AMEN, Allison, I agree 100%!!!
The birdwatching community should not be an "elitist" group. I dislike the idea that some folks want to limit those who are not "expert" in their eyes. I easily remember when some compilers thought my sightings were not creditable and would not post them. We learn from others and personally I have known any number of "experts" who made mistakes., and some of them are world-renowned birders! This is a great forum to help others learn and everyone needs to learn more, even the "experts". Sometimes that more might mean they need to learn a a little courtesy. I appreciate the posts that help us to learn more about birding, but sometimes there can be a fine line between teaching and "one up-man-ship" .We don't need that kind of stuff If you are not positive on an identification , you can always say what you think it is and ask people to check it out. Good birds are always being spotted by people who consider themselves to be a "non-expert". Don't let the "experts" intimidate you! This subject seems to come up about once a year - com'mon folks surely you don't have that short a memory! The way I understand it is that Co-birds is listed as a Colorado Birds Discussion Group and NOT a Rare Bird Alert as such. Suzi Plooster Lafayette, CO On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 3:27 PM, Allison Hilf <[email protected]> wrote: > > 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]<cobirds%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en. > -- 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.
