birding-aus

Why Publish bird observations? Re: [Birding-Aus] afo

To: Peter Shute <>,
Subject: Why Publish bird observations? Re: [Birding-Aus] afo
From: brian fleming <>
Date: Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:03:56 +1100
Why isn't a note on Birding-aus sufficient? Birding-aus is a splendid way of letting people know that interesting birds are to be seen some where. And it's a splendid way to find information on what can be found where. So why go to the trouble of getting observations into print?

One must remember that electronic media are not permanent. Will all those photos and notes (even if transferred to archival quality disks) be legible in 20 or 50 years time? How many early computer records are now inaccessible because advancing technology has left them behind? (Plenty!)

But if your records are on printed paper in a journal with some circulation, there is some hope that some copies will be kept dry and secure in libraries and book-shelves for the next century or so.

Back in 1970 I discovered my local park, Wilson Reserve in Ivanhoe, was a good birding location. I kept regular notes for the next five years and eventually bravely decided to write up my observations for the 'Australian Bird Watcher', as it then was. My paper appeared in March 1976, as "Birds of the Yarra Valley, Ivanhoe" and to my surprise was regularly cited and quoted by other bird authors for some years. (Even in HANZAB!) I found it very useful when engaged in local conservation struggles to have a real printed paper to produce at Council meetings, VCAT hearings and the like. The paper is now of course hopelessly out of date; conditions at the Reserve have changed a lot and so has the bird-life. But it remains available for historical comparison of then and now. I am grateful to my mentors who encouraged me to write it and change a few points at referees' suggestion.

In recent years, Peter Shute has interested us all with his regular reports and photos of crakes and rails at Mount St.Josephs Pond in Altona. It would be really valuable if Peter could summarize these reports into a paper or article, illustrated with his photos, and submit it to 'Wingspan', the 'Bird Observer', AFO, or the 'Melbirdian'. It could make a lot of difference if some authority wants to widen the railway or otherwise disturb the pond, or 'tidy up' the reedbeds. Not very much seems to be known about small crakes and rails, so all records are valuable. It is still claimed that their distribution is mainly known from dead specimens brought in by cats!

Writing is not easy, but a straightforward factual account of what you have seen and why your local area is valuable is well worth doing. Write a draft, and then e-mail editors to see if it's the sort of thing they need.

Anthea Fleming




Peter Shute wrote:
From: On Behalf Of peter crow
Sent: Tuesday, 2 March 2010 11:39 AM
To: 
Subject: [Birding-Aus] afo

I know what its like to have ago and be rejected. I have written a number of short reports suitable researched and reviewed but have always got a reply along the lines of "Its not of great deal of interest --- Its probably something that is common -- We usually don't publish short articles."

I'm new to all this stuff. Can you explain why these things need to actually be published in a magazine?

Lots of observations, although obviously not as well researched as you indicate yours were, and rarely referenced at all,

get "published" just by being mentioned in places like birding-aus. I can see that they might not be regarded as being

as trustworthy and quotable as an article in a magazine, but at least they're out there to be read.

And won't Wingspan and TBO accept them?

Peter Shute
============================www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com

To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 
============================

===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com

To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 
===============================

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU