Greetings Birders
Perhaps I've missed some of the postings on this subject but certainly the
ones I've read seem to have missed the point of IMMERDIATE COMMUNICATION
with pagers.
Back in the 1990s when Fay and I were revisiting the UK we had the loan of a
pager from Chris Padley of The Old Bakehouse, Little Walsingham, Norfolk.
While travelling north to visit family and friends the pager alerted us to
the sudden appearance of White Stork [Ciconia ciconia] south of Birmingham.
Having a little earlier "ticked" White Stork in Poland we decided to ignore
the call. The alerts continued over the next hour at regular intervals. By
the time we were abreast of the location, but some 50km east, we succumbed
to temptation; it was, after all, a new "tick" for our British list. We
duly arrived, searched, "ticked" and continued on our way to the
family/friends reunion.
That's immediacy. No ERERMAEA, WILDIARIES or any other form of
computer/Internet communication would have served us with that proficiency.
By the time Fay and I arrived at my sister's house and logged on to my
"Hotmail" account, the White Stork was gone - albeit to reappear several
miles further west the following morning
Throughout the duration of our UK visit we were regularly alerted to "rare"
birds across the width and breadth of the country. Most we ignored as we
had pre-determined destinations miles beyond the advertised location but on
a number of occasions we were able to divert to the sighting and thus add to
our Life/British list. Indeed, on one occasion, when the birders of
Cornwall were becoming rather excited about the presence of Little Egret
[Egretta garzetta], we were able to add to the buzz when we found a pair at
the Copperhouse, Hayle.
Further not only did the pager alert birders to the presence of a new rarity
in the UK but also notified them when the bird had left the advertised
location, thus saving "twitchers" the cost of a fruitless chase.
Modern technology could provide alternatives. "Blackberry" with email and
an audible alert that a birding message is coming through?
It may well be that given the vast distances involved in Australian birding
- the tyranny of distance- a pager/email system would be impractical but
let's not retreat behind that old defence mechanism that we already have
something better, brighter and more efficient than the Poms, or Dutch for
that matter, could ever dream up.
Cheers
Julian Bielewicz
Nanango, Q.
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