On Thu, 3 Nov 2011 20:36:05 -0500, Thamnophis <thamnop...@gmail.com> wrote:
>I'm new here and should probably keep my mouth shut, but that has >never been easy for me :-) > >I think sharing the localities is a good thing because it offers an >opportunity to remind newbies - like me - to abide by some guidelines. >For instance, one might give the location of a particular bird then >add something like, "Newbies: this is a rare and easily disturbed >species so please stay on the road" or "The feeders are on private >property so please respect that". > >The list and this community aren't really served by reporting a >certain species at a certain park, for instance, without specific >locality info. Why play that game? So species X has been sighted at >State Park Y...great. Its more than likely a species that has been at >the park every year for 50 years - so why even bother reporting it? > >There is no doubt problems with some birders / photographers behavior, >but welcome to planet earth. It comes with the territory. I think >there is greater good that comes from sharing locality info and >feeling free to preach a little about ethical behavior, keeping an eye >out for those who are not respectful of the habitat and wildlife or >even reporting what you may see as disturbing a protected species. > >But policing the info shared on a community list is not tenable in my >opinion. Imagine if everyone posting had to worry about whether they >were giving away too much info. I think a better solution is for >posters to use there own best judgement and do as they see in the best >interest of the birds and the community of birders. > >Joe > Hi Joe, Thanks for your post - I could not agree more. As a birder and photographer it's helpful for me to know where things are. Frankly if someone refuses to share and just posts about something they saw I wouldn't mind a flock of house sparrows setting up permanent residence near their feeders. Then why on earth share the information? Adding the info about being careful is a great idea as well to re-iterate to people to not get too close and to respect private property. ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
