It's not just you Jon!! I too prefer things the way they are here - and
leave the crowded commercialism to the poms.
T.
At 05:43 6/07/00 +1000, you wrote:
>Maybe it is just me, but I don't think birding in the UK is quite as rosy a
>picture as some are painting. Sure all the benefits you list are real, but
>there are a fair few cons too, which I think should be remembered.
>
>If you visit most UK bird watching hotspots at any time of the year you are
>pretty much guaranteed to be surrounded by scores of people all talking into
>pocket tape-recorders, jostling for position and swinging their scopes
>around. If a rarity blows in then the scores of people turn into hundreds
>even thousands. Partly this is just a function of the UK generally (too
>small and too crowded) and would probably never happen here. But certainly
>one of the greatest joys for me of living here is to be able to watch
>wildlife in utter solitude, even near major cities. So although I hope
>attitiudes to conservation change for the majority, I do think its rather
>nice being part of a minority.
>
>cheers
>
>Jon
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Peter Waanders <>
>To: Birding Aus <>
>Date: 06 July 2000 11:13
>Subject: Re: [BIRDING-AUS] birding etc (was sensitive information)
>
>
>>Good Morning Birders
>>
>>I've been thinking about a message that was posted a few days ago, which I
>>have unfortunately deleted. The author related to the fact that birding in
>>the UK was "almost mainstream", very public, large scale, and quite
>>organised, as opposed to Oz birding being a niche activity pursued by only
>>few. In the UK and other European countries (Scandinavia, Holland) and also
>>the USA, birding/birdwatching has taken a huge flight :-) over the last
>>decade.
>>Wouldn't it be nice if the same situation could be achieved in Australia?
>>Imagine, you could buy Wingspan at the newsagency, there would be
>>birdwatching shows on commercial TV, newspapers would run bird related
>>stories, Birds Australia would have 10,000s members.
>>After all, with birding being a more commonly accepted and pursued
>activity,
>>the birds can only benefit. More public awareness, more money raised, more
>>people doing bird counts of various kinds, even more interest from pollies
>>(?!?) all leading to more & better research and conservation efforts.
>>The awareness and enthusiastic public uptake of birding in the above
>>mentioned countries has not always been so. Only in the late eighties/early
>>nineties things started to change and snowballed from then on. General
>>awareness of environmental issues started to increase. The Dutch
>association
>>for bird conservation & research was lucky enough to attract a publicly
>>known personality to its committee who started to push their case on TV a
>>fair bit. He started appearing in programs comparable to Better Homes &
>>Gardens and the like. At the same time, twitching became more popular and
>>the media started to become interested in all these "weirdos with
>>binoculars" travelling from far & wide to watch rarities. Subsequently to
>>these two processes, membership of associations for bird conservation &
>>research started to rise, prompting them to - with now increasing funds -
>>intensify public campaigns, advertising, and so on. Sponsorship was found
>>for TV ads and within a few years birding had become an "almost mainstream"
>>activity.
>>Could we learn something from these experiences? I think so. Birds
>Australia
>>has a unique opportunity to tap into a growing public awareness of
>>environmental issues. Just remember the outcry about landclearing; the
>>recent whaling debates; the "green thumbs" various landcare and natural
>>heritage trust schemes have created; etc etc.
>>I think BA have taken the first step and that was changing their name. They
>>now need to perhaps do a few case studies and apply overseas experiences to
>>the Australian situation, with the support and input from all of us. Only
>>then can birdwatching truly grow out of its current tiny niche.
>>
>>Cheers
>>
>>Peter Waanders
>>
>>website: www.riverland.net.au/~peterw
>>
>>The information in this e-mail may be confidential and/or legally
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>>
>>
>>Birding-Aus is on the Web at
>>www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
>>To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
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>>
>>
>
>
>Birding-Aus is on the Web at
>www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
>To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
>"unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
>to
>
ADELAIDE BIRDING with Tony Russell. South Australia by 4WD
phone : 08 8337 5959 , o/s 61 8 8337 5959
e-mail:
There's nothing quite like the feeling of seeing a new bird is there?
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