Every January 1st Flintshire Bird Club does a "Big Sit" .. you know all about them I'm sure ... you stay in one place and try to get as big a list as you can over a specified time .... we do it from 7:30 am to noon, then we have a break, then we do 1:30pm to 4:30pm. It's been like that for years .... oh, and we compete against our sworn enemies, the Flintwichers .... they're rubbish. They can hardly count to 20 ! But here's the thing ..... there's a tendency to lose interest a bit around 11 am, and again around 3:30 -ish .... so we've adopted a new scoring method ... instead of 1 point per species, we're going to get 1pt for the 1st tick, 4 for the 2nd, 9 for the 3rd, 16 for the 4th and so on. Basically, you get the square of the number. So your 20th species is worth 20 x 20 = 400 points !!! That way, there's a bit more of an incentive to get those " late-on" birds. We're going to give it a go anyway. So .... let's suppose us lot gets 67 species .... what will our score be ? [Slight pause while you're all thinking ... shite ! That'll take a bit of calculating !] But actually, it doesn't ... there's several "short cuts" you can use to work any sum of consecutive squares in a couple of minutes ..... try that internet thing and you should be able to find them. And if you can't, worry not ... I'll show you the easiest way after the music ..... ..probably after the usual huge trail of helpful things.... L
e t's h av e a c a s c a d e of "H e lp ful Le t t e r s"
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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