What if the count cannot meet the minimum of four observers and six party-hours due to weather or personal circumstances?
When circumstances prevent a planned count from having the minimum of four observers and/or six party-hours, the count is best considered a field trip. The data are still of value and can be input on the Butterflies I’ve Seen (BIS) database, located on NABA’s homepage www.naba.org. Currently, data input into BIS can be used to generate a life list and a list of field trips. Future plans include the installation of mapping capabilities so users can see where a certain species has been observed. The data stored by users in BIS has the same value to scientists who are studying butterfly populations as do the data generated by the Butterfly Count Program. We encourage people to start using BIS now so that when the mapping abilities are installed, users will have data to access. If owing to special circumstances a count does not meet the four observer/six party- hour minimum, but the compiler still believes it should be published, he or she should contact the NABA office.
