As I am sure you have seen, there has been some discussion about what should and should not be posted on COBIRDS.
>From personal e-mails I have received, it is clear that many birders are quite >intimidated to post anything as "possible" or "probable" on COBIRDS. I think >Ted's advice to describe any known details as well as Jim's advice to post >even if you are not sure, is what most COBIRDS members want. From a personal >prospective and from my position as temporary RBA compiler -- I encourage >anyone and everyone to post any possible rarity they see. At least if they do >this, I personally as a COBIRDS member have the opportunity to decide for >myself whether or not I want to chase the possible bird. More importantly, >as a COBIRDS member I can contact the person and ask questions about what they >saw and, once again, decide for myself if I want to chase the bird. Presently, there are a small group of birders who phone each other and get "possible" rare bird reports long before anything appears on COBIRDS. I think this does a tremendous disservice to the credibility of COBIRDS and to the Colorado Birding Community, and I think it makes each and every person who does this a coward. I am the first to admit that I have done it -- I have seen a possible rare bird but not trusted my judgment enough to report it before I have some form of verification from a more experienced birder. I hope I have personally matured enough that I will now report the bird - even if I am not sure of it's ID. For me, there is no better way to learn than from being wrong. I'm stubborn and hence, when I'm wrong, it means that someone or something has taken the time to "teach" me something. In the field, I personally think we are all each others "teachers" and being each others teacher is what makes birders so special. I think COBIRDS certainly plays a role in each of us growing as teachers. As much as I learn from various posts like Tony's recent explanation of proper Sabine's Gull terminology -- I could care less what someone calls a non-adult Sabine's Gull in thier COBIRDS post. The proper terminology should be my responsibility as compiler - and I thank Tony immensely for clarifying this for me. I certainly hope that there isn't someone out there who is too intimidated to post a Sabine's Gull sighting just because they aren't sure whether to call it a juv. or an immature bird. Thanks for reading my rants and raves (assuming you made it this far) -- and please POST without worrying about any scrutiny from the birding community -- we all want the same thing -- to better understand and better observe the birds around us!! Good Birding, Allison Hilf Denver, CO Sent From My iPAD -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
