Whether or not it is appropriate to mention specific information about sightings, most birders know enough about the habitat of a given bird mentioned to be able to find that habitat anywhere in the state, especially in their back yard; if they don't know, it is readily available information in most bird guides and online.
I like to be alone in my birding as I find it more pleasant and productive and, as there are much better birders than me about, less embarrassing. I also enjoy the struggle to learn and achieve a level of competency on my own whether or not it takes a lifetime. Everyone has their own or best approach, I suppose. I think perhaps the issues are a little different in the Twin Cities metropolitan area where everything is 'freeway close', including Dakota County, and a sighting reported in detail here can attract quite a large crowd as compared to other areas of the state when a specific location is mentioned. I haven't birded or been out much today, so I haven't heard or seen any owls; but I did manage to hear a cardinal or two over my racket. ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
