Julian Robinson wrote:
I would like to encourage a knowledgeable person to give a
short talk or
article for novices and others on what reports of sightings (COG
Records for database) are useful and welcomed. I'm aware that
some members report the results of each expedition they make, no matter
how mundane, as a matter of form. Is this encouraged from
non-experts or would I be making work for someone without adding to the
store of useful knowledge?
I'd like to second Julian's
excellent suggestion. I've often wondered whether to report things I've
seen. I suppose one slowly learns what constitutes a really unusual or
significant sighting, but it seems to me that there is also
significance in apparently mundane events. For instance, I am now
seeing Noisy Miners regularly at the Pinnacle NR near Hawker. This was
inevitable, I suppose, given that they are common in nearby Cook, but
their arrival may be quite significant for the other residents of the
Pinnacle.
Even less obvious to me is how many or which of my
incidental sightings
are useful? This was stirred up by Jack's request in latest G-gang
to "make sure all your sightings are provided..." The
context was early spring sightings. I wondered which if any of the
following common birds all mentioned by Jack would be usefully
reported?...
- having not seen a single Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike for months, I've
seen 3 in different places in the last week.
FWIW, I saw 2 today in the
trees on Ainslie Ave, directly in front of the Canberra Center (near
that conical fountain).
John Brannan
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