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babbler14 
Posts:15
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| 10/24/2010 3:35 PM |
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I was comfortable with v2.5 for many years, but now that I have had to purchase the new BD I cannot do anything -nor can I understand any of the buttons. I can add sightings but cannot print or even look at lists I have entered previously. It is all greek to me. Is there an owner's manual I can buy or download?
Can I look at the lists I have purchased? Can I modify them (ie add a new species)? Why does my Florida count, shown at the bottom of the screen, differ from the Life List I can display on the screen? It appears to be a species (Common Myna) which may or may not be in a list(?)
I have so many questions I don't know where to begin. "Petey" is no help to me. Can we begin a dialogue to get me on track? |
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jjones
Posts:5332
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| 10/24/2010 6:44 PM |
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Hello Raymond,
Very sorry for all the confusion and frustration. You have come to the right place.
When you installed v3.6, it would have brought up the v3.6 Quick Start Guide (online here). It is really a good resource for learning the new paradigms associated with the changes between v2 and v3.x. It teaches you the basics, as it walks you through them, of reporting, editing, etc.
When you upgraded to v3.6 I did your conversion from v2 database to v3.x database. When you got that back from me, did you correctly move that into your v3.6 ".../birder's diary/data" directory? If so, then when you open v3.6, you will see all of your v2 data as well as the tax lists available to you under v2. I also imported the two new tax lists you purchased - ABA 2009 and Clements 2009. So you should see those also. And you can modify them (e.g. add species) as much as you like (see video explaining how here).
If your Florida count differs at the bottom of your screen from that which you are producing in a Life List report, it is because you are using different settings/options for producing each. The options for producing the count at the bottom of the BD main window are in the Edit Observer window. To get there, click on the Observers toolbar button, select your user from the list and click on the Edit button. Change the settings to match what you are specifying in the Life List report window.
As for Common Myna, it is in the ABA 2009 tax list. Perhaps your observer is set to still be using the older v2 ABA tax list which won't have it.
So - let's start here (please do complete the Quick Start Guide - and give me feedback on how it helped or where it did not) and let's move forward with getting you as comfortable with v3.6 as you were with 2.x.
Thanks,
Jeff |
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Birder's Diary Technical Support |
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babbler14
Posts:15
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| 10/26/2010 9:10 AM |
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Jeff,
Thanks for your prompt reply. I will check into all you have told me, and that will take some time. I'll certainly let you know how I'm progressing.
One thing I've noticed is the order in which my life list (and others) appear. I would like taxonomical order; this is not the order they now use. That is just one more thing I'll be looking into further, before I reply.
With your help and some more experimentiing, I'm sure I will eventually master this. And I do enjoy a challenge!
Thanks again.
babbler14
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jjones
Posts:5332
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| 10/26/2010 4:19 PM |
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Hello Raymond,
The answer to that and most other things are in the Quick Start Guide. Let me know when other questions pop up.
Jeff |
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Birder's Diary Technical Support |
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babbler14
Posts:15
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| 10/28/2010 11:59 AM |
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Hi, I'm back.
Just got into creating the reports - I was able to follow the help on this subject fine.
As far as the discrepancy in my FL life list, I needed to specify the Clements list to get the correct number to report. When I chaged to the ABA 2009 list (and changed nothing else), the number dropped by one. Also, soon the Black-hooded Parakeet (Nenday Conure) will likely be accepted as an ABA Florida bird. How will I handle this?
I still have a terrible problem with trip reports. When I look up the data it shows all the sightings as I entered them; when I try to report the same trip, it only shows a few of the entries! One trip I entered, with my local Audubon group as the observer, had 18 species entered; the report showed 2. The same thing occurs for data entered both before and after my conversion to 3.5.It also does the same when I try to print THEIR Life List. It showed 19 species; they should be much higher than that! We had 18 on this one trip!
This was one of the primary problems which led me to contact you. It appears the data is correct (and therefore converted properly), but I cannot get it to report!
Sorry to be such a pain, but I have to resolve this eventually. Step by step, I WILL master this; please bear with me.
Babbler14 |
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jjones
Posts:5332
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| 10/28/2010 2:40 PM |
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Hi Raymond,
Glad things are moving along. 
RE: FL Life List
If your life list reports one less using ABA 2009 than Clements 2009, this just means that you have a sighting for a bird in Florida that is on the Clements 2009 list but not yet accepted on the ABA 2009 list. You can figure out which bird this is by running your life list report (under Reports) for FL using Clements 2009 and then ABA 2009 and then determining which bird is not included on the ABA 2009 list.
RE: Black-hooded Parakeet
You can go ahead and record your sighting for Nandayus nenday in FL using Clements. When it is accepted by the ABA, we will release a new ABA tax list with that bird on it, and that sighting will automatically start to be included in life list counts and sightings using the ABA tax list. Of course, as with everything in BD, you can always add that to your own copy of the ABA tax list on your own. There is a video for that.
RE: Trips
When you say Trip are you referring to trips as created by you in BD, or are you using that as a generic term implying sightings from one of your trips? Sightings in BD can be attached to a TRIP definition that you create in BD using the TRIPs button. But they are only attached/associated with that trip if you actually specify it in the sighting. TRIPs are purely an optional feature in BD, and serve to group sightings together under a Trip name and provide the ability to write trip notes attached to the trip and printed out on Sightings reports. On this one, please be very explicit on what you mean. What, exactly, you are doing in BD and how. That will help me give a more specific answer to this one. As far as we know, there are no bugs in this area, so it is just a conceptual-use issue and we will get past it. To help, view all sightings from user "Audubon Group" in View/Edit. Don't filter on anything else. Now you should see all sightings that are attached to that user. Examine them. Are they all attached to the TRIP you think they are? Do they all have the dates you expect? Are they all at the location you want? Let me know.
No pain at all. I am here to help. And happy to help. 
Jeff |
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Birder's Diary Technical Support |
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babbler14
Posts:15
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| 10/29/2010 7:46 PM |
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Jeff,
I will check into what you have said about my trips; here's what I mean by that. In BD2.5 I had defined three users; myself, our local Audubon group, and a third which covers trips my Audubon friends make during the summer, when our regular group is "in recess." I define each location we visit as a "trip," with a date. I then enter all our sightings under the appropriate group for each trip, and BD tallies them both for the trip and for that group's life list. I listed each group's sightings under "world" only. Under BD2.5 I was able to print each group's trip reports and, when I wanted to, their cumulative life list as well. All was going smoothly.
I know of no other definition for "trip" except fot this. I do not suspect any kind of "bug;" I was a programmer for a time, and I certainly believe you have thoroughly tested all of your software. I am new to BD3.6, and my only goal is to gain a level of comfort with it - which, with your help, will come with time.
As far as MY life list discrepancy goes, I had already concluded that the "odd bird" was the Common Myna. I had deleted the sighting for this species, and voila, the Florida count at the bottom of the screen went down by one, while my life list print (which was the only one that printed out "as is") remained the same. When I re-added the sighting, the bottom count returned to its correct number. Therefore, when you said the Common Myna is in the ABA 2009 list, I was confused. Even now, when I specify the "ABA AREA" under LIfe List reports, with me as the observer, using "FLORIDA" or "WORLD," the Common Myna is missing. When I run the report for "WORLD LIFE LIST" the Common Myna appears. Does my "ABA AREA" list here refer to the 2009 one?" This is why I wanted to look at the ABA 2009 list that you sent me, to see if the Common Myna is indeed there. I hope that makes sense to you. Maybe I'm just too analytical for my own good, but that's me.
As far as the other life list discrepancies and reports go, I'll get back to you.
Babbler14 |
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babbler14
Posts:15
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| 10/29/2010 8:37 PM |
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Jeff:
It's me again. First, now when I run my trip reports and life lists, all of the data presents itself just fine. Don't you just love it when problems magically seem to disappear!! By removing columns and doing the other things in your tutorials, I have reports as before. Maybe it is just a matter of practice now. Of course I will feel free to pester you again if need be (lucky you).
Second, using the Rosetta option I was able to see that the Comnmon Myna is indeed in the ABA 2009 list. I don't know where the option now is to see all entered occurrences of a species. So the mysterious appearance and disappearance of this damned exotic starling remains an enigma (at least for me).
Sorry for mentioning the tax edits again; I had forgotten your tutorial under "here" in your first post.
Incidentally, can I use more than one line for the report titles? a long title runs into the count info at the top right of the page. Can I remove that from the printout? And can I move the data down on the paper (for a short report) to make it a little cleaner? Minor points (thank goodness!)
Where would I be without you!
babbler14 |
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jjones
Posts:5332
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| 11/01/2010 1:46 PM |
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Hi Raymond,
Sorry for my delayed response.
It seems that all is working now except for the questions in the last paragraph of your last report. However, in the v2.5 database that I converted for you, I do not see a sighting for a common myna, anywhere. But, if you have that all working, then we are good as far as that goes.
And yes, it appears that you have the concepts of TRIPS in BD correct. And I did check your database and it is being used correctly.
As for your reporting questions... No, No, and No.  You cannot use more than one line for the report titles (but you might consider switching to Landscape mode so that you have more room; You cannot remove the count info; and You cannot move the data down on the paper. Sorry.
Let me know if any other questions come up.
Jeff |
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babbler14
Posts:15
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| 11/02/2010 10:03 AM |
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Jeff:
I'm going to let the Common Myna fiasco rest for a while. I DID enter the bird sighting in May of 2009, from Homestead, FL. And regardless of whether it was there before or not, adding and deleting that sighting does not affect the one total but does affect the other.
This reply concerns Ipods pre-loaded with Eastern and Western birdcalls and photos. A friend has one he bought on birdjam.com for a little over $400; his case shows the name Creative Travelsound i80 (which the Internet shows me to be only the speaker).
Birdjam's price for an 8 gigabyte pre-loaded Ipod is $500! isn't that awfully expensive? Are there cheaper good alternatives? I see that you endorse the product. Any comments you can offer would be appreciated. Thanks.
Babbler14 |
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jjones
Posts:5332
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| 11/02/2010 12:32 PM |
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Hi Raymond,
Why do you say "I see that you endorse the product"? I was not aware of that. And, I am really not that aware of what BirdJam is or does. But I just perused the web site, and seems like a nice product. Functional, multiple calls per species, etc. Whether it is too much $$$ I can't say.
I personally have Thayer's Birds of North America (www.thayerbirding.com PC program) and load all the songs onto my SmartPhone (iPhone and Droid Incredible). This does not have multiple calls/songs per species (one or two usually), and none of the other stuff that BirdJam seems to offer.
That is about all I know. Let us know here if you do buy/test/try-out this product.
Jeff |
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cowboyinbrla
Posts:285
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| 11/03/2010 9:27 PM |
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Jeff,
He may be referring to a Jeff Jones from BirdOculars.com, from whom there is an endorsement on the BirdJam website. I'm assuming though that this isn't you. 
Kevin |
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jjones
Posts:5332
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| 11/04/2010 9:36 AM |
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Not me. 
Jeff |
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Birder's Diary Technical Support |
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aldeboro
Posts:207
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| 11/05/2010 4:09 PM |
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I have birdjam and am pleased with it. It is all singing and dancing and expensive. A friend of mine uses iBirds which is much less expensive (around $30.00) and it does as well as my $$$ unit for calling up birds.
Regards, Al Borodayko
Cypress, CA |
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aldeboro
Posts:207
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| 11/06/2010 4:51 PM |
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I just received my copy of Western Birds and it happens to have a review of some ipod bird call programs. This gives pros and cons but all are good.
Enjoy, Al Borodayko
Cypress, CA |
Attachment: Ipod Birds.pdf
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babbler14
Posts:15
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| 11/19/2010 2:26 PM |
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Jeff.
I now see that there are at least TWO Jeff Joneses out there; sorry about assuming that the endorsee of birdjam was you. On another note, I am rolling right along with my Birder's Diary and have run into another contradiction that perhaps you could comment on.
While comparing my Florida lists (1) with Clements and (2) with ABA, I see that my ABA list does not include Herring Gull, while my Clements list does. In fact, it seems that all of my Herring Gull sightings come up when I use the Clements list but NONE of them do when I use the ABA list. The Rosetta Stone shows an American and a European listing. How should I go about adding the appropriate entry to the ABA list so that it will recognize the sightings that the Clements list already recognizes? This may bring my two lists into sync.
Thanks. BTW, I will be checking into the Ibirds; thank you Al for your comments.
Babbler14 |
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