I agree with much of what Lawrie Conole has said on the subject but would
just add there has been a decline in other aspects of 'amateur' (the
original meaning and the use of the word in Italian, is very different to
that now understood) ornithology. The number of banders is a source for
concern for example. Reading 1960s editions of "The Bird Bander" gives an
interesting picture of the 'amateur' basis of much of the historical data
collection which underpins current ornithology. Perhaps we need more access
to skills such as morphometrics, banding, behaviour and counts for those who
do not want to undertake university courses? But in a 'time poor' society
would there be enough takers if short courses in these subject areas were
more freely available? Would people maintain the skills through regular use?
Would we get more data and analysis of data if this were to occur? A NZ
group I am a member of regularly runs week long field study courses and they
get more skilled volunteer time as a consequence. I also noted teaching bird
behaviour and physiology to wildlife rehabilitators for four years that a
small but growing group of bird watchers attended the courses.
While I can understand Steve's desire to move quickly through Pete Milburn's
data on the landscape the pelagic birds are found in. He may be more
interested if he was trained (apologies if this is not necessary Steve) and
involved in the collection of such data. There are many 'train spotters' out
there (and good luck to them there sighting are valuable biogeography) who
tick the Diomedea exulans gibbsoni (apologies to L. Smith) but have no
interest in coming down the ladder while one is being inspected and detected
on the deck until you show how feather moult changes the appearance of old
and new plumage and hence why mis-identification can occur. My point being
that interest levels (and thereby potential contribution levels) rise with
more skills and knowledge. If would be interesting how much more we gain if
all the birders going out to the Darling could do a quick test for sediment,
nutrients and algae while they visited spots that professional scientists
may only see when they are funded or there is an 'event'. Ciao
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