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Numbering NestboxesFrom: "paul kilduff" plkldf"at"hotmail.com We have a series of nestboxes, most of them paired, some of them tripled*. I need to go to a different numbering system. Starting last year, I tried to retain the old box numbers, but it has quickly become confusing as I've added and subtracted locations and added multiples. I want to include the year the location was started, so when looking at a table which shows how many fledgings per year, you have some idea of how long the box has been there. I want us to be able to tell by looking at the box number if it is part of a multiple box placing, and which other box(es) it is multipled with. Without that, email reports are hard to read. My goal is to make it easy to read tables which record success/failure, and to make it easy for monitors to read other monitors' email reports and know which boxes are being talked about. My current plan is to re-number all the boxes in this way: A box which is at a location which was first used in 1993 would be 93-01. If the box were part of a multiple it would be 93-01-A. The 01 is arbitrary. All boxes at locations started in '93 would be 93-01, 93-02, etc., with A, B or C added to designate members of a multiple. The setup is such that there are not discrete areas. We have three trails, but I want to retain the ability to switch boxes from one trail to the other. Numbering them sequentially has the drawback of freezing the locations. What ideas do listmembers have? What's your reaction to my
plan? *One triple was quite successful. This one was a triangle,
each box 22' from the other. Two had 1-9/16" holes, one
had 1-1/8". I got CACH in the little-holed box, HOWR and
TRES in the others, all at same time. Then changed starling
guard from 1-1/8 to 1-9/16 and got EABL second nesting in that
box! From: "Mary Beth Roen" mbroen"at"hotmail.com Paul, You could try putting the stick on numbers that you can get at any hardware store or Walmart etc. to put on your boxes instead of permanently writing on the boxes. Then if you move the trail around, you can just remove the numbers and put new ones on. That depends, of course, on how many boxes you have, as this could get a little expensive if you have hundreds of boxes. Mary Roen, River Falls, WI From: "paul kilduff" plkldf"at"hotmail.com Hi, Mary Beth, thank you. We do use the stick-on numbers and
letters -- of course we run out of A's and B's pretty quickly.
The stick-ons are good I'd still like to hear from people regarding the *system* of numbering, as opposed to the method -- what do you do? What system do you use to number your boxes? best, Paul From: "Mary Beth Roen" mbroen"at"hotmail.com I only have 27 nest boxes, so I don't have the problem you have. Up to this year I have had all my boxes placed singly, but I am pairing my boxes for next year due to competition from TRESs and HOWRs. I may renumber my boxes, too. I think I will number them by
site and A and B for boxes at each site, so I will have site
1, box A and site 1 Box B, like Mary Roen, River Falls, WI Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 13:01:40 -0700 Paul, your sites, like many of mine, change from year to year and/or the configurations do not stay the same. On large dynamic trails, numbers on the boxes quickly become obsolete and ID is really for "worksheet/data" use. Therefore, you may want to do as I have done and omit numbers on the boxes altogether and set up a workable hard copy system for the trail monitor and a computerized system for sharing, analyzing. Hard copies for the trail monitor: Electronic Data for Sharing, Analyzing: The year of a new site doesn't seem to carry much relevance
to my data. If you are going to analyze data on a spreadsheet according
to site numbers, you will need to assign a number to each site,
behind the site number should be a box ID and the number of
the box(es) within the pod; behind that you could add the year
if that is important to you. ! Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 21:47:29 -0400 Where I have double or triple paired boxes, I use the number
of the box, say 58, and then the second box would be 58-1 and
if it has triple boxes, The stick on numbers sound interesting. But I also have a lot of boxes and I am still waiting to find thin clear or white plastic that I can mark the box numbers onto and then staple the plastic to the box. They would be easy to take off if I move the box. Be careful about using letters for box numbers. I don't know if it is still true, but it used to be that either NABS or Cornell's data banks would not take letters - only numbers. I think that was the old NABS system - not sure now. I sure know one thing- I'd be completely lost with out numbering my boxes!!! It is much easier to remember a number rather than the box location as a marker to quickly locate a box in my monitor sheets. This is one of the wonderful things about this list - is learning how many different styles there are when it comes to bluebirding. I also wonder what Wendell's style of numbering his boxes are. I am sure we'd get a hoot out of his answer to this question :-) Good luck Paul - let us know what you decide. Honestly I don't think there is such a thing as anal retentive in this line of work. It is called trying to keep some semblance of sanity when out on the trail - as without being organized things can get crazy quickly! :-) H Haleya Priest Amherst MA From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"tds.net To the Constituency, Example: Eldredge 1 and Eldredge 2. The # 1 is always the one on the left as I approach from the car. # 2 is on the right. Every site has one pair of boxes spaced 15 feet apart. I have printed up a checklist of all "my" landowners, and make notes on the list as I monitor. If there are two pairs at one site, I simply call them, for example: Dobles East 1, Dobles East 2, Dobles West 1 and 2, etc. That seems to be all the identification I need. Numbering the boxes would only confuse me because I was never very good at maths. Bruce Burdett, SW NH From: "charlene anchor" charleneanchor"at"msn.com This discussion comes at a good time for me since I haven't started a numbering system yet as I'm still putting up the boxes. But the old boxes Iam taking down used a method I think which is very durable and probably were on the boxes for many years. Pieces of very thin aluminum foil (notthe cooking type) were stapled on the sides of the boxes under the overhanging roofs. The numbers of the boxes were impressed into the foil (with a pen or pencil?). The nice thing is that the weather doesn't affect the foil and the foil pieces can be easily removed. One possible drawbackis that it doesn't stand out clearly at a distance as well as paint or pressed on letters, if that would be a consideration. Since I haven't started my system yet I don't know how difficult it is to impress the foil but I wouldn't think it would be hard as long as a sharp tool is not used. Charlene Anchor, Illinois From: "Fawzi P. Emad femad <at> fpemad <dot> com My numbering system is quite simple: No marking on any boxes.
Each trail is monitored always from the same starting point
and in the same direction. The boxes are taken in sequence as
I come to them one by one. For example, Rachel Carson Conservation
Park, I start with box #1 (the number is found *only* on my
monitoring sheet for that box.) Naturally, the next box is #2,
etc. If I change sites or boxes, I note the changes, and I continue
to use Fawzi Emad in Laytonsville, Maryland From: "Dan Hanan" danhan7"at"earthlink.net Paul Kilduff and others, Paul, your numbering system looks good to me. As you have more than one trail, you might want to add a trail number to your system. As I have 24 boxes on my own 40 acres of land and have no need to pair boxes, I number the boxes sequentially. For convenience in monitoring, they are numbered in the order that I walk the trail. If boxes are added, deleted, or moved between nesting seasons, the numbers are then changed to be consecutive and in "trail order." The numbers are on 2 inch by 2 inch wood blocks that have a single mounting screw hole in them. Thus all of the numbers can be removed and rearranged easily. The numbers have been burned into the wood blocks with a small electronic soldering iron (the size of a wood burning tool) and then emphasized by the use of a permanent black marker. My monitoring records are kept in an Excel spreadsheet where the kind of box, mounting pole, box dimensions, and previous years location numbers are also listed. This supplemental information is kept in a suppressed form that is not seen when entering monitoring results but is there to be readily recalled if needed. Dan Hanan From: Nahanna2"at"aol.com [mailto:Nahanna2"at"aol.com] Hello Wise Blue Birders! I am in the process of adding 30+ boxes for my trail. I received a donation from a foundation for boxes! I am looking to mark the boxes, number them, and put a bit of information on them. and I need some ideas? That is methods of doing this? I thought to paint stencil numbering on them, but there may better ways? Ideas? Thank you! Nancy California Bluebird Recovery Program Walnut Creek, Ca 94598 From: Dottie Roseboom [mailto:rosedot"at"mtco.com] Way to go Nancy! I hope that everyone answers this on-line, because I have a friend who needs similar advice. Several years ago, I discovered a trail that need some monitoring - but there were no identifying names or phone numbers for me to contact. Very disappointing, especially since the adjoining neighbors did not know anything about the nestboxes. Dottie Roseboom Peoria IL (central - zone 5) From: Gretchen Hughes [mailto:lghughes"at"
joink.com
] ..Loren uses the plastic numbers that stick on to number the boxes. A black marker works well to , altho the rain may fade it fast. I make labels and laminate them for him to staple to the front of the box with name address phone# and e-mail address on them. They last for quite a while. There are places to have plastic labels made to do the same thing. I hope this gives you ideas. Making them on the computer, using address labels and a laminator at Wal-Mart is only $20,, makes the job a lot cheaper. GHughes Loren and Gretchen Hughes From: Dottie Roseboom [mailto:rosedot"at"mtco.com] Thanks Gretchen! I didn't know if laminated labels would last outside. I had thought about using polyurethane as a "decoupage" technique over labels. Years ago, my college roommate did many wood products this way. They weathered well. A bit cheaper than the laminator - but not as easy :-) And of course a stapled label would be easier to change than one decoupaged. I'll look next time I'm at Wal-Mart. I don't think that either the polyurethane or laminate plastic would create any problems if done early in the fall. My friend picked up some small numbers at a garage sale. She didn't want anything too obtrusive. Dottie Roseboom Peoria IL (central - zone 5) |
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