Phil
I feel you miss the simple point of it. My understanding is that listing has
never been a contest but is simply a "number of birds seen" that may
indicate a rough measure of ability, or persistence or even madness. One can
tell that a person with over 700 birds on their list has put in a lot of
effort, time and money and is likely to have some knowledge of the birds. As
my business I do bird surveys and yes as I wander about writing down plants
I also write down the birds and frogs, often as I hear them, not actually
seeing them. It does not matter how they are recorded just that they are on
the site. However, regarding birding as a pastime, hobby or passion or even
a pathology for some, it is different. Up until a few years ago I did simply
visit areas on holidays by myself or with the family and enjoyed looking for
birds and if I saw a new bird then great. In my early years an experienced
bird watcher told me that "tickers" were not real bird watchers. I did not
understand ticking but adopted the anti ticker attitude anyway. A few years
ago I met a couple of serious birders that changed my view. They were
tickers/listers, they loved birding, they were keen and knew their stuff and
it was a revelation. As far as I was now concerned I had been wasting a lot
of time. By developing a "list" of birds seen, "ticked" off, by place or
date, I was then able to systematically target species and groups and
therefore tailor extended holidays and weekend visits for birding. I feel
that for some of us this is enjoyable and adds a more structure to birding.
There is no financial benefit derived, no accolades from anyone else outside
of the birding community, no reward other than self satisfaction and showing
fellow birders some measure of achievement.
Greg Little
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Philip Veerman
Sent: Sunday, 8 May 2011 6:27 PM
To:
Subject: non tickable sightings
This is not a personal comment to Steve or any other individual or about
any particular bird species. I'm just using Steve's message as an
example. If the purpose of the "tick" is a survey of a site and a
legitimate need to know about the distribution of particular species,
yes that is important but not whether person A has it on their life /
year / place / whatever list. This message is a comment on the idea that
a bird list of itself becomes some kind of contest or somehow important,
which might be fun but beyond that, I think is a load of twaddle. I have
been bird watching as my major interest for 40 + years. Can someone
explain why it matters or more importantly explain why anyone else's
list matters?
As Steve writes "My bird list, My rules!" Therefore I am happy for him
but the truth is I don't care. I care a bit that Yellow-throated Hanging
Parrots exists somewhere but whether or not Steve's list includes them
is of nil concern to me (and that is not being unfriendly).
What I do care about is whether they are capable of flying at 400 miles
an hour. That is something of interest because it is about the bird, not
the list. But I suspect a bit of artistic licence there.
Philip
-----Original Message-----From:
On Behalf Of Steve
Potter
Sent: Saturday, 7 May 2011 8:00 PM To: ;
Subject: [Birding-Aus] non tickable
sightings
Hi Gang,
As someone who just posted a report with 2 un-tickable sightings, I am
assuming I am partly to blame for the question.
Yellow-throated Hanging Parrot flying at 400 miles an hour and
identifiable by call/options and paid guide only, but not really seen
clearly is in my book an un-tickable sighting. Even to the surprise of
the guide...
Black-thighed Falconet seen at 2 km's through Bino's and even the Guide
was uncertain.... even when all other options exhausted, I declare an
un-tickable sighting also.
My bird list, My rules!
Cheers.
Steve Potter
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