birding-aus

Why I am mostly silent these days

To: Vader Willem Jan Marinus <>
Subject: Why I am mostly silent these days
From: Laurie Knight <>
Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2012 05:14:06 +1000
Thanks for your socio-biogeogaphical notes over the years, Wim. Like many others on Birding-Aus, I have found them informative and enjoyable to read.

All the best for the future.

Regards, Laurie.


On 19/08/2012, at 10:47 PM, Vader Willem Jan Marinus wrote:

                                  WHY I AM MOSTLY SILENT THESE DAYS



Several people have contacted me these last months, asking if I am OK, since they did not find my regular 'bird and seasons' pieces on the bird lists anymore. I just found out that my first mail to Birdchat was written in 1996, 16 years ago, and the other lists gradually followed in the years after that. By far the most pieces have been about birds and seasons in Tromsø, N. Norway, where I live--some have also been from my native Holland, or from my travels, either job related, or during birding trips with professional tour companies.



I am now 75 years old, and during the last few years my ears have deteriorated quite fast, only partly ameliorated by hearing aids. My eyes have never been any good (my ophthalmologist told me when I complained: 'Well, Sir, with eyes such as yours you can't expect anything better', wonderful bedside manners!). The net result is that when I go to my old haunts---from where I have reported many times by now---I see and hear less than I did before, although I still enjoy my trips enormously. Also, I find that I to a certain degree 'escape' to plant watching: they don't fly away, and don't have calls I can't hear anymore. I do still go on birding trips abroad and make my annotated bird lists afterwards; but nowadays the leaders of the trips themselves very often put an illustrated report on the net, while I do not take pictures anymore. So I think nowadays i have little news to contribute anymore.



All in all I think I should stop repeating myself with the same type of reports, and rather confine myself to the occasional mail, when I have something more special to convey, as e.g. in the present mail about our absent summer. I'll stay a subscriber, though, and people can always contact me, esp. when they have plans to come to or via Tromsø on a trip. This summer I had guests from both Australia and South Africa and it gives me great pleasure to show them around.



With my best greetings from a sunny, but chilly Tromsø.



Wim Vader, Vesterliv. 23

9037 Tromsø, Norway

<>

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