Wow!  I just read Tom's E-mails and I have to put in my two cents!  Tom -
Please come back!!!!!

I have been a member for over a year now.  I have had people warn me that
some of the members here might get nasty with me over the content of my
e-mails.  I can say that I have had a few heated discussion off list - and
possibly a few e-mails that have a relatively negative tone.  But most of my
e-mails have been met with excitement and gratitude.  I realize that I list
things occasionally that are not directly related to birds (eg: frogs,
butterflies, bats...) but my philosophy is that if you are interested in
birds you should be interested in the things around birds and in my
experience, most (if not all) the people I know are interested in more than
just birds.  I also realize that some would not be interested in my "off
bird topics" so I title my subject so they can delete my e-mail without
reading it.

I have seen people here list sightings like a robin, blue jay, or some other
common bird to an advanced bird watcher.  Those people probably get weird
responses too.  But we should be thankful that they are interested, they
notice them, and that they reported them.  Do I care if there is a chickadee
in Dayton?  Yes and no... I'm not going to drive 7 hours to see it... but
I'm glad they were able to see it.  Once I got a nasty gram from someone who
thought it was inappropriate for me to list that I saw an osprey - because
it wasn't "rare".  My view is that this is not a rare bird listing sight and
even if it was, a bird rare to one person might be common to another... who
are we to judge ----unless you are going to set strict guide lines!!!

I do not have a problem with anything Tom wrote and quite frankly I think he
was very appropriate. The only thing I think I might have done differently
was to respond to an e-mail "off-list" - but he even apologized for doing
that.  He's new and is still learning our system...but even his response was
not "wrong".  I can not find anything inappropriate about his e-mails!!!  I
was excited that he was sharing his experiences of his land with us... if we
had not criticized him to the point that he left us...we might have received
and invitation to visit his property and possibly discover great things on
it! Shame on us for making him not feel welcome. (although from the e-mails
I have read since he left - we, or at least a lot of us, do welcome him!)

I did not understand that this service was to just list birds we see at a
specific time and place or to just list rare birds that have been seen.  I
thought this was a place for bird lovers to exchange information.  Whether
that is a workshop, a bird feeder design, a new trail to explore, a new
book, an identification problem.....whatever... with birds as a common
ground.

I'm sorry - but I personally feel that who ever chastised Tom was out of
line and just looking for someone to dump on.  If I'm wrong about this
service and it is only meant as a sterile place to keep bird counts from
around Ohio - please let me know and I will unsubscribe with Tom.

Tom - you can e-mail me anytime!!!  Sounds like you have a nature goldmine
out there!!!!!!

Tracey Knierim
Auburn twp - Geauga County

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