Scythebill 19.3.0 is now available. It's got better integration between eBird regions or hotspots and Scythebill locations, and can take advantage of that to make checklists in a blink.
As always, download here, and let me know if you have any problems, either on Facebook or by email.
Fast location checklists from eBird
Scythebill can now create checklists for many locations with just three clicks. Once you've selected the location, click "Create checklist...", then select "Use the eBird Species List API?", then "OK".
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Scythebill won't update the checklist automatically for you - but you can always delete it and recreate it as needed.
This works both for built-in locations (like states and provinces, or US counties) and for eBird hotspots once you've entered a hotspot ID - see just below.
Quick links to eBird hotspot and region pages
Scythebill has a new field for locations - "hotspot ID":
You could manually enter it, but Scythebill will enter it for you any time you import from eBird "My Data" exports or choose an eBird location while manually entering or editing a location. (It's not automated yet for eBird checklist imports, but I'll add that soon.)
With a hotspot ID, locations get a new "Hotspot page" link that'll take you right to the eBird site, where you can see recent reports, target species, bar charts and such.
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| New "Hotspot page" link |
If you create locations before going on a trip, this gives you a fast way to look up information about the sites you're visiting.
There's also a "Region page" link for any built-in locations, like countries, states and provinces worldwide, or US counties. (There's no link for continents.)
Bug fixes
- Some Windows users had a problem where file dialogs would immediately trigger an error.
- "Copy-and-paste automagic" checklist creation now handles slash species - previously, it would import something like "Eastern/Western Warbling-Vireo" as just "Western Warbling-Vireo".
- eBird "geolocation" (Search nearby) results could be dropped if they were at exactly the same lat/long as a Google result.
- "Lifer" highlighting in "Show reports" and "Browse by trip" missed some sightings when using the eBird Clements taxonomy for species entered against the IOC taxonomy.
- Intentionally duplicated sightings with the same taxon, location, and date/time could be erased when re-editing with "Edit sightings".
I'm just checking on how useful this will be for me, using Bhutan as an example as I'm going there soon. I like to travel with an Excel spreadsheet against which I store day by day sightings and have for a good while used the Scythebill export for this. I have discovered for Bhutan in particular (but other small countries no doubt have the same problem) that there are several species which are obviously in Bhutan as they are in every country around there, but have never actually been seen in Bhutan. Some country checklists include them and others don't, usually on a species by species basis rather than a universal rule. I actually use Avilist so have to create my own cross reference. I can't currently export an Avilist checklist from Scythebill of course.
ReplyDeleteThe eBird list for Bhutan has 730 species and Scythebill 750. As the eBird list includes species such as 'duck sp.' and a number of impossible to see there species the eBird number is somewhat reduced from 730. I don't seem to be able to export a spreadsheet from Scythebill based on the eBird list, and wouldn't really expect to be able to do that so have to use the significantly less useful eBird Printable Checklist as a starting point.
For me, someone who uses Avilist and wants a full country checklist, is the eBird list a useful addition? I suspect that it isn't for my case but I have been wrong before so I ask
For Bhutan - and all the countries of the world, as well as US and Australian states and Canada provinces - Scythebill already has a checklist. This feature doesn't change that. (Scythebill has more species in its checklist than eBird mostly because not all historical records from Bhutan are in eBird.) As a side note: I'm suspicious of your certainty that species from surrounding countries must be in Bhutan as well - Bhutan is notoriously short on lowland territory, with just a sliver in its (admittedly under-birded) southern strip.
DeleteThis feature is for all the sites that don't have built-in checklists. Say you're traveling to Lima, and would like to have a checklist - with all of Scythebill's features - for the surrounding area. A Peruvian checklist would be a poor fit, but now you can make a checklist for that state in seconds flat.