birding-aus

Re: Birding Aus Format

To: Angus Innes <>
Subject: Re: Birding Aus Format
From: Russell Woodford <>
Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2010 14:19:34 +1100
Hi Angus

Thank you very much for your well-reasoned, supportive and generous comments. It is particularly helpful to be able to compare birding-aus with other more elaborate and Web 2.0 compliant services. I'm an avid user of all sorts of interactive social media, but I've always felt that a simple email forum is probably the most useful thing for birdwatchers in this country. When teamed up with Andrew Taylor's comprehensive message archive for birding-aus, and other services like Tom Tarrant's photographic database (ABID) and Richard & Margaret Alcorn's sightings database (Eremaea), I think birdwatchers in Australia have a very useful set of tools at our disposal.

Thanks also for your kind offer to visitors to the London Wetland Centre. I hope I get to be one of them!

Regards
Russell


Russell Woodford
Birding-Aus List Owner

Geelong   Victoria   Australia
http://www.birding-aus.org

On 29/01/2010, at 11:27 PM, Angus Innes wrote:

As an Aus birder working in the UK, can I express my pleasure that the balance of opinion has come down in favour of maintaining the current format - and express deepest thanks those who maintain the site.

The eclecticism of the site makes it stand out from dozens of other birding sites that I access regularly. Birding Aus is not just eclectic but also egalitarian, the essence of Australia.

"New chums" are not overawed or deterred from posting, the country's most expert birders contribute, a regular picture of what is being seen around the whole country is given and topical items of general interest are posted. Inevitably some hobby horses emerge that turn on their riders but not necessarily all readers. The latter is life, we are not all turned on by the same items of discussion. Better to have the opportunity to ignore than not to know what other birders think are matters of importance. A little tolerance is necessary in life and birding.

Currently living in the most intensively served birding community in the world, the UK, I can access daily UK rarity lists (eg through BirdGuides), daily photographic lists of rarities (eg Surfbirds), sites for the UK RSPB reserves, Bird Observatory postings, UK Bird Mapping sites (eg Birdtrack), London Birders for daily sightings and discussion of the area in which I live and the websites of several other major UK birding organisations. However nothing corresponds to Birding Aus, nothing gives such a comprehensive glimpse of all aspects of a whole country's birding.

I read, or scan, all postings with interest - and some nostalgia. On my regular returns I feel that I have kept up with Australian birds and birding (aa well as birding in Tromso). I usually have new birding places in mind to visit in Australia when the opportunity arises, and old places to re-visit.

Part of my reasoning may reflect a far less than comprehensive knowledge of computer matters. (It is an age thing.) Scanning Birding Aus is like dealing with a comprehensive Index and selecting the topics that interest me, or might interest me, but knowing that I have access to all contents. I do not feel that my computer illiteracy is hiding important information from me. The managers of websites such as Birding Aus should never over-estimate the knowledge of their users, or aspiring users - and information as to the use of the site cannot be too basic.

Angus Innes

PS I am a volunteer guide at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trusts' London Wetland Centre. I would happily provide details of this magnificent facility, situated on the edge of Inner London, to any visitor from Australia who wanted to put in a few hours birding when passing through London.



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