jade welch wrote:
I would stongly agree with the fact that you don't meet many young
birders. Next to Kurtis you are the second birder i have met who is
young so to speak. I wish we had more young birders around.
Now maybe this is a worthy thread!! Why are there so few "young" birders?
I'm not exactly over the hill at 42, but yes, approaching the hill I
concede. As a teenager I found the whole idea of roaming around the
countryside discovering the secrets of nature about as much fun as I
could imagine. Having always had a rampant curiosity, natural history
was perhaps a natural inclination. I learnt a hell of a lot from older
naturalists, but maybe not as much as what I found out for myself when
travelling around the state and country with a few like-minded
contemporaries. We had a lot of fun, and got up to enough other
mischief to avoid being labelled as wowsers. I can't remember a time
when I wasn't aware of and interested in whatever happened to be flying
past, or warbling from the nearby shrubbery, etc., so it's a bit hard
for me to understand why not everyone finds this as fascinating as I
do!! Even now when I do this kind of stuff for a living, my inherent
interest in the subject matter hasn't diminished (I just don't have much
spare time to pursue it out of work hours!!).
Why is the analogue pursuit of field natural history in Australia so
profoundly unpopular and daggy these days compared to the various
digital/virtual pursuits? Particularly given that there are numerous
applications for digital technology in natural history these days -
Russell just mentioned a few in his last missive. Even in the UK last
year when I was impressed by the enormous number of birders and
bird-aware folk roaming around the countryside, I think I only saw/met
about 5 birders younger than 30. I tend to look a bit younger than my
years, so there was always a flash of recognition from other "young"
birders (more like stunned surprise perhaps??).
Take it away Birding-Aus-ers ...........
--
=================================
Lawrie Conole
Senior Ecologist
Ornithology & Terrestrial Ecology
Ecology Australia Pty. Ltd.
Flora and Fauna Consultants
88B Station Street
FAIRFIELD VIC 3078 Australia
E-mail:
Internet: http://www.ecologyaustralia.com.au/
Ph: (03) 9489 4191; Mob: (0419) 588 993
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