The Demise of Birding Software (1 Viewer)

[dixonge]

I guess this has been going on for awhile, but I just now discovered that it seems as if most of the birding software out there, especially for the Mac desktop, has disappeared. Either the creator has died, or the web site is gone, or the software has been discontinued, or - for the few remaining, the interface appears to have been designed before the turn of the century. If it exists, it's ugly and/or very painful to navigate.

I guess that helps me narrow things down. Basically I will end up using either eBird or iNaturalist. Or maybe both. My desire to keep my own records on my own hard drive that I can access without an internet connection is evidently no longer realistic.

I hold out hope that I have missed some rare app, but I know that's just a pipe dream...

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Scythebill is still good:

Free Bird Listing

Scythebill software - free bird listing software for Windows, MacOS, and Linux

www.scythebill.com

 

[Lerxst]

When we went birding in Darwin, NT, our guide there, MIke Jarvis, was very keen on this software:

Bird Journal

I think he was involved in its creation. It looked pretty decent but I did not evaluate it in detail.

 

[awiner]

Scythebill is still good:

Free Bird Listing

Scythebill software - free bird listing software for Windows, MacOS, and Linux

www.scythebill.com

Yeah, that's why I built Scythebill - I wanted software that worked on the desktop, no dependency on an external provider.

Hoping that Scythebill isn't what you're describing as "ugly" or "painful to navigate" - it's not flashy software, but I literally designed it so a self-proclaimed computer illiterate (not going to name them here!) could use it.

 

[dixonge]

When we went birding in Darwin, NT, our guide there, MIke Jarvis, was very keen on this software:

Bird Journal

I think he was involved in its creation. It looked pretty decent but I did not evaluate it in detail.

After several attempts I did manage to get my eBird data imported, but I was unable to edit any of the locations to correct them. It seems this feature was removed a few years ago and hasn't been added back in.

Yeah, that's why I built Scythebill - I wanted software that worked on the desktop, no dependency on an external provider.

Hoping that Scythebill isn't what you're describing as "ugly" or "painful to navigate" - it's not flashy software, but I literally designed it so a self-proclaimed computer illiterate (not going to name them here!) could use it.

Just out of the gate, I do find it a bit painful to navigate. I do not find it very intuitive, although I realize that is very subjective.

I should probably spend some time with the manual and see if I can settle into an acceptable workflow...

 

[awiner]

Just out of the gate, I do find it a bit painful to navigate. I do not find it very intuitive, although I realize that is very subjective.

I should probably spend some time with the manual and see if I can settle into an acceptable workflow...

Feel free to drop me a private (or public, for that matter) message here if anything's particularly confusing, or there's some workflow that's more annoying than it should be.

 

[leonardo_simon]

After several attempts I did manage to get my eBird data imported, but I was unable to edit any of the locations to correct them. It seems this feature was removed a few years ago and hasn't been added back in.

Just out of the gate, I do find it a bit painful to navigate. I do not find it very intuitive, although I realize that is very subjective.

I should probably spend some time with the manual and see if I can settle into an acceptable workflow...

It is straightforward enough to edit locations on eBird - it’s is under checklist tools on the website not the app

agree sometimes eBird is a bit clunky to navigate - and I find the website only really useable on computer. App good for input data in the field

 

[toby]

When we went birding in Darwin, NT, our guide there, MIke Jarvis, was very keen on this software:

Bird Journal

I think he was involved in its creation. It looked pretty decent but I did not evaluate it in detail.

+1 for BirdJournal. Supports both Clements and IOC and taxonomy updates are now very quick. Also supports other non-bird taxa with a large community-developed library available to install for free e.g. World Mammals.

Disclaimer: I worked on it for a short while but have no involvement now apart from beta testing version updates.

 

[dixonge]

It is straightforward enough to edit locations on eBird - it’s is under checklist tools on the website not the app

agree sometimes eBird is a bit clunky to navigate - and I find the website only really useable on computer. App good for input data in the field

I apologize for the confusion. I was referring to editing locations in BirdJournal. During the import (which was also unintuitive) I managed to set a location wrong and there seemed to be no way to fix this.

 

[toby]

I apologize for the confusion. I was referring to editing locations in BirdJournal. During the import (which was also unintuitive) I managed to set a location wrong and there seemed to be no way to fix this.

Go to locations (at the top of the page). Search for the location. Can then edit name, parent, grid reference, or notes.

 

[dixonge]

+1 for BirdJournal. Supports both Clements and IOC and taxonomy updates are now very quick. Also supports other non-bird taxa with a large community-developed library available to install for free e.g. World Mammals.

Disclaimer: I worked on it for a short while but have no involvement now apart from beta testing version updates.

While I appreciate the taxonomy updates and multi-taxa, I need better functionality. I ran into multiple places where a function that I expected was either very difficult to do or simply not possible. Like editing a location for a sighting.

 

[toby]

While I appreciate the taxonomy updates and multi-taxa, I need better functionality. I ran into multiple places where a function that I expected was either very difficult to do or simply not possible. Like editing a location for a sighting.

But you can do that as well. Just go to the sighting and type the new location. Raise a ticket if you have issues. Justin (the developer) is very helpful.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Yeah, that's why I built Scythebill - I wanted software that worked on the desktop, no dependency on an external provider.

Hoping that Scythebill isn't what you're describing as "ugly" or "painful to navigate" - it's not flashy software, but I literally designed it so a self-proclaimed computer illiterate (not going to name them here!) could use it.

I'm grateful every day for your work Adam.

Just this week, I've downloaded a couple of lists but I have a query / request.

Would it be possible to produce lists in a Word type format rather than just excel? The reason I ask, is that it would be wonderfully convenient to use as the template when producing species accounts in trip reports.

Again, many thanks for all your work.

 

[dixonge]

Go to locations (at the top of the page). Search for the location. Can then edit name, parent, grid reference, or notes.

OK, I don't mean to rant, but I have to a bit. This is not directed at you, I appreciate your help! But this app...

So I have been clicking on Location on the left side of the screen. I did not even see that there was a separate Location button up at the top right.

But as it turns out, it doesn't matter, because I am still unable to fix my Location issue! I go to the location in question, I change the Parent from del Norte (which is in Mexico) to California, which is, in fact, where Crescent City is located. I click save. NOTHING CHANGES. It is still stuck in Mexico.

But you can do that as well. Just go to the sighting and type the new location. Raise a ticket if you have issues. Justin (the developer) is very helpful.

I can't delete the location because it is in use for that one sighting. I am unable to change the parent location.

 

[dixonge]

I'll reply to myself here - I DID finally manage to create an entirely new location in the correct state, then switched the entry to that spot, then deleted the old incorrect location. But even that was fraught with frustration, having multiple ways in which the behavior I expected was not the behavior required to achieve the action.

I really do like the overall 'look and feel' of the app, as well as the map view, but I'm not certain if I will pursue any of this with the developer unless I decide to stick with this app.

 

[Stuart Goodwin]

Good afternoon all.

I also use Birdjournal. The ability to record different categories, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, (albeit I have to pay for that function) and the download/ upload easily into Birdtrack was one of the main reasons.

Now if they can have an option to load into IRecord!

Regards

 

[toby]

I'll reply to myself here - I DID finally manage to create an entirely new location in the correct state, then switched the entry to that spot, then deleted the old incorrect location. But even that was fraught with frustration, having multiple ways in which the behavior I expected was not the behavior required to achieve the action.

I really do like the overall 'look and feel' of the app, as well as the map view, but I'm not certain if I will pursue any of this with the developer unless I decide to stick with this app.

Strange, I find managing/altering locations very easy myself.

There's an overview of BirdJournal here...

 

[awiner]

Would it be possible to produce lists in a Word type format rather than just excel? The reason I ask, is that it would be wonderfully convenient to use as the template when producing species accounts in trip reports.

If you use the "Trip report" option in Show reports, you get a formatted trip report which you can copy and paste into a Word doc. Or, rather, just paste - the moment you select a Trip report Scythebill does the "copy" for you automatically. (I chose that rather than directly creating a Word doc so you could paste into your favorite editor, not just Word.)

Also, you can always select a list of species, locations, etc. anywhere in the program and copy-and-paste into an editor.

 

[Andy Adcock]

If you use the "Trip report" option in Show reports, you get a formatted trip report which you can copy and paste into a Word doc. Or, rather, just paste - the moment you select a Trip report Scythebill does the "copy" for you automatically. (I chose that rather than directly creating a Word doc so you could paste into your favorite editor, not just Word.)

Also, you can always select a list of species, locations, etc. anywhere in the program and copy-and-paste into an editor.

Many thanks Adam, had no idea, I usually download them and my wife who is much more tech savvy than me, converts them to word.

 

[Scridifer]

Another 'thumbs up' for Scythebill from me!

Chris