Hi, Back in the early 1990's when the internet was still rather novel and the World Wide Web was in its infancy, Ornithologist Vic Fazio had the foresight to create the Ohio Birds listserve. As a scientist first and foremost, Vic envisioned the list serve as a means to communicate and share not just sightings, but also anything related to the avifauna of Ohio, including history and other observations or discussions related to birds and or the sport of birding in Ohio and the related surrounding geography. When something started to get off topic you could depend on Vic's impeccable logic and unquestionable integrity to explain why, and to put and end to the off topic thread. Not just the list owner, Vic was also an active participant in the discussion. He is also a person with a wry sense of humor, and so having fun also became part of the culture and community that evolved. Once Vic's scientific obligations prevented him from being as active in managing the list serve and with the formation of the Ohio Ornithological Society, the logical step was to transfer ownership to that organization. Even with the transfer, the rules, culture and community, remained intact and did so for some time. It would seem that now, with the monetization of the birding spectacle becoming a driving factor in the sport and those involved, image has become far more important than community and accommodation of diverse topics and discussion. Also the sense of fun has been ground into the dirt because it would seem some feel this also casts a negative image on birding in Ohio, and as a result, might effect people coming to our state to partake in the spectacle of the sport. The OOS owns this forum and can set the rules as they see fit. Times change as does culture. If rule changes are deemed necessary to better serve monetary interests, or whatever interests there are which are less concerned with conservation and science, and a broad sense of having fun, so be it. Change is constant and inevitable. I would find a forum which only concentrated on listing and chase birds to be boring and lacking in utility since I can now get much of that information automatically via eBird. It is the community and sometimes heated discussion (And formerly the humor) that I find attractive about this forum. It would be a shame to see that go. Haans ______________________________________________________________________ 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]