Andrew makes some good points.
"It's hard to blame others (who might only get a few spare weeks in a year
to indulge themselves) who are probably only trying to get the most out of
their holidays."
I couldn't agree more - exactly the situation I find myself when I get
around to taking holidays. Many people on this list will attest that I'm
happy to direct people to Regent Honeyeaters where this is appropriate (I
will not direct people to Regents on private property or where it is
considered sensative - again, who makes this decision?).
I guess the thing that bugs me most are people who get to hear about a
bird then tramp to the location to see it without considering that if they
bothered putting in a bit of effort then even more of the same species
might be located nearby. This relates more to species like Regent
Honeyeaters and less to vagrants such as a Laughing Gull. The discussion,
as orginally put by Syd, applies to these rare birds rather than vagrants.
I appreciate that people consider myself privilaged to be working in this
area - I just wish I was in the field more often. I consider myself
lucky to be doing something I love and I also like to think that I put a
lot back into the conservation of our birds. In the final assessment what
I think of twitchers is irrelevant, we all have different ways of pursuing
our hobby. Let's hope that the welfare of our birds is paramount in
everyones mind, otherwise an evergrowing number of our birds will be on
the twitchers hit list (have a look at the Readers Digest Complete Book of
Australian Birds - The Regent Honeyeater is listed as "moderately
common'!).
Cheers
David
David Geering
Regent Honeyeater Recovery Coordinator
NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
P.O. Box 2111
Dubbo NSW 2830
Ph: 02 6883 5335 or Freecall 1800 621 056
Fax: 02 6884 9382
This message is intended for the addressee named and may contain
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