Good evening! I'm going to try to keep this as positive and brief as possible. (SPOILER: I failed at both! Went Rogue)
Many times over the past year, especially at The Biggest Week, I was asked, "What is a 'Rogue Birder'?" I have always answered, "It's complicated." - Well, one big part of being a Rogue Birder is being committed to getting the word out and working to make sure as many people as possible get to see the birds that they are interested in. Whether that's posting our own discoveries, those of our friends and colleagues, or just providing updates to other's sightings as we get them. In return for our efforts we get... well, I'm not really sure what we get - The goal is to "give back". It would take me ten years to write down everything I have learned in just the past year from the contributors of this listserv and the Facebook groups. It would take twenty years or more to learn it all for myself. I am eternally grateful to all of you. (You know who you are!)
People that complain, "There are too many pages to check", or "It all needs to be in one place" should perhaps get off of the internet and go find their own birds - we can't find all of them for you, and then present them to you in an easy to follow fashion with GPS coordinates and a map. Plus regular updates so you don't waste your time driving 3 hours only to discover the bird was gone 5 hours ago. And photos so you know what the bird is without having to consult a field guide. Oh, and be there when you arrive to help point the bird out to you. Wait - that is exactly what we do. The "We" in this scenario are the members of Ohio Rare Bird Alert (ORBA), Birding Ohio (BO), Listing Birds: Ohio, and this Listserv.
To think that instead of having to wander the marshes and gravel pits and swamps, you merely have to check "more than one place" from your couch to reap the benefits of those doing the grunt work. People like Jerry Talkington, Bob Lane, Jen Brumfield, Eric Elvert, Steve Landes, Dan Gesualdo, Dan and Doreene, Vic, and many, many others freezing and sweating to make your "passion" easier for you. Just as some of you have your preferred way of receiving the information, each of these people have their preferred way of getting the word out - and they are getting the word out! Jerry and Eric post to the listserv, someone else (with Eric, it's usually me) posts that same information to ORBA or BO. Jen puts it on blast everywhere.
As for the old guard - age should not be a crutch - I'm no spring chicken. And to presume that because someone is older they can't possibly grasp technology...? These are the folks whose generation created the tools you now think they are too old to understand. But hey, I promise that I will do my best to make it easier for everyone. Follow the listserv, follow ORBA. We'll make sure you get your info. Or send me a private message/email - I'll pick you up and drive you to the bird.
OK, I said I would keep this positive (brief went out the window). The listserv is fantastic! The Facebook groups are fantastic! The people posting rare or informative posts are fantastic! The wizards behind the curtain (looking at you Bill Kinkead and Stefan Minnig) that just tell "someone" are fantastic! To everyone that finds some way to GET THE WORD OUT - Kudos! To those that complain it's too much work for them to ride the coattails of these outstanding individuals - Find your own birds!
(PS, that "Birding Festival" that brings in so many out of state folks using your park - they bring millions of dollars into the community... you're welcome! (ala Greg S.))
Bird On!
Christopher Collins - Rogue Birder
Our Blog: http://roguebirder.blogspot.com/
My Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roguephotoohio
Our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RogueBirders
IRBA: https://www.facebook.com/groups/INDIANARAREBIRDALERT/
________________________________
From: jen brumfield <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Friday, May 29, 2015 9:42 PM
Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] Posting Bird Sightings
Hi all - There are three major rare bird alert sources for Ohio. First, is this listserv, which, I agree, is a most vital resource for the state, and continues to be successful save for a few events when sightings reports aren't tag-teamed by subscribers and occasionally fail to be updated. The other two are Facebook pages. One, the "Ohio Rare Bird Alert" Facebook page, is a clean and concise resource with regularly updated information, a must for those that are on Facebook who are keen on rare sightings in the state. The other is "Birding Ohio"-- a far more general page that includes everything from questions about ID to scads of photographers sharing their photos to the occasional pop-up of an uncommon/rare sighting. Between these three major resources sightings are more then often and very regularly cross-posted to spread word of rarities. This listserv will remain relevant if all stay involved in this info portal-- **especially those who are benefitting from regularly-reported sightings** Some go to great lengths to keep the community updated via this resource, but back-up is needed in both positive/negative updates of sightings and teamwork in getting out word of cross-posted finds. We are, more then ever, in a highly-connected time where sightings are reported and updated--- often down to seconds-- as opposed to a week or month. This listserv is still very much alive but requires efforts of the entire community, especially those that follow and benefit from reports.
JB
CLE, OH
On May 29, 2015, at 11:26 AM, "Jeff Harvey" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Yesterday, Chris Swan asked about the information on the Loggerhead Shrike. Unfortunately rare bird posts are not making it to this listserv. The world has now moved to social media. The Trumbull County Western Meadowlark was never posted on the listserv. If you don't follow the 10 or so facebook groups in Ohio or have someone follow them for you, you will not be informed of the sightings. Even the old time birders and most of the top birders in the state have stopped posting here. I think it is sad not for Ohio birders but for anyone visiting the state and wanting to see birds. How does an out of state birder find out what is being seen? They can't even know what facebooks to look at and with most being closed they can't see the posts anyway.
> As with field guides, the listserv is no longer relevant for bird sightings. You just post a picture on a social media sight and ask what bird is this and so it goes with sightings.
> If this sight costs OOS or the list owner anything to run they should consider dropping it.
> Join as many facebook groups as you can to stay up on the latest or have a good friend keep you informed.
> The new world of birding communications is upon us.
> Jeff HarveyMahoning county
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________
Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
______________________________________________________________________
Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
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