There is definitely a place for amatuer observations as they (we) see things
the researchers don't always see. I can think of a couple of examples of my
Dad's (Neil Macfarlane). I have a copy somewhere of one jointly written with
Jack Hayward & published in The Victorian Naturalist in the early 70s, re
the changed behaviour of black-shouldered kites in a mouse plague.
The other was a letter published by the Vic Babbler about a year ago. That
was in response to an article about the decline of quail . Dad had
undertaken a project for Birds On Farms & in about 250 20-minute, 2-hectare
searches at 8 (?) sites in NW Victoria & SW NSW over 2 years - in which he
recorded quail just twice (and yet the hunting season continues - another
story!) He was able to offer his own insights re the impact of changed land
use (continuous cropping instead of rotation of pasture / fallow / crop,
etc.)
So there is a place for it, & it would be good to have it captured in a
formal way and accessible to everyone in the country, including the
reseachers - which may not be achieved by publishing in Vic Babbler, which
is published by BA Vic Group & distributed with Wingspan to Victorian BA
members only.
Ross Macfarlane
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