Hi Chris,
Yes that is a fair point. Yes some observers would probably do that. The
emphasis though is for many wishing to going there at short notice and
stay not long enough to gather much data, in order to tick off a species
for their life lists. Nice experience but which contributes little, if
anything. Sure that would be nice and I wish I was in a position to do
that too. I like that people enjoy bird watching but I submit that being
primarily motivated by lists to tick is a trivial pastime. The
suggestion to go and visit other places to search for the birds probably
adds more value. Under the circumstances of the distance, the expense,
the energy used, the disruption to local people etc, I still think that
some of the people should be a little less self indulgent and support a
bit more coordinated study of the birds by fewer people, especially by
the people who already live near the area and maybe already have good
local knowledge and resources, not to mention permits, to be there.
How many non-local birders also know enough about the vegetation to be
able to contribute a lot to even identifying what these birds are
feeding on. I know I wouldn't. I also find it a bit amusing to talk
about keeping to tracks, in central Australia. How many tracks exist out
there and in the sparse vegetation it is sometimes hard for the
untrained person to see tracks anyway. Do we know whether the tracks
themselves are, or lead to, sacred sites? How many bird observers keep
to tracks anyway? If I spent a huge amount to go somewhere to see a bird
and was wandering around relatively unmarked bushland and heard the bird
50 metres off the track, with no signs or guides to tell me not to and
if the track was only vague, I don't think I would stay on the track.
The following extract also recently posted could sort of support what I
write. As in what useful motive could exist to indulge in doing this
expense:
"I recall (look in the BirdingAus archives) some friends who twitched
Ostrich by flying over the station as the owner no longer allowed access
to birders. Unfortunately twitching a parrot from a plane is probably a
little harder! "
But it is a good discussion to bring out a lot of these issues.
I hope the Princess Parrots are doing well, they are such a lovely
bird.........
Philip
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Sanderson
Sent: Friday, 13 August 2010 8:15 PM
To: Philip Veerman
Cc:
Subject: Princess Parrots issue
Actually Phillip, if you look in HANZAB, we know next to nothing about
the ecology of Princess Parrots as a species, in the wild. So if people
took good notes, and submitted them appropriately, it could contribute
quite a lot to our knowledge and the long term prospects of the species.
Regards,
Chris
On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 6:21 PM, Philip Veerman <>
wrote:
And the species is so common in captivity anyway............. So easy to
see.......... To the extent that it would be watched on a twitch, do we
really learn that much more useful, to contribute to its welfare? Or in
a case like this, why not fund just one or two people to go there and
study it, rather than so many spending all that money. Sure I would like
to go there and see that bird and others in the region. But I question
are we just a little bit odd to think that seeing it ourselves, rather
than just being happy to know it exists, is so important to justify
going to such lengths and creating the energy consumption to get there.
Philip
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