OHIO-BIRDS Archives

December 2011

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Subject:
From:
Paul Gardner <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Paul Gardner <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:14:15 -0800
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--- On Tue, 12/13/11, [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> wrote:


> I completely agree with the
> complainants about hostility on this list. The
> last straw for me was last spring when the list exceeded
> it's daily limit
> and several of the "list-hogs" made it clear they felt the
> less
> sophisticated posters should refrain from posting. How
> shameful! ...

I recollect this differently. I don't believe anyone was chided for being "unsophisticated". The problem was that we were bumping our message limit largely due to an influx of redundant first-of-the-year reports.

You are quite correct that Ohio-birds isn't exclusively for reporting rarities, nor even for reporting sightings. Other topics are welcome.

However, during those rare times when we reach our posting limit, I don't think "first-come, first-serve" is the preferred option for dealing with it. I'd rather see us police ourselves by asking before we post "How many people will be interested in this?". Frankly, reports of rare birds will pass that test more often than reports of common birds. This isn't because common birds are somehow intrinsically less worthy. It's because the readers of Ohio-birds probably already have sufficient information about the common ones.

When someone is unsure if a bird is rare or common, early or on-time, OOS provides useful checklists that show the expected patterns. A free, somewhat older one can be downloaded from
http://www.ohiobirds.org/publications/OBRClist.pdf

While hearing about the return of the first migrants is always exciting, after seeing a half-dozen reports on the same species, the thrill is pretty much gone. There are about a thousand subscribers to Ohio-birds now, and while we don't need reports from a thousand backyards, E-bird would love to have them.

Happy birding,
Paul

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