—–Original Message—– From: Tony Russell [mailto:pratincole08@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, 20 February 2015 4:18 PM To: ‘brian fleming’ Subject: RE: [Birding-Aus] Night Parrot – tickers and listers Yes, ticking is a strange occupation, a bit like collecting train or bus numbers ( which I used to do when I was a kid). Of course it does very little towards conservation, and in fact there have been many comments from “real” conservationists ( however defined) regarding the contempt in which they hold twitchers. The twitching compulsion is however very powerful, similar to heroin or crystal meth. or even pot I guess, not that I have ever been foolish enough to try any of these. I’ve been twitching now since 1991 and have experienced the excitement and satisfaction of getting new birds over and over again, the feeling never diminishes. The anticipation has made me travel all over this great southern land, covering many thousands of kilometres and costing sometimes inordinate amounts of money, and, incidentally, helping the tourism industry along the way. I’ve nevr ever thought of lighting fires though. On reflection, it’s hard to explain. But it’s been thoroughly enjoyable and I’ve made lots of friends. Tony. —–Original Message—– From: Birding-Aus [mailto:birding-aus-bounces@birding-aus.org] On Behalf Of brian fleming Sent: Friday, 20 February 2015 3:24 PM To: birding-aus@birding-aus.org Subject: [Birding-Aus] Night Parrot – tickers and listers 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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