"Advice Regarding Nest Atlas Reporting"

#PokemonGO: With the expected nest migration tomorrow (< 32 hours from this post), a few comments and reminders regarding reporting nests to help everyone using the atlas.Avoid Rush to JudgmentThere does seem to be a tendency to want to be the first person to report the nest species. There is no prize to report a nest first. With the increase in spawns at some locations, it is easy to jump to conclusions regarding the nest species. I know that I have had to correct reports apparently based on someone driving through a parking lot and reporting it as a nest because there were two of something present that they typically don't see there. While I do respect that some nests can easily be identified in this way, not all can, especially those nests that have low number of spawns.Also, a nest is a reliable place to find a species. You can't confirm it is reliable by doing a drive-by one time unless you are really familiar with the spawn patterns/locations.ScannersLet your conscience be your guide on your personal use of scanners, but don't use them to report to the nest atlas. First, you haven't personally verified the nest so you are providing a second hand report by a bot. Second, they may be unreliable immediately after a nest change. Third, it's against the ToS so doesn't help with the community's stance against use of such tools.I have seen a nest reported literally 10 minutes after the last migration for a large park that was closed during a heavy rain storm followed by the same person immediately reporting a nest in another smaller park miles away. In one case the species was correct; in the other case it was wrong.While I appreciate people want to know the new species as soon as possible, getting it wrong does not help anyone. You can only be sure by actually going to the location and walking it down.Reporting CommonsIf a species is common to your area, you in all likelihood cannot confirm it is a nest without multiple visits and a walk down. Pulling into a parking lot and seeing five stops on your Nearby with Pidgey is not confirmation of a Pidgey nest. If you think it is unusual, you should report it but note how you arrived at your conclusion so others can confirm or refute.DetailsPeople rely on the atlas and may travel an hour to get to a nest. You should report not only how many of a species you observed but how often they spawn. There is no shame in reporting you drove through the parking lot and saw three of something, but you don't know how often they spawn; or that the park was closed but you saw a species at the gate; or that you walked through the park once and caught 5 of some species and assume the spawn rate is the same as past migrations of 3 to 5 per hour (let people know you are making an assumption based on your past experience with the nest, but you haven't verified there wasn't a change).I have visited nests that were marked as "caught three in 5 minutes" that was confirmed by another report only to find out that not one spawned in a two hour period. Another report added that none were found in the one hour period they were there.Geography/spawn point is another important detail to report. Some nests are spread out, some parks are only a nest in a specific part of the park, etc. I can think of several examples of parks that have nest spawn points away from Pokestops or parking lots. Reporting exactly where the spawn points are for a nest is extremely useful, as is reporting you don't know. For example, reporting that you found three of the species in the parking lot of a park, doesn't tell the reader whether there are spawn points in other places in the park, along trails, etc. If you don't know, you should make that clear as well so others can find out and report it. Also, I have seen additions to nest spawn points over the last two migrations, so you should verify through personal observation whether there has been a change.Again there is no shame in posting you aren't sure something is a nest of a certain species, or that you were only there for five minutes, etc. The more details you provide including time of day, how long you were there, method of confirmation, etc., the more useful the report will be so others can make a decision on whether the nest is worth visiting or if they need to go to confirm the species to help others.I hope that helps!Edit: Added Geography/spawn point description to Details section (ty EdgeOfDreams ) via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2knQyIj