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What's New on the MOS Web Site?

Date ImplementedItem
Please See Dated Entries BelowPlease Note Queries and Information Immediately Below.
For any of you looking for a browser to replace the notorious Internet Explorer (see April 26 Note below), you might have a look at a relatively new one I've been trying called Sea Monkey. Odd name, but I find it a very attractive interface which seems to load like lightning. For those missing the now-dead Netscape, this is an all-in-one Internet application suite with browser, email & newsgroup client with included Web feed reader, HTML editor, IRC chat and Web development tools, it says. Download free here: Sea Monkey. I've been using Firefox for quite a while and particularly like the Flash Blocker add-on, which makes most of those pesky blinking and scrolling ads an option rather than a chore. Sea Monkey also has what may be a more comprehensive ad-blocker add-on which I'm certainly going to try. I've recently noticed, though, that SM has an occasional character set problem similar to one Firefox had, now fixed; I presume this will be fixed too. Questions / comments are welcome.
New MOS Webmaster John Christy requests your assistance in determining the most important site elements to update. Please email The Black Bird with the identity of the information, and the information itself if you have it. The pdf file format is preferred, but send what you have. Also please identify yourself and your title or role in MOS. I shall do the best I can to keep the most important elements current. Obviously, the less editing necessary, the more likely the information is to get posted, and to be timely. Your help will be much appreciated, and absolutely necessary. Thank you.
Please use this link, or one of the similar ones on this page, to send email to Webmaster: The Black Bird Thank you. I was getting so many "Nigerian bank fraud" emails addressed to Webmaster@mdbirds.org that I made a switch. Now when you click on this link, or one of the Webmaster links on pages I have edited, the email you create will go to SiteMaven@mdbirds.org and then be redirected to me, as per the second paragraph below.
Question for Leaders of the Following Chapters: Allegany/Garrett, Baltimore, Caroline, Carroll, Patuxent --- Would you like your listing on the MOS Chapters page to link directly to your chapter's Web site (if any), instead of to an intermediate page on the MOS site which has some information about your chapter? I suppose these chapter pages are left over from the days when most chapters didn't have their own Web pages. The direct linking would of course mean that your chapter information is likely to be more timely, since it is coming from your own site. Please email The Black Bird with your wishes. Thank you.
Question for Those with Actual, or Links to Actual, Email Addresses on the site --- Would you like your name listing linked to a generic like, e.g., Gofer@mdbirds.org, which could then be routed behind the scenes to your real email address? I hope not too many people say "yes," because these things are all over the place, but I shall try to accomodate those with strong feelings about it. As you can see, I did it with mine: The Black Bird. For those interested, I may need your help in tracking down all the instances. Thank you.
July 14, 2010Posted a flyer anticipating the late November publication of the Second Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Maryland and the District of Columbia.   See HERE and follow the link for the form to use to get yourself a 25% discount by pre-ordering!
June 10, 2010In the nick of time before the Conference, posted still more MD/DC Records Committee database updates from Committee Secretary Phil Davis.
May 23, 2010Posted the May/June Yellowthroat and Calendar.  Linked the Home page Map element for "Montgomery and DC" to the Web site for the Montgomery Bird Club, per a request by Club President Jim Nelson.  Posted eleven updated PDFs for the MD/DC Records Committee page from Committee Secretary Phil Davis.
May 7, 2010Put up a PDF from Dottie Mumford with photos showing an energetic bunch of volunteers giving first aid, and more, to the Irish Grove Sanctuary. Use the link to Spring Work Weekend. The nice presentation on the PDF is by Paul Bystrak. Also rearranged and tidied up some things on several other of the sanctuary pages.
May 3, 2010Corrected a few items on the First Aid for Birds page and fixed the display, which was wildly incorrect in three of five browsers.
April 26, 2010To celebrate becoming your official Webmaster, gave the Home page a bit of a new look without changing content, centering the page and adding a restful (I hope), patterned page background. Making this work in Internet Explorer (IE8, at least), notorious for its non-compliance with Web standards, without using any more deprecated elements (things the World Wide Web Consortium begs you not to use, but which our site is already full of -- so why care? Every little bit helps, like pulling up those rascally non-native plants!) gave me a fit, but it does! Strongly urge you to use some other -- ANY other -- of the great, free browsers out there: Safari (best, it comes with the Mac, but there is a fine Windows edition), Chrome (the new browser from Google), Firefox (maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers, sorta like we are), or even Opera (the browser most used in the European Union). Send me an email at Webmaster if you have questions or comments. It's a great pleasure to work with you -- John Christy.
April 20, 2010Added one item, and restored (with new information) two items removed previously, to the Logoshop page, and corrected a few items on the Atlas Board page.
April 15, 2010Added a paragraph about the Braddock's Road Trail to the Carey Run Sanctuary page. Built and linked a picture gallery of the trail using photos by the Eagle Scout who constructed it. Paragraph text and 41 images provided by Sue Ricciardi.
April 9, 2010Fixed the Electronic Form used for reporting rare sightings, information from which was not showing up properly by email to MD/DC Records Committee Secretary Phil Davis. The form is accessed via a link on the MD/DC Records Committee page. Also fixed a problem with the underlying form structure which was causing ambiguous reporting of the Visual Documentation element.
March 23, 2010Added links to the Annual Conference PDF, which has a printable registration form, on the Main page and the Annual Conference page.
March 15, 2010Updated Yellowthroat and activities calendar, and made a few changes to the Trips/Meetings page.
March 5, 2010Added summer program information and links for Educators and Youth provided by George Radcliffe, repairing the Bird Study page in the process.
March 5, 2010Updated the Talbot Chapter Spring Schedule link on the Talbot Chapter page, and added there a requested link to Eastern Shore Birds on the Washington College Web site, which has links to, and information about, several MOS chapters.
February 5, 2010Updated information about our Affiliated Adventure Sanctuary, with input from Susan Strange.
February 2, 2010Repaired a broken link to Kent on the Chapters page.
January 31, 2010Repaired the Logoshop page, which only displayed correctly in Internet Explorer. Removed out-of-date items and added a few, with images and popups.
January 31, 2010Repaired the Carroll Chapter page, which appeared empty in some browsers.
January 31, 2010Updated the Howard and Cecil links on the Chapters page and on the Main Page counties map.
January 28, 2010Updated the Hawkwatching and Fort Smallwood Park pages with input from compiler Sue Ricciardi.
January 17, 2010Updated the "fact sheet" and "scholarship choices" PDFs on the Scholarships page.
January 17, 2010Added the 2009 "List Reporting Form" PDF on the Great Ticks page.
January 17, 2010Preliminary information about next year's conference at Washington College in Chestertown entered on the Annual Conference page.
January 17, 2010Updated the Upcoming Major Events box on the Main Page and added next Board Meeting date/site and September minutes to the Trips/Meetings Page.
January 1, 2010Updated Yellowthroat and activities calendar.
December 1, 2009Made changes previously requested by the Howard and Washington Chapters.
December 1, 2009Updated the Upcoming Major Events box on the Main Page.
December 1, 2009Linked the names of Executive Council members on the Officers page with generic email addresses, and behind the scenes to their actual email addresses.
December 1, 2009Updated some Trips/Meetings page info, added next Board Meeting date/site, and added June minutes.
December 1, 2009Temporary markup of the Annual Conference page. Repaired the two pin display pages: Pins 1999 to Date and Pins 1987 - 1998 and added 2009 and 50-Year Pin pictures.
November 26, 2009Updated the Yellowthroat and activities calendar links.
November 26, 2009Updated Christmas Count areas, dates, contacts and compilers.
February 8, 2006MOS Brochure is available in the Members Section. New conference pin tips have been posted.
January 29, 2006Learn all about this year's World Series of Birding Team. An updated Speaker's List is now available. New Records Committee revisions are now online.
January 22, 2006Additional updated scholarship information for 2006 is now available. Washington County Chapter has posted a new newsletter.
January 7, 2006Annual species counts for both Maryland and the District of Columbia were begun for 2006. A new e-form for submitting your locality list reports online is now available.
November, 2005Yellowthroat and activities calendar were updated.
October 22, 2005Sholarship information for 2006 is now available. Washington County Chapter has posted an updated newsletter. Check out the new "Help Wanted" section and join in the fun.
September 17, 2005The locality list report form for 2005 is now available. Conservation Committee updated web action links. Statistics for Ft. Smallwood have been revised. First Xmas count dates for the coming season have been posted.
September 10, 2005Officers, Committees and Chapter leadership sections updated for 2005. The Yellowthroat for September/October 2005 added; ditto for the field trip meeting schedule. The 2005 conference pin is now on display. The MD Annual Count and the DC Annual Count have been revised. Fall Count information was updated. The Hawkwatch Site page has been refreshed with current information.
September 1, 2005Welcome back.