All I did was agree with one comment that was made.
On Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 8:56 AM, Julian B
> Greetings David > > > > I’d hate to fall out with a fellow birder on so trivial a matter but I > still cannot see, or understand, the connection between the two [to me] > separate threads. > > > > Chasing after rarities, especially new records, is in the realms of > TWITCHING; wildlife conservation [be it birds, reptiles or a elongated > creepy-crawly] is a Government initiative. The two rarely coincide. > > > > Or are we to understand that if the likes of Mike Carter confirm the > presence of a Lesser-spotted Oompahloompah on the Cocos Keeling Islands the > Australian Government suddenly drops all other business in hand to assure > the wellbeing of the creature – [and I have a lot of admiration for both > Mike’s ability and willingness to drop everything at a moment’s notice and > shoot off to “find” or verify a rare sighting]? > > > > The original question was, should these “exotics” be counted on an > Australian List? We have heard arguments as to why not. We have been privy > to reasons as why they should. I can’t help but notice that both Britain > and the USA have Antarctic [and other] territories BUT you won’t find a > penguin on the BOU list. > > > > I find your uncited reference to British neglect of past territories > equally as puzzling. At one point in history almost half the known world > [including Australia] was a British territory. Which territories in > particular did you have in mind and how has the British Government been > negligent in their avifaunal welfare? How does this compare with the > abysmal Australian record on wildlife extinctions? And how is this related > to whether or not a handful of birders travel to these exotic outliers to > “find” or confirm rare birds? > > > > If we follow the argument that in recording the “new” birds of, say, > Christmas Island, birders such as Mike Carter serve a worthy cause in the > bird’s eventual welfare, how would you rate all the British birders who make > the annual October [passage] pilgrimage to the Scilly Isles to record > rarities from as far as the USA or even Siberia – always recalling that > these islands are actually closer to France than to Britain and were the > only British territory occupied by the Germans during WWII? > > > > Or how would you rate my old birding partner from Penkridge [officially > designated as the largest village in England] who spends weeks of volunteer > time on Barsdsey Island? Or the likes of Colin Shields [Bradford, > Yorkshire] who is a continuous volunteer with American research stations > [and, of course, this was also a former British territory]? > > > > We at least seem to agree that the bottom line in our pastime remains that > each to her/his own. > > > > Personally I’d rather spend more time tracking down the Eastern Whipbird > which appeared on our property two days ago and seems, at least for the time > being, to be making itself at home. > > > > Cheers > > > > Julian > > > ============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
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