home