I suspect we are observing Pom's displaying their characteristic
'trainspotter' behaviour.
I couldn't resist appending a bite from wikipedia; exchange railway
references for birding references and the description is quite uncanny.
cheers
Paul
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railfan
Trainspotting
Railfans who are "trainspotters" make an effort to spot every piece
of rolling stock known to exist for a particular railroad company. To
this end, they collect and exchange detailed information about the
movements of locomotives and other equipment on the railway network,
and become very knowledgeable about its operations.
The equipment of a trainspotter consists, generally, of a data book
listing all the locomotives or other equipment in question, in which
locomotives seen are ticked off; a notebook and pens, to note down
sightings to transfer into the book at leisure; and an infinite
supply of patience. In the UK, this aspect of the hobby was given a
large boost by the publication of the Ian Allan "ABC" series of
booklets from the 1940s onwards. Today, some trainspotters will use a
tape recorder instead of the notebook. Modern times have seen the
addition of the cellphone and/or pager as an aid to communication
with others in the hobby, while various internet mailing lists and
web sites allow for exchange of information. There are also websites
which allow spotters to record and cross reference their sightings
with other spotters. Railfans can maintain private computerized
databases of spotting records as well.
On 01/03/2007, at 9:00 PM, michael norris wrote:
Hi all
Does anyone know a good mailing list or site to discuss this issue
and learn about remedies ?
Being a Pom in Melbourne I think Andrew Hobbs and Michael Hunter
are right about the effects of our urban structure and English bird
behaviour being more obvious. But here we also have a pioneer
mentality of conquering the bush.... As a local pollie I face
demand for "pristine beaches" which, to me means seaweed, shells...
and to them means cleansed sand and footprints all over.
How to get people's interest, get them to be informed, and then be
involved is a long road. I recently gave some talks on local
biodiversity to Year 9s and what grabbed their attention was when I
asked them if they had seen those large blue wasps....
Michael Norris
PS a Rufous Whistler in a mixed insectivorous flock the other day
was the first for 4 years: the longest gap between records since
I've lived in Bayside. ===============================
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