BOTH BIRDS ARE ARCTIC TERNS

[Laurie Knight <>]

If you spend a bit of time on Birdforum, you will get an appreciation  
for why people from all round the world use it.  Yes, most of the  
posts on Home > Forums > Rare Bird Sightings > Rare Bird Information  
relate to UK sightings, but anyone who wants to discover the identity  
of a bird they have photographed can get global feedback.  Just the  
thing if you think you might have seen a bird that normally occurs in  
another continent.
Then again, perhaps it comes down to the high profile of Birdforum on  
the web.
LK

On 07/10/2010, at 6:21 PM, Simon Mustoe wrote:

> I wasn't having a dig at bird forum. I was more interested in  
> whether Australian birders would want something more immediate. I  
> guess Bird Forum could never accommodate that because global birders  
> aren't likely to want to twitch Arctic Terns in Victoria.
> So why are birders from Australia putting these things on a global  
> forum and not in any manner that causes information to get out  
> quickly on the local birding networks? Is it that birders don't  
> realise that the birds are rare? Don't realise others would like to  
> see them? Don't care whether anyone else finds out locally? etc etc.  
> I don't have the answers. All I know is that we don't really  
> communicate bird sightings very well compared to other countries. If  
> one wanted to twitch birds locally, it would be very hard to do so.
> Just interested...not trying to have a go at anyone.
>
> Regards,
>
> Simon.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Simon Mustoe
> Tel: +61 (0) 405220830 | Skype simonmustoe | Email 
>
>
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>
>
> > CC: 
> > From: 
> > To: 
> > Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] BOTH BIRDS ARE ARCTIC TERNS
> > Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2010 18:14:52 +1000
> >
> > Birdforum is a global forum, Simon.
> >
> > It is used by thousands of birders posting in a range of forums.  
> Most
> > go to the 'what bird is this' list, as was the case with the arctic
> > tern thread - Home > Forums > Birding > Bird Identification Q&A >
> > Smaller Terns from Melbourne, Australia. Sometimes the comments are
> > very good, sometimes it's a case of the blind leading the blind.
> >
> > At the moment, there aren't many Birding-Aussers using that forum,  
> so
> > it took a while to get into our network.
> >
> > LK
> >
> >
> > On 07/10/2010, at 1:59 PM, Simon Mustoe wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I've just been discussing these birds with Jeff Davies. The bird  
> in
> > > flight is also an Arctic Tern. It clearly has pale centres to the
> > > primaries, lacks the dark wedge that one would expect on common,  
> has
> > > a short bill and white gape above the bill. It is also starting to
> > > moult from the centre of the crown...thanks Jeff.
> > >
> > > In terms of the recent reports, can I just clarify:
> > >
> > > 1. There is a report of 2 terns from Mordialloc on the 2 / 3  
> October
> > > (we don't know which date, as they are reported from different
> > > dates, depending on which page of Eremaea we look at).
> > > 2. There is a SEPARATE report of arctic terns from Portland. It  
> was
> > > initially unclear to me as the links provided by Rohan were to two
> > > different records.
> > >
> > > I still need Arctic Tern and they can be a difficult bird in  
> Aus. It
> > > seems odd to be finding out about these birds possibly 5 days  
> after
> > > the event, via a UK birding forum. From a completely personal
> > > perspective, is there any way that we can try to get records like
> > > this out to birders quickly? It would also be very useful to try  
> to
> > > ensure that birders accompany records with information relevant to
> > > finding the bird. What we know about these Arctic Terns at present
> > > is largely academic and though of some interest, it doesn't  
> actually
> > > help birders like me to find them.
> > >
> > > In the case of any coastal bird like this, tide is always very
> > > useful. Was it high or low? Time of day is good - were the birds
> > > seen am or pm? When was the last sighting? Finally (and most
> > > importantly), where are they? Opposite what street? Or maybe a lat
> > > and lon.
> > >
> > > This is all meant to be as constructive as possible, whilst at the
> > > same time, drawing our attention to some clear shortfalls in the  
> way
> > > we currently present information. If we raise the bar just a  
> little
> > > and provide better information we could make birding a lot more
> > > accessible and rewarding.
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > >
> > > Simon.
> > >
> > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > >
> > > Simon Mustoe
> > > Tel: +61 (0) 405220830 | Skype simonmustoe | Email 
>
> > >
> > > Visit BIRD-O at http://www.bird-o.com
> > > Follow BIRD-O on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/birdodotcom
> > > Like BIRD-O on Facebook? Visit http://www.facebook.com/? 
> ref=logo#!/
> > > pages/Bird-O/117732794921095
> > > Email BIRD-O at 
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
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> > >
> >
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