Hi Angus
Thank you very much for your well-reasoned, supportive and generous
comments. It is particularly helpful to be able to compare birding-aus
with other more elaborate and Web 2.0 compliant services. I'm an avid
user of all sorts of interactive social media, but I've always felt
that a simple email forum is probably the most useful thing for
birdwatchers in this country. When teamed up with Andrew Taylor's
comprehensive message archive for birding-aus, and other services like
Tom Tarrant's photographic database (ABID) and Richard & Margaret
Alcorn's sightings database (Eremaea), I think birdwatchers in
Australia have a very useful set of tools at our disposal.
Thanks also for your kind offer to visitors to the London Wetland
Centre. I hope I get to be one of them!
Regards
Russell
Russell Woodford
Birding-Aus List Owner
Geelong Victoria Australia
http://www.birding-aus.org
On 29/01/2010, at 11:27 PM, Angus Innes wrote:
As an Aus birder working in the UK, can I express my pleasure that
the balance of opinion has come down in favour of maintaining the
current format - and express deepest thanks those who maintain the
site.
The eclecticism of the site makes it stand out from dozens of other
birding sites that I access regularly. Birding Aus is not just
eclectic but also egalitarian, the essence of Australia.
"New chums" are not overawed or deterred from posting, the
country's most expert birders contribute, a regular picture of what
is being seen around the whole country is given and topical items of
general interest are posted. Inevitably some hobby horses emerge
that turn on their riders but not necessarily all readers. The
latter is life, we are not all turned on by the same items of
discussion. Better to have the opportunity to ignore than not to
know what other birders think are matters of importance. A little
tolerance is necessary in life and birding.
Currently living in the most intensively served birding community in
the world, the UK, I can access daily UK rarity lists (eg through
BirdGuides), daily photographic lists of rarities (eg Surfbirds),
sites for the UK RSPB reserves, Bird Observatory postings, UK Bird
Mapping sites (eg Birdtrack), London Birders for daily sightings and
discussion of the area in which I live and the websites of several
other major UK birding organisations. However nothing corresponds to
Birding Aus, nothing gives such a comprehensive glimpse of all
aspects of a whole country's birding.
I read, or scan, all postings with interest - and some nostalgia. On
my regular returns I feel that I have kept up with Australian birds
and birding (aa well as birding in Tromso). I usually have new
birding places in mind to visit in Australia when the opportunity
arises, and old places to re-visit.
Part of my reasoning may reflect a far less than comprehensive
knowledge of computer matters. (It is an age thing.) Scanning
Birding Aus is like dealing with a comprehensive Index and selecting
the topics that interest me, or might interest me, but knowing that
I have access to all contents. I do not feel that my computer
illiteracy is hiding important information from me. The managers of
websites such as Birding Aus should never over-estimate the
knowledge of their users, or aspiring users - and information as to
the use of the site cannot be too basic.
Angus Innes
PS I am a volunteer guide at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trusts' London
Wetland Centre. I would happily provide details of this magnificent
facility, situated on the edge of Inner London, to any visitor from
Australia who wanted to put in a few hours birding when passing
through London.
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