Date: 4/27/24 7:40 am From: Paul Mckay <paulmck57...> Subject: Re: Merlin doesn't know the Red-Shouldered Hawk?
Herb, I agree on both counts. If I don't see or hear it, why recognize it,
I am the one on the walk, not Merlin.
Also, I had a wild and frustrating time a year ago when Merlin was showing
3 or 4 different species of warblers singing in the evergreens by my pond.
They were species with very high and soft songs. I could hear one but not
the others no matter how hard I tried. Merlin recognized them several times
so something was singing. Very frustrating.
It could have been real or more likely it was the one I could hear being
misread by Merlin. That gets to your second statement, it is only good if
you hear or see it too.
In Merlin's defense though, yesterday I was sitting on my porch with a
house finch in front of me. It would open its mouth and give a very short
chip and Merlin got it right every time. I was amazed by this, not even
half a "chip" and instantly recognized.
All in all I am pretty happy with Merlin. Next I will sing the praises of
INaturalists. Just kidding!
Paul
On Sat, Apr 27, 2024, 10:19 AM Herb and Sarah Myers <hesemyers...>
wrote:
> I had a Gray Catbird calling in front of me this morning. Merlin seemed to
> identify everything but the catbird. That is why I follow two rules with
> Merlin when listing on eBird.
>
> 1. If Merlin identifies it, I never list it unless I hear or see it.
>
> 2. If Merlin identifies it, I listen carefully because at times it hears
> and identifies something before I do, especially with my impaired high
> frequency hearing.
>
> I agree that Merlin is getting better all the time. Herb Myers,
> Keezletown, VA - previously Harman, WV
>
> On Sat, Apr 27, 2024 at 10:01 AM Paul Mckay <paulmck57...> wrote:
>
>> I have been using Merlin quite a bit this spring and found it to be
>> usually
>> quite good. I had a red shouldered hawk calling the other day and Merlin
>> got it instantly. Last winter it didn't catch the same hawk, but it was
>> out
>> there aways. Like all AI use improves results as it learns. Interestingly
>> I
>> found it will id a bc Chickadee once then show Carolina chickadees. My
>> rule
>> of thumb is a one time read should be questioned.
>> But otherwise it is fun, like having a good leader on a bird walk.
>> Paul McKay
>> Ohio County
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 26, 2024, 11:19 AM Wendy Perrone <wendy...> wrote:
>>
>> > We've noticed that Merlin is at best slow to recognize Raptor calls in
>> > general, most of the time it ignores them altogether.-Wendy Perrone,
>> > Executive Director, Three Rivers Avian Center, Brooks (Hinton) WV.
>> > www.tracwv.org. Sent from my smartphone.
>> > -------- Original message --------From: Fred Schroyer <
>> > <ibfreditor...> Date: 4/26/24 12:13 AM (GMT-05:00) To:
>> > <WV-BIRD...> Subject: Merlin doesn't know the
>> Red-Shouldered
>> > Hawk? Walking at 5 this evening thru a ravine near our home (Waynesburg,
>> > PA, justnorth of the WV line), a noisy hawk flew above me and landed in
>> a
>> > tallsycamore, frequently calling. It looked to me like a Red-Shouldered,
>> > but Iwasn't sure. So I opened the Merlin app for a quick ID. Merlin
>> > quicklyidentified the other songsters in the ravine, but ignored the
>> > dominantloud-&-clear calls of the hawk! They showed prominently on the
>> > sonogram, butMerlin offered no suggestions. I closed the app, reopened
>> it,
>> > and triedagain-still nothing. So I went to Youtube, found some
>> > Red-Shouldered videos,and played one. The video sounded identical to my
>> > hawk's calls, and the birdbecame agitated and responded with calls,
>> > obviously reacting to the video.Has anyone else experienced this with
>> > Merlin? I can't believe it did notrecognize a common hawk! Fred
>> > SchroyerFreelance Writer/Editorial Consultant955 6th StreetWaynesburg,
>> PA
>> > <15370ibfreditor...>
>>
>
