I have acquired this App, and after making some use of it am generally very impressed with its potential for birding in the field. It is not as comprehensive as the “Birds of Northern Europe”, but then all the usual Australian field-guides taken together do not contain a wealth of information like that. However if anyone has been able to make the ‘export your lists’ function work, I’d be grateful to hear of it, and would like to know how it is done. If I tell the App to export the lists to iCloud, they may indeed go somewhere, but they certainly don’t appear in iCloud. And if I tell it to “Sync to iTunes”, the files may indeed go there, but remain invisible and so impossible to access. The “Help” advice given in the App has proved less than helpful. There you are told first to choose Apps in ‘iTunes’ and then scroll down to file-sharing. Unfortunately there is no such option available; there is just a list of all the Apps you have purchased from the Store. Has anyone else managed to solve this problem? Have I reached my technological limit with this one? John Clifton-Everest =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Hi Guy (and Peter, and everyone on Birding-Aus) Thanks for providing this extra info – those of us with the app certainly appreciate hearing a bit more about it, and particularly the chance that there may be upgrades down the track. I’ve been entering my daily lists into the app, and once I got used to the controls I found it fairly quick to enter species. I really like the fact that you can include quite a lot of extra data with each sighting – or none, if you choose. That’s a winner as far as I’m concerned. Some apps insist you enter a number for each species, and I find that tedious and a waste of time. In my daily list-taking I record numbers of any less usual species, or species where a count may be more significant, such as waders. In my home patch it would be quite pointless to record numbers of Silver Gull, Red Wattlebird, New Holland Honeyeater, Welcome Swallow, etc., but I usually record more details for birds of prey, herons and egrets, and oystercatchers, even when I see these species most days. I think it is better to let the user decide whether or not extra data is entered for sightings. Sometimes I’ll want GPS coordinates, but most of the time I leave that off because I’m recording from home, or work, or somewhere in between. Being able to add to any one of my lists is also a big winner. One slight annoyance is that when I go from search results to calls, or to adding to a list, then Save, I lose my search results and and up at the start of whichever Guide I’d been using. Is there some way to make the search results “stick” so I can go in and out of them to listen to a few calls, or add a couple of say, Thornbill species to my list, without having to run the search again? Again, thanks for all the tips and extra info you’ve provided through this forum. Kind regards Russell On 3 December 2013 20:16, Peter Shute < pshute@nuw.org.au> wrote: =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
If I select a birding site pin, the right arrow works as you describe. The list icon on the left side just closes the app for me on my ipad. It works ok on my iphone. One problem with the help section is that, even if it mentioned all these things, you can’t access it while you’re trying things. You have to go to the main menu, get to the help, read a bit, then go back to the main menu again to get back to where you were. If makes experimenting very tedious. Peter Shute Sent from my iPad =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Hello Peter The distribution lists are based on the whole degree co-ordinates, and are intended as shortlists to work from. But if you think that’s too big an area we can look at narrowing it down. Just when you are under pressure to produce an entire app with all the data and functionality there is, getting involved in a huge dataset of lists for much smaller areas seemed like a mountain at the time. The birding site pins are dropped onto the map when you tap the binocular symbol. Selecting a birding site pin will open a banner with the site name and two icons. Tap the right arrow to open the birding site text page. Tap the left list icon to open the bird list. I must admit I forgot to mention this functionality in the Help file. So much to describe I suppose. I guess I also think of drop pins with banners and functions as being standard iOS functionality that don’t require description. Sorry about that. Regards Guy Gibbon wwww.gibbonmm.com.au —–Original Message—– Sent: 03 December 2013 09:24 AM Cc: John Leonard; birding-aus@vicnet.net.au Guy, is the one degree square based on “whole degree” coordinates, or is it half a degree either side of the chosen location? I.e could your location turn out to be close to the edge of the square? How do I access birding site lists from the map? I worked out I can display their locations by tapping the binoculars symbol. What then? Peter Shute Sent from my iPad included. get a bird list. route. coastal species listed. protection is active. — This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
I didn’t realise I had to hold it for a while before dragging the pin. And it appears I can only move it once after it’s been dropped. After that, if I want to move it again, I have to drop it and then drop it again. Is this stuff documented anywhere? Peter Shute Sent from my iPad =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Guy, is the one degree square based on “whole degree” coordinates, or is it half a degree either side of the chosen location? I.e could your location turn out to be close to the edge of the square? How do I access birding site lists from the map? I worked out I can display their locations by tapping the binoculars symbol. What then? Peter Shute Sent from my iPad =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Hello Peter Sounds like you are having finger trouble. The drop pin works beautifully. Yes, it drops into the middle of the screen, and if you would like to change that you scroll and zoom, then tap and hold for a split second. If you get zero birds or 900 birds you have probably not selected a pin. As mentioned in my last reply, the drop pin generates a list based on one degree square of distribution. The birding site lists are also based on distribution, but for a more specific area. Yes, it’s not an actual site list, but those vary from zero to whatever, depending on the atlasing effort. As you say, the birding site descriptions are the place to check what species to specifically look for, and this requirement will vary from birder to birder. Regards Guy Gibbon Gibbbon Multimedia wwww.gibbonmm.com —–Original Message—– [mailto:birding-aus-bounces@lists.vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of Peter Shute Sent: 03 December 2013 07:28 AM I just tried it myself, and also got 183. I suspect it thought you were in Central Australia. After I used the “drop pin” thing to set my location to Ulladulla, I got 363 species which look sort of right. It took me a while to work out how to control the pin. When you tap the menu item, it drops it right in the middle of the screen. You can then drag it around, but I can’t reliably get it to respond. I found it better to tap again to remove the pin, then zoom into the right area so the middle of the screen is where I want it, then try again. There’s definitely something wrong with it. Playing with moving the pin around Tasmania, and offshore and back again, I got a list in the hundreds, then zero, then over 900. I think it’s more useful as a way of reducing the number of choices when creating lists, than as a way of knowing what might be around. I was hoping it would have proper checklists for the listed birding sites, but it only lists species in the site descriptions. Peter Shute Sent from my iPad and longitude of your position, which works out to about 100km square at that latitude, so you should certainly get more than coastal species listed. I think you also have to nominate the location of that “square”, so perhaps something went wrong with that too. =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org =============================== — This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Peter is correct. The bird lists are based on bird distributions within your selected one-degree square, and represent what you may reasonably expect given a full range of habitats and long period of observation. Vagrants are not included. I think of them as ‘maximum potential’ lists, as opposed to observed lists which represent limited areas, habitats and observation times. In an Australian context the degree square is quite a small area, but does mean that coastal areas may have a mix of inland, coastal and even sea birds on the list. The lists are however intended as shortlists to ‘work from’ in making your own list, and avoid having to scroll though 900 species when doing so. The birding site lists are also available from the My Location map, and these use a smaller area for the lists. I will however look into using a smaller distribution area for an app update. Perhaps we can refine those lists a bit more. And yes, you do have to select an area to get a bird list. This is done by either selecting ‘current location’, or using the drop pin for a new location. As an aside, the Windows PC app has additional functionality in that you can ‘draw’ a much smaller area, colour in a larger area, or trace a route. Regards Guy Gibbon wwww.gibbonmm.com.au —–Original Message—– [mailto:birding-aus-bounces@lists.vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of Peter Shute Sent: 03 December 2013 06:30 AM I think it generates the list for the the one degree “square” of latitude and longitude of your position, which works out to about 100km square at that latitude, so you should certainly get more than coastal species listed. I think you also have to nominate the location of that “square”, so perhaps something went wrong with that too. Peter Shute =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org =============================== — This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
I just tried it myself, and also got 183. I suspect it thought you were in Central Australia. After I used the “drop pin” thing to set my location to Ulladulla, I got 363 species which look sort of right. It took me a while to work out how to control the pin. When you tap the menu item, it drops it right in the middle of the screen. You can then drag it around, but I can’t reliably get it to respond. I found it better to tap again to remove the pin, then zoom into the right area so the middle of the screen is where I want it, then try again. There’s definitely something wrong with it. Playing with moving the pin around Tasmania, and offshore and back again, I got a list in the hundreds, then zero, then over 900. I think it’s more useful as a way of reducing the number of choices when creating lists, than as a way of knowing what might be around. I was hoping it would have proper checklists for the listed birding sites, but it only lists species in the site descriptions. Peter Shute Sent from my iPad =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
I think it generates the list for the the one degree “square” of latitude and longitude of your position, which works out to about 100km square at that latitude, so you should certainly get more than coastal species listed. I think you also have to nominate the location of that “square”, so perhaps something went wrong with that too. Peter Shute =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
I tried to do a survey list on our iPad mini this afternoon and the birds were fine, but I couldn’t get numbers consistently. Has anyone else had this problem or any suggestions of how to do it for someone who isn’t very technologically gifted? Thanks in anticipation, Sonja On 01/12/2013, at 7:40 PM, Peter Shute < pshute@nuw.org.au> wrote: =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
I suspect it has to be a recent version of iTunes too. I don’t remember this file sharing thing in older versions. A Google search suggests it’s been available since v9.1, released in 2010, so perhaps that’s not the problem. Peter Shute Sent from my iPad =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
I exported a few lists in CSV format successfully. They then open in Excel and you can save them as an Excel workbook or paste the data into another. I haven’t imported a list to PK Birds yet because I don’t have a CSV-SQL converter yet. One thing to emphasize about David’s explanation: you do need to run iTunes on a Mac or PC and connect your iDevice to it Russell Woodford Sent from my iPhone =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
However if anyone has been able to make the ‘export your lists’ function work, but iTunes”, to just a I haven’t used the list features or tried to export them but may be able to shed some light on the iTunes part of it. For the file sharing option to make sense, you need to pick a device. Connect your iThingy with iTunes, click on the device on the left side and then click on Apps. This shows the app configuration for that piece of hardware, not for your overall iTunes library. From there, you should be able to find “PK Birds” at the bottom of the Apps window under File Sharing. Note that the File Sharing part of the window may not even be visible, depending on your screen’s size. If so, just scroll down using the scrollbar on the right side of iTunes itself. =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================