As President I am fortunate enough to be in a
position to receive compliments on the things that COG does well. One of
these is the email discussion forum, or chat-line . The chat-line has been
an innovation that is of great value to both Group and non-Group
members and is an excellent medium by which we can all benefit from each other's
birding experiences.
Because the chat-line is an open forum for
discussion on birds and their habitats it is important to ensure that the Forum
is open to anyone and that there are no suggestions that postings are not
welcome. For the more experienced bird
observer it is important to remember the thrill of seeing a species or some
aspect of behaviour for the first time and to be able to share that
experience. Repeated postings of
observations on any particular species should be encouraged for it is in this
way we are all able to learn from other's experiences.
As I encourage all relevant postings to the
chat-line I also encourage those observations to be documented with the COG
database. A form can be found on the COG website (see under 'Maps,
Forms and Lists' ) or, once an observer has been registered,
observations can be entered on-line. Registration is possible
by logging onto http://cogatlas.org.au/
I would like to take this opportunity to remind
contributors that it is best practice to make sure that posted emails have an
appropriate subject line. This is best done by writing a new email rather
than just clicking on the 'reply' button.
Good Birding
Chris Davey
(President)
