First off, to make this post legitimate, the clay-colored sparrow was not relocated today. In fact most of the migrants that were around yesterday and the day before were not found today. I'd like to make a few comments about the listserv. Maybe some of the reports are of fairly common migrants, but at least these birders are sharing their sightings. Years ago, (before the internet), when I worked at Crane Creek I used to get huge long distance bills. I tried to relay what was being seen up in Magee Marsh area to friends in Columbus and Cleveland. After I moved out this way there was a swallow-tailed kite that was present for a week in Holmes County. I heard about it two weeks later. As annoyed as I was I continued to report rare sightings. I did not want to be accused of not sharing my sightings. When the list-serv started out I saw this as a great way to relay information. In the old days you were charged with for long distance, while the list-serv is free. I have heard every excuse in the book as to why people do not contribute their rare sightings to the listserv. If Steve Jones and I decided that we didn't want to report our hoary redpolls this winter, a lot of people would not have seen them. If the people with the Bullock's Oriole had some excuse for not reporting their bird a lot of people would not have seen that bird. To me it gets a little irritating reading about some rare bird a week later in the paper or months later in the birding journals. Personally, I would feel guilty showing up at a rare bird when I don't report on my sightings. Now, I am not saying that everyone should report everything they see. I think it is important to report rare and uncommon species and to report trip lists from areas that get a lot of birding activity like Magee Marsh, Greenlawn Cemetery, Conneaut, and Killdeer Plains. As birders mature they learn what is rare or uncommon and what may not be as important. It seems that every spring there is a mass of reports this time of year and as the season progresses things slow down a bit. I know I get scared that by the second week of May that I'm going to come home to 1,000 bird emails, but it has not happened (yet). As many people have said in the past there is a delete button. When I go through the posts I don't read them all. I look at where they are from and the title of the post. I don't read a lot of the southern Ohio posts, because I have no plans on getting down there in the near future. However, when I do get a chance to go down there it is nice to know what is being seen and I'll read them then. I am sure there are people that see my waterbird reports and hit the delete button because they have no interest in them. That is what birding is about. While we may get inundated with Baltimore oriole reports or hummingbird reports, it is nice to see where they are occurring and how fast they are moving through the state. We just need to know when enough is enough. Just remember, if everybody is reporting orioles, you don't necessarily need to report yours. If you have twenty of them or all sightings have been from down south and you live north, please report it. If you pay attention to what has been previously reported you'll know what is worth sharing. The listserv is a great way of relaying information. While some may use it only to look for rare birds, others like to see what others are seeing and how the migration may be progressing. Everybody has their own interests. Instead of having everything for everybody the way it is now, we can do what Michigan does and having a regular listserv and a listserv for only rare birds. Thanks to all who do share their sightings and to Ned for all his hard work! Sorry if I offended anyone. John Pogacnik 4765 Lockwood Road Perry, OH 44081 (440) 259-2751 ______________________________________________________________________ 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]