Hi Carl et al
I'm not sure what misanthropic means but.....I believe there is also a
superior feeling from some sections of the birding community (especially
in Qld) that they are not - what they seem to believe is evil incarnate
- a TWITCHER. God forbid that anyone would get to see a new bird without
finding it themselves. There is, I think, a misconception that twitchers
sit at home on the couch waiting for that phone call and then dash out
to see the bird - destroying habitat, adding to global warming and
generally not been 'good' birders contributing to the birding community.
Hence it's secret squirrel time!
Guys - being one of those who really enjoys seeing new birds
occasionally I can tell you I do a lot of 'normal' birding - every
weekend in fact, usually both days, and I have spreadsheets of data to
prove it! However I really enjoyed seeing the Wood Sands last year at
Wynnum, it was great to drive to NSW (twice!) to eventually see the
Lesser Yellowlegs in the rain, last week I went to see the Shelduck,
again at Wynnum. This weekend I might try to find the reported Eurasian
Curlews, altho that does seem a big task!
This morning, on the other hand, I went to my local work patch for my
standard 15 minutes and took pleasure in seeing the resident Magpie
Larks feeding their young in the nest on the head of the statue. I noted
4 Tree Martins, 1 Hardhead, 2 Willie Wagtails, 5 Noisy Miners etc and
was surprised there were no Black Ducks. I also saw the first Dollarbird
I have seen there in 155 recorded visits over the last 7 years! However
if an Asian Dowitcher turns up at Wynnum I'll probably take time off
work to see it!
It's time to share, Guys, there aren't that many rarities turning up
every year and it helps everyone if we get an opportunity to see new
birds or resident species out of their normal range.It's exciting! and
it helps raise the profile of birding and conservation if it could get
into the media some way! Keeping news of this sort to yourself achieves
nothing.
Well, I'll get off my soapbox now and prepare to weather the storm....
Cheers
Colin
Brisbane
On Thu, 6 Nov 2008 19:23:06 +1100, "Carl Clifford"
<> said:
> Graham,
>
> I think that there are several main reasons, some are; 1) They may be
> reluctant to post because there is a good chance that the bird might
> have gone by the time others get to the location, and no one likes to
> be called a stringer; 2) It often takes a bit of research to be sure
> of the I.D. ; 3) some people might not want the bird to be placed
> under stress from a horde of twitchers descending on it, and 4) they
> may just be misanthropic.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Carl Clifford
> On 06/11/2008, at 12:17 PM, Graham Turner wrote:
>
> I am often amazed at how long it takes for news of rarities to make it
> to birding-aus. There seems to be a reluctance to post such sightings
> to this list that seems to have nothing to do with observers trying
> to avoid the embarrassment of a mis-identification.
>
>
> Cheers
> Graham Turner
>
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