Hi Mark,
A nice photo of a Wandering Tattler. Could I have a high res copy for my resource file?
All of the characteristics of the Wandering Tattler are obvious in your photo. It is interesting to note that the primaries are still abraded, something that intrigues me with Wandering Tattlers, they often show late/delayed moult of the primaries. So its wings look a little shorter than they would if new.
Interestingly in all the times I have seen Wandering Tattlers over the past 18 years I have yet to hear one call! I guess I don’t chase them to put them into flight.
regards, Phil
Phil Straw Vice Chairman Australasian Wader Studies Group philip.straw@awsg.org.au www.awsg.org.au Tel: 61 2 9597 7765 Mob: 0411 249 075
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My message was not a response to that quote at all. If you notice I addressed that person afterwards. My response was to another post altogether as you are fully aware.
Regards, Mark
Hi Mark,
Well said! The sense of entitlement among some birders is irritating to say the least. We are unlikely to know if these are the same people who trespass on private property, trample sensitive habitats, flush birds from nests or shelter to get a better sighting or a photograph but why take the risk. Sorry, people but birdwatching is a privilege not a right. I have been the welcome recipient of many 2nd hand notifications of rare bird sightings and am grateful that fellow birders are happy to share their experience but we should all receive this with some grace and not expect/demand it.
Ian
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Mark and Amanda Congratulations on the new baby. You must be thrilled. My first child, Amber, is expecting hers in a few months, and I can’t wait!
George Alsop (1666) “For its an ill Bird will befoule her own Nest.” And yet some birders do it all the time by behaving badly. The pity is that they mostly ruin things for other people.
The sort of birders you write of, are more likely to be divorced or single than other birders, and so it’s hardly likely they’re going to sympathise with the fact that you have a new baby to contend with. Having a child is stressful enough without bothering about such people.
I try to avoid guiding such birders, and I know of one renowned guide who dropped out of the business because he got sick and tired of them.
Kind regards Denise L Goodfellow
on 10/2/11 2:24 PM, Mark and Amanda Young at youngsfamilymail@gmail.com wrote:
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I wouldn’t worry about impatient twitchers if you are unsure of your identification, the bird is in a sensitive area or the bird cannot handle the presence of people [e.g. because it is nesting].
Quiet education is probably the best approach to take with the trampling tickers. You might like to consider the approaches taken by Ken Shingleton (Lesser Yellowlegs) and Chris Barnes (Buff-breasted Sandpiper) to managing keen twitchers.
Regards, Laurie.
.
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Hi Mark,
Don’t apologise for not telling the world about a rare sighting. Before releasing information on rare sightings it is a good thing to consider the welfare of the bird, the welfare of the environment and the rights of property owners. It is great to share knowledge of a rare bird but it must be done carefully. Nobody has the right to unnecessarily stress birds, trample vegetation or upset land owners just to get a tick. If all of these concerns can be addressed then it is great for as many people as possible to see a rare bird. Some people are very selfish and this gets all birdwatchers a bad reputation.
Nobody has a right to see a bird at all costs!!
Greg Clancy Ecologist Coutts Crossing NSW
Mark, It’s your bird & it’s your call. You will never please everybody. Would the whingers been more gracious if you had sent them on a wild goose chase to only find Grey- tailed Tatts? Congratulations on a fine find & hope the bad taste fades quickly. Regards, Chris
Chris Charles 0412 911 184 licole@ozemail.com.au 33deg 47’30″S 151deg10’09″E
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Hey Mark,
Fancy that! Focussing on your baby and not a shorebird… the outrage!
Considering the behaviour of too many people at Pitt Town Lagoon last year (and yes they were all birders) – the damage done to the best feeding areas, people tramping through all the reedbeds (depsite being asked not to), etc – I’m just grateful that you still report anything at all.
Cheers,
Ed
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G’day everyone,
It’s clear to me that I have made a grave mistake in my reporting of the current Wandering Tattler. As it has been pointed out to me by a couple of people that by my ignorant and selfish actions in not reporting this bird back in January when I first saw it, that I have indeed done the wrong thing and have denied people the opportunity to add a tick to their list. I apologise to those who have taken offense at my ignorance and my inability to quickly differentiate one species to another. I may justify my cause a little by stating that less than a week after my first sightings my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world and I was somewhat pre-occupied with other matters, but that would seem self indulgent.
You may or may not remember but it was I that first saw and reported the Ruff at Pitt Town Lagoon in Jan last year, and then the Black Noddy in April of last year to this list and Eremaea. Both of those birds caused joy for a lot of people and the ability to tick a new species in the Sydney region, myself included. But the downside to both of those was hearing reports of birders trampling all over Pitt Town Lagoon with little care for the other birds there, and then seeing it happen again at Long Reef as people did so to see the Noddy. It appears that this may happen again now with the Wandering Tattler. And now is a very critical time as the shorebirds start to build up reserves for the long flight northward.
Needless to say that I am concerned that the other birds at the reef aren’t disturbed at all by people who wish to tick the Tattler. Being told that I’ve done the wrong thing in not coming forward with news of this bird earlier by people in the birding community who seem to have a reputation, annoys me somewhat.
As far as any future reporting’s of rare or exciting finds go at the reef, I will continue to do so at this location, but only publicly once the bird has left the reef. I will report them when found to those individuals whose care and monitoring of Long Reef as an important shorebird habitat warrants it. The rest can rest peacefully knowing that I will not upset them any longer with anymore reports of rarely seen birds at Long Reef.
Regards,
Mark
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