News and updates from Bird Count India

[BirdCount India]

Dear friends,

Apologies for the long email, but we wanted to let you know about some changes and updates from our side.

We started the BirdCount India google group in Feb 2013 as a way to keep each other informed about the GBBC last year. It was meant to be a temporary group, to be deleted after GBBC 2013. However in the past year there have been several new developments, based on which we would like to continue to keep the group active.

Below is a description of these new developments, and the expanded role that Bird Count India now plays. If these new directions don't interest you, please do unsubscribe (link at the bottom of this message) so that you won't be bothered with more email than you want!

• Bird Count India now works as a consortium of organisations and groups, under whose collective umbrella we encourage listing and monitoring of birds in India. To this end, we have a website, which lists the goals of the consortium as well as the partners, and also describes the activities we are involved in. We welcome more groups who share our goals to join us.
• Towards these goals, we coordinate several events and projects, including the Great Backyard Bird Count in India. In general, we encourage birders to upload their sightings and lists to eBird, so that all our observations can be collated on a publicly available platform.
• A new initiative is a monthly series of eBirding Challenges, to make birding and uploading bird lists through the year more fun and enjoyable. The Challenge for May is to upload at least 4 complete lists to eBird in each week of the month. Do join us in taking part!
• Finally, if you or your group would like to start a project on bird monitoring in your area, please do let us know if you need any help in getting started. One of the objectives of the Bird Count India consortium it to try and provide whatever assistance might be needed for these kinds of activities.

From now on, most news and happenings at Bird Count India will be posted on the blog at our website. You can keep track of the blog by subscribing to email updates if you so wish. We will also post an email to this group from time to time with news and links to relevant blog posts.

But we hope that this conversation will not be only one-way. If you wish to ask a question,  or share your bird listing or monitoring plans, or report on an event or project you have carried out, please do send a message to this google group!

Happy birding!
Bird Count India

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