Night Parrot – tickers and listers

By Birding-Aus, on February 20th, 2015

I am personally always delighted to see a new bird. I am prepared to get in the car and drive a moderate distance to go and see one. I have been known to pay money for people to show me birds in Cape York and the Kimberley. But I am extremely concerned – no, appalled, to hear of some person seriously suggesting that spinifex should be fired in order to give him a chance of “ticking” a Night Parrot, or anything else. Or trespassing on indigenous people’s land to see a Princess Parrot, as happened a few years ago. My personal opinion is that far too much effort is spent on ticking species and building life-lists. If the same effort was put into studying the life-histories of even common birds, we would know very much more than we do. Certainly atlassing has greatly built up our knowledge of bird distribution and migration, and Twitchathons etc. have provided a great deal of fun for those energetic enough to do it – so has digital photography. But first and foremost, please let us consider the birds. Anthea Fleming

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flambeau

February 22, 2015 at 7:41 pm

This attitude is hopefully a last remnant of that exhibited by the villain in Arthur Ransome’s 1974 “Great Northern?”, in which the young hero, on a family yachting cruise in the Hebrides sketches both Black-throated and Great Northern Divers in the field and notes that the Great Northern are nesting – “not known to nest in the British Isles” says his book. At the next port of call, for confirmation he visits the motor yacht of an expert, an egg and skin collector, whose reaction is that nest, eggs, and birds must be collected, and HE will become famous for the discovery, and is prepared to pay 100 pounds (1947 values!) to be shown the nest site. The villain, having raided the nest, ends up in the hands of the local laird, and the eggs were returned to it successfully. Ransome’s description of the care taken and technique used to photograph the nest and birds in the limited time available is excellent. Brian Fleming

peter

February 21, 2015 at 2:38 am

Anthea did say it was just her personal opinion, and that she only wanted people to “first and foremost consider the birds”. I wouldn’t call that a “pitchfork “, I interpret it as meaning “at least do no harm”. Perhaps John will clarify how serious the fire suggestion was at next weekend’s talk in Melbourne. Everyone got their ticket? Peter Shute Sent from my iPad

davidstowe

February 20, 2015 at 8:39 pm

Couldn’t agree more Steve. I’ll also never be an ornithologist and whilst i try to help out conservation where i can, I don’t think anyone should have to justify the fact that they simply enjoy birdwatching in whatever form gives them the most personal pleasure. Does no-one else have hobbies or ways to relax that don’t actually have a higher purpose? Do we judge people for reading the newspaper? I’ve personally been with birders who have made jokes about flushing things with fire etc – but it has certainly always been tongue in cheek for sure! Yes if someone made the comment seriously it is terrible indeed – but lets put away the pitch forks for a bit eh? Cheers Dave

mike

February 20, 2015 at 6:34 pm

Hi Steve, You have a good point and it is good to be reminded of the fact that there is a biodiversity of bird watchers as well as birds. No-one has the right to be judgemental when it comes to another person’s priorities when it comes to birding. I have only very rarely come across birders/twitchers who seem to be more concerned about getting the tick than the welfare of the bird, (usually when it comes to what I would consider inappropriate use of playback). I accept that my opinions are not necessarily the same as everyone else’s and mutually respectful conversations on this as with other matters relating to the birds, conservation, taxonomy, lists, tickability, etc are interesting, enlightening and keep us checking the latest Birding-Aus emails. Mike Jarvis experiencethewild.com.au —–Original Message—– Stephen Murray Sent: Friday, 20 February 2015 5:39 PM I’m sorry, but I take exception to people setting themselves up as arbiters on what is a worthwhile pastime and what isn’t. To me, birdwatching is a hobby, pure and simple: I collect photographs and I enjoy playing around with lists and accumulating sightings. I am not an ornithologist and have no desire to become one. Therefore, I feel it is someone else’s vocation to contribute to the body of knowledge about birds. I personally know some plane spotters, and, whilst I find it hard to relate to their excitement, I would never disparage or denigrate what they do. Some people on this list have a condescending attitude to twitchers and listers and are only too pleased when something like this fire story comes along so that they can tar everyone with the same brush. How many twitchers do you think would set a fire to flush birds out? Don’t forget, that listers choose to list birds rather than planes or trains or rocks. In most cases it’s because they actually like birds and wouldn’t harm them for the world. Steve Murray —–Original Message—– brian fleming Sent: Friday, 20 February 2015 2:54 PM I am personally always delighted to see a new bird. I am prepared to get in the car and drive a moderate distance to go and see one. I have been known to pay money for people to show me birds in Cape York and the Kimberley. But I am extremely concerned – no, appalled, to hear of some person seriously suggesting that spinifex should be fired in order to give him a chance of “ticking” a Night Parrot, or anything else. Or trespassing on indigenous people’s land to see a Princess Parrot, as happened a few years ago. My personal opinion is that far too much effort is spent on ticking species and building life-lists. If the same effort was put into studying the life-histories of even common birds, we would know very much more than we do. Certainly atlassing has greatly built up our knowledge of bird distribution and migration, and Twitchathons etc. have provided a great deal of fun for those energetic enough to do it – so has digital photography. But first and foremost, please let us consider the birds. Anthea Fleming

sjmurray3

February 20, 2015 at 6:08 pm

I’m sorry, but I take exception to people setting themselves up as arbiters on what is a worthwhile pastime and what isn’t. To me, birdwatching is a hobby, pure and simple: I collect photographs and I enjoy playing around with lists and accumulating sightings. I am not an ornithologist and have no desire to become one. Therefore, I feel it is someone else’s vocation to contribute to the body of knowledge about birds. I personally know some plane spotters, and, whilst I find it hard to relate to their excitement, I would never disparage or denigrate what they do. Some people on this list have a condescending attitude to twitchers and listers and are only too pleased when something like this fire story comes along so that they can tar everyone with the same brush. How many twitchers do you think would set a fire to flush birds out? Don’t forget, that listers choose to list birds rather than planes or trains or rocks. In most cases it’s because they actually like birds and wouldn’t harm them for the world. Steve Murray —–Original Message—– brian fleming Sent: Friday, 20 February 2015 2:54 PM I am personally always delighted to see a new bird. I am prepared to get in the car and drive a moderate distance to go and see one. I have been known to pay money for people to show me birds in Cape York and the Kimberley. But I am extremely concerned – no, appalled, to hear of some person seriously suggesting that spinifex should be fired in order to give him a chance of “ticking” a Night Parrot, or anything else. Or trespassing on indigenous people’s land to see a Princess Parrot, as happened a few years ago. My personal opinion is that far too much effort is spent on ticking species and building life-lists. If the same effort was put into studying the life-histories of even common birds, we would know very much more than we do. Certainly atlassing has greatly built up our knowledge of bird distribution and migration, and Twitchathons etc. have provided a great deal of fun for those energetic enough to do it – so has digital photography. But first and foremost, please let us consider the birds. Anthea Fleming

goodfellow

February 20, 2015 at 3:00 pm

Dear Anthea I am all the way with you on this one. Denise Goodfellow goodfellow@bigpond.com.au On 20 Feb 2015, at 2:23 pm, brian fleming < flambeau@labyrinth.net.au> wrote:

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Night Parrot – tickers and listers

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