Thank you very much Laura for your post.
I do see your point on bringing up the actual numbers on ones life list and the fact that there are birders who have far more birds than there skills would warrant. I personally believe that revealing the number of birds on your life list is simply interesting, although I know many who would disagree with this. For my two trips to Costa Rica and one to Peru I spent hundreds of hours researching the birds in field guides and other trip reports. Because of this I was able to "self-find" all but 2 of the birds I saw in those countries. I never hired a birding guide. I have also never once used playback tapes here or abroad. Not to say that either of these methods is necessarily bad. I also agree that "green" birding is my preferred choice of birding. If a rare sighting is in the Twin Cities area I do try to walk or bike to the spot if possible. Thanks for the comments, Jason Caddy Minneapolis, MN [email protected] > Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:23:24 -0500 > From: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [mou-net] A Listing Question > To: [email protected] > > After Kim Eckert (and now others) broke the ribbon and left everyone else in > the dust by attaining the Holy Grail of 400, and because chasing is a lot > easier in this technological age in terms of the speed of finding out when > and exactly where rarities are spotted and calling rare birds in with > playback (something I don't do but understand), I suppose 300 does seem like > a less thrilling goal to some. But I think it's still a wonderful benchmark. > It still takes time and planning and familiarity with the state's many > birding areas to reach 300. Yes, 300 is an arbitrary number. But it's a > pretty one, isn't it? > > I got to 300 back in the 80s when I had three small children and was pretty > overwhelmed, so I don't remember the day or the species that put me over the > top. I just remember finally going through AviSys and seeing I was at 303. > If I don't know what my #300 bird was, I do know what it wasn't--a Northern > Cardinal. I think I may be unique in this, but I reached 300 before I ever > saw a cardinal in the state. My pregnancies, babies, and toddlers kept me > pretty close to Duluth except for some specific trips, and nary a cardinal > on them! And every time I tried to chase down a cardinal on the Duluth > hotline, it eluded me. Of course, now they're all over my neighborhood, but > back then my nemesis bird in Minnesota happened to be the very species that, > in Illinois in the 1950s, taught me how to whistle. (My new nemesis bird is > Sabine's Gull.) > > I don't report my numbers to MOU or ABA or anyone else. A few birders (not > many, really, and none I've dealt with in Minnesota) put way too much > importance on numbers, which on their own really don't mean much at all. > I've known great birders who stick close to home so their number is low > relative to their skill, and lousy birders who go on lots of guided birding > trips or just aren't very careful, so their numbers are huge relative to > their skill. And I've always felt awkward about competitions (when I was #1 > in my high school class, I wouldn't even give the speech). So overall, I > feel happiest when I keep my numbers to myself. But I like that the listing > game is out there, and that the state and county goals are something I can > shoot for in my own private way. And I like knowing that the top birders are > way out ahead of me, having earned that big, big number with their inspiring > focus, determination, and amazing skills. > > The Boy Scout Bird Study Merit Badge keeps lowering the standards for kids > to meet in terms of how many birds they must see to earn the badge. It would > be ironic if we made our benchmark higher, wouldn't it? That said, I've > become less inclined to chase rarities in my dotage, mainly because I hate > wasting natural resources and contributing to the decline of air quality. > But people who spend their days driving all over tarnation seeing new birds > aren't watching TV, baking baguettes, doing laundry, playing on their Wii, > or all the other ways we squander natural resources, at least not while > they're birding, and we all have to figure out our own responses to energy > use based on our own needs and abilities. I'd love to see a "Green" birding > category become really competitive and fun, but even if we started doing > that, I can't imagine MOU without the worthy and time-honored tradition that > the "300 Club" is. > > Best, Laura Erickson > (soon to be back in Duluth) > > -- > -- > Laura Erickson > Science Editor > Cornell Lab of Ornithology > 159 Sapsucker Woods Road > Ithaca, NY 14850 > 607-254-1114 > > > If you've found this information useful, I hope you'll consider supporting > our work on behalf of birds and other wildlife. In addition to knowing > that you'll be making a difference for conservation, you'll receive our > award-winning Living Bird magazine and informative BirdScope newsletter four > times a year. We invite you to join our "force for nature." To sign up or > watch our video about membership, visit > http://www.birds.cornell.edu/NetCommunity/membership or call us at > 1-800-843-2473. > > For the love, understanding, and protection of birds > > There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds. There > is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature--the > assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. > > --Rachel Carson > > Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail has tools for the New Busy. 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