A New Way Of Sharing Rare Bird News

A Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays To All

Lesser Scaup by Brian McCloskey

If someone had said to you 5 years ago that Ireland would need a news group that could handle hundreds of people, most we suspect would have shook their head in disbelief and perhaps even laughed at the notion.

4 years on from the (separate) start of both the Irish Rare And Scarce Birding Group on Facebook and a news group on Whatsapp, we are all now faced with the reality that the number of people who want access to instant rare bird news is not so insignificant as we might have previously thought.

At the outset of the Facebook group, one of the goals was to encourage more people into birding, and over the course of 4 years we have seen that take shape, as new faces have taken an interest.

However, some weeks back we learned for the first time that Whatsapp, in it's default setting, is limited to a number of 256 members and that the National news Whatsapp group was full to this capacity.

There are of course, several alternative platforms which can very naturally accommodate more people than this and so we feel that, as well as making a move to include more people, the time has come for an upgrade in the platform used for the purpose of sharing rare bird news.

We do also understand the annoyance some can feel at having to download and learn a new software or application though, and so we are providing this introductory posting to hopefully alleviate any concerns that may be out there.

First and foremost, the platform we are using is called Band and you can find the permanent group link here:

https://band.us/@irishrareandscarce

The platform is web based and you can use it both from your desktop browser or as an app for your smartphone.

Obviously, for bird news on the go, and for bird reporting purposes from the field, we recommend that you download and use the smartphone app, but it does mean that those who might still be logging on to their computer at the end of a day's birding can also access the platform.

Joining is exceptionally easy, with multiple quick options at your disposal, including joining with your existing Facebook or Google accounts.

Basic view

When you tap into the app home screen (under the house symbol) the group will be displayed as above. Tapping on this icon will bring you to the main page.

In the main page, rare bird posts can be displayed as newest first, or via most recently commented upon. Newest first is the more useful option in terms of bird news, but you can easily toggle between views if you wish.

Tapping this view icon switches you between thumbnail view (best for quick and concise scrolling of news posts) and the full image view.

We have put in place a number of filters via hashtags (see above), which then allow you to filter the feed further.

You can filter the sightings by mega, rare or scarce status, or by county. 

We believe the membership will find these filter functions extremely useful as the group is populated with reports.

Guidance

To assist all members, we have provided a few instructional posts which explain how the main functions of the platform work.

These can be found under the instructions hashtag filter. Admins are also on hand if anyone needs further assistance.

Notifications

Most people do not want a constant barrage of notifications. We understand this and it is one of the main reasons we have selected the Band platform.

Using Band, a single post can be used to simultaneously disseminate the news posting, any and all media you may wish to attach (including images, video or sound files) and embedded GPS locations, all in the one posting, where as in a standard messaging app, relating all such information would mean multiple notifications being received. 

A post you make can be edited at any time, meaning that if you wish to add any media to a sighting subsequent to posting news you can easily do so.

As a further bonus, all visual media can be uploaded in its original quality, meaning you won't have the quality of your photos or videos reduced. Could come in handy for a tricky collaborative ID some day.

A single posting, with image and sound recording, combined with a GPS location. 1 post. 1 notification.

All posts can be edited at any time, so media and updates can be added to your news post after your day's birding, or you can just correct those always annoying autocorrects.

For those who wish to reduce their notifications further, the platform gives you a wider range of control over which notifications you receive.

For the big birds, the megas, the group will publish these as a notice to all members.

This means that those who may only wish to be notified of megas, can essentially turn most of their notifications settings off, avoiding notifications on the more routine rarities.

A More Inclusive System

We are asking birders to use the in-app GPS system to provide a location on every rare bird news post (though we understand that some people find this kind of thing difficult, so it's obviously not mandatory).

The ability to share your location from out in the field, without having to go to a separate app and copy a link, makes giving the exact location for a bird easier than ever. 

We believe this really helps to make birding more inclusive and easier to access, especially for newcomers. It only takes a second, but helps everyone and is a very easy habit to develop.

Bird News For All

We are committed to bird news for all birders on the island of Ireland. We view this as a clean slate and invite all birders out there to join and participate. We have recruited both a team of Admins (which we hope to expand further in due course), and volunteers to manage and cultivate county chatrooms (again, we hope to expand our group of volunteers further).

All are welcome and we look forward to (hopefully) seeing your rare bird news in the group soon.