Drue & all-- You say "When I report my sightings to older birders, they are skeptical, because I am young." Well, those sound like some narrow-minded birders. With 14 years of birding experience you may have more than they. True, no 18-year old has 50 years of experience, but 14 years should be more than enough to qualify one to identify the common birds of one's surroundings. Hermit thrushes, catbirds, and brown thrashers are indeed unusual--I think your word is apt--in winter in these parts, but they are seen often enough--in appreciable numbers every year--that reports of them shouldn't automatically result in skepticism. A reported winter bobolink--particularly one identifiable as a male--on the other hand, is extremely rare, so rare that no one should be surprised if others raise eyebrows (both, not just one, if you know what I mean) and ask for details--no matter how old they, or you, are. Ohio has only a handful of bobolink records for CBCs, and because by that time bobolinks have been in South America for a month or more these records are presumably backed up by accepted documentation. As for sexing a December bobolink, the best criterion is that the males average 20% larger. This can be difficult to apply in the field, of course. I recall some of Ohio's birders, many of them now well-respected in the field, used to sign their internet posts with both name and age when they were in their teens. There's no special reason one's age need be obvious from the contents of one's message, but perhaps one reason they did so was a desire to be cut some slack. Or perhaps they were just thumping their chests. Fair enough either way, but overall I'd advise folks in general to take advantage of the relative anonymity of the internet and let your reports--and what you might need to back them up--speak for themselves. I am somewhat embarrassed young birders feel they need age-based clubs at all. Are age groups acting unwelcoming to one another? Are there "young butterflyers' clubs", "young surfers' clubs," or "young stamp collectors' clubs?" I suppose so, but I can't help regretting the necessity. If you have to have them, go for it. I admit I feel even more ambivalent about young birders' clubs that are founded and sustained and hoorayed by older birders, though, and often wonder how young birders really feel about that. Anyway, one really expeditious way to acquire experience without years and years of trial and error to acquire it is to use the published works. Written by birders with lots of experience, they are a shortcut to expertise. Frequent reading of Peterjohn's "The Birds of Ohio" and the "Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Ohio" from the Ohio Bird Records Committee (or equivalent works in other states) will teach what species are normal/unusual/rare/absent at any time of the year. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]