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I wonder about this in terms not only of
location but of relevance. Of course it is nice for people just to write that
they have seen a pink-tufted chat-petrel at 517 km north of Mildurelaide.
Sometimes I wonder (if they are for places that I know nothing about) why they
choose to mention the pink-tufted chat-petrel and may have forgotten to mention
the white-crowned eagle-finch that was also there. As in I might be more
interested in the latter. I like it best when someone mentions not just what was
where (or even not there) but why they also tell us why they are telling us (as
in is this notable or a unusual or what). The regular pelagic trip reports are
almost always good examples of providing a context to the lists. Of course we
are limited by our willingness to type and read a lot.
Philip
While not wanting to carry on a topic that
most people are probably sick
of, and certainly not wanting to add to a
flame war, I do feel that adding
basic location info is important enough
to warrant a bit more defending
here.
For me, it's not necessarily
a matter of needing the info in order to jump
into the car and go see the
bird. I enjoy reading what people are seeing
and that information becomes
all the more meaningful by having a mental
picture of where it is
happening. To me it matters very much whether it's
Cairns, Coonamble or
Cooper's Creek. It's all part of building up an
understanding of
Australian birds and what they are doing where, which in
turn helps me to
understand the birds I see around me.
Yes, we could all look up the
locations in an atlas, but it takes up enough
valuable time just scanning
the messages and reading those of particular
interest, without having to
do this. By contrast it only takes 3 keystrokes
for the poster to add the
state, or half a dozen extra words to give a
little more detailed info.
Then if anyone wants exact access directions
they can of course contact
the poster.
I know I've been guilty of forgetting to do this at
times. We all make
mistakes, so let's not flame, but a gentle reminder
doesn't go astray. Just
my 2 cents
worth.
Cheers
Carol
Carol Probets
Katoomba
Blue
Mountains NSW
(100km west of Sydney)
Russell wrote:
>I
don't know why it's so important to put states into every
report
>anyway. If someone sees a nice bird in Cairns, am I
going to be able
>to see it? Not likely! So it doesn't
matter if it's in Cairns,
>Coonamble or Cooper's Ck. But if
someone posts about a Regent
>Honeyeater in Newstead, or a Satin
Bowerbird in Corio, I know where
>they are because they're within
reach! I suppose for travelers the
>extra bit of info is useful,
but let's not get our knickers quite so
>tangled about all
this.
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