birding-aus

Mundane & useless threads

To: david taylor <>
Subject: Mundane & useless threads
From: Alistair McKeough <>
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2013 06:55:12 +1000
I absolutely agree David. Paul's reports are one of the main reasons I stay
subscribed. Paul - please don't stop!

As a relative newcomer to Birding Aus (I think I've been subscribed since
2005) I have very much enjoyed the resource and have met many birders and
even made a few friends through the list.

As with all hobbies, there is a tendency with more experienced participants
to be "holier than thou" at times which sadly exhibits at times by way of
being overly sensitive about good birding sites and trying to prevent new
birders from having knowledge of/access to them, but in my experience
that's usually been more than offset by the positive contribution that
almost every list member makes.

Topics like taxonomy, banding, playback, ticking vagrants, whether a house
crow is ship assisted and so on do on occasion spark debate that far
exceeds any rational discussion of the topics, but that is why I like B Aus
so much - just about everyone on here is a passionate birder who, while
sharing differing views, genuinely cares for our birds and their
environment and loves nothing more than discussing them.

So, with a timely reminder about being a bit more sensitive - let's all
keep talking about the birds!

Alistair


On 15 April 2013 19:06, david taylor <> wrote:

> >   Paul Dodd wrote   "In fact, I was criticised for posting trip reports
> recently too"
>
>
> If people like Paul Dodd and others stop posting trip reports and useful
> commentary on their birding adventures Birding-aus really wont be worth
> subscribing to!   How anyone could be critical of Paul ( and others)
> generous details on their trips is hard to fathom!
>
> David Taylor
>
>
>
> On 15/04/2013, at 8:20 AM, Paul Dodd wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I thought I'd stay out of this conversation thread as I can't really
> abide another discussion on capitalisation and grammar - HOWEVER, when the
> conversation turned to bullying I felt that I had to participate.
> >
> > I have seen many postings over the years that I think are, at the very
> least, rude - if not stepping over the line towards bullying - I won't give
> the precise examples here but they invariably occur around two topics -
> requests for assistance with ID, and requests for information/assistance
> regarding birding and birding locations, and generally these postings are
> from relative newcomers to the list. Oftentimes the replies are helpful and
> encouraging, but from time-to-time the replies are hostile. Replies to
> requests for ID suggesting that people have better things to do than
> substitute for field guides, for example.
> >
> > I see any forum (and birding-aus is a forum) as a collaborative
> experience - where people should be able to post a request, or post a
> reply, without having any fear of being attacked. To be honest, I have
> tended to adopt the principle that I will post trip reports and other
> pieces of information, but not engage in the conversations because I don't
> want the grief. In fact, I was criticised for posting trip reports recently
> too, which makes me think that maybe I'll stop doing that too. I should
> point out that in my experience, much of the bullying and criticism is
> offline - which I find worrying as it is covert, and we'll never know the
> extent of it.
> >
> > Paul Dodd
> > Docklands, Victoria
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:  [mailto:
>  On Behalf Of Robert Inglis
> > Sent: Sunday, 14 April 2013 9:37 PM
> > To: Birding-Aus
> > Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Mundane & useless threads
> >
> > Philip, (of Philip, Kylie, Joshua, Noah) if you feel I have bullied you
> in any way and particularly by responding to your previous posting (which I
> believe was to ask for birding advice) by correcting your spelling and bird
> names please accept this public apology.
> > I must admit I am completely unaware of how that could have happened
> and, if it did, I am truly sorry.
> >
> > There certainly is activity on BirdingAus from time to time which could
> easily be construed as “bullying” and I have sometimes felt some of it was
> directed at me.
> > A lot of the threads on BirdingAus could easily be classified as
> “mundane & useless” depending on your point of view but that is not a
> characteristic exclusive to BirdingAus; it simply reflects the society we
> live in.
> >
> > Forums such as BirdingAus should be places where opinions are freely
> expressed and argued but there is never any place for abuse and bullying.
> >
> > Bob Inglis
> > Sandstone Point
> > Qld
> > ===============================
> >
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> > send the message:
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> >
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> >
>
> David and Marg Taylor
> Brisbane
>
>
>
>
>
>
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