The Listserv Blues

Well I did it again and I wasn't even trying! I rattled the hornet nest again and got some birders all shook up over a post I made in regards to Al Schurmacher's posting on his 4 day tour of Minnesota.

Some birders probably will say "sharing bird sightings is wonderful" or "we need more birders like Al to share their daily sightings" Blah Blah freaking blah!

Let's get to the heart of the matter should we? First of all sharing is great but also sharing can be a freaking waste of time if you share sloppy information! Sloppy information? YES (oops I am yelling/shouting) YESSSSS some bird information can be worthless if you do not put the right subject line on your email. For example; suppose you are a average birder and likes to see new birds but overall you are not a serious lister or a chaser by any means. You read an email about a 4 day trip some birder took in your state. You begin to read about all the common birds that birder saw and in the mix of all this clutter you see that this birder spotted several wonderful birds you would of liked to see and more importantly they were found minutes from your house! But there is a problem you noticed in this email, there are no dates, locations, directions and now you were left wondering when did he see these birds, where did he actually see these birds and ect.

You see sharing is great but again it can be frustrating stuff to read. For example: how many times you read these types of emails " I want to report this "X" (insert any accidental bird here) but I cannot give the location because the home owner doesn't want birders to come over to see it for privacy reasons" Very frustrating email to read!

OR

One of these type of posting on the listserv: " Hey I have a Boreal Owl nest in my nestbox! I put up several nest boxes up this past winter in Cook Co. and if you want to see it, well you can email me and I will charge you X amount of money to see this owl " Very frustrating email!

OR

This type email: "I took a bird hike today and saw a Robin, Chipping Sparrow, Goldfinch, House Sparrows, Cardinals, Starlings, Mallards, Canada Geese and blah blah blah and OH I forgot, I saw a Sissor-tailed Flycatcher in Big Stone Co. Cheers!" What in the fuck is that? You telling me all the other birds were worth mentioning first and the Sissor-tailed Flycatcher was a second thought? Where in Big Stone Co.? When? Is the bird still there? Was it associated with any other birds? What FREAKING day did you see it? You asked all these questions because the subject line to the email was "What a wonderful day for bird watchintg" NOT "ALERT: Sissor-tailed Flycatcher in Big Stone Co."

What are these people sharing? I mean I would love to bump into one of these meatballs in Minnesota and say "hey I was walking around in your neighborhood and saw several species of birds and when I came to your house I was admiring your gardens. You have a really nice yard. Oh before I go, I saw a Violet-crowned Hummngbird at your hummingbird feeder. Oh it was so beautiful and it hung around long enough for me to take some photos of it. I noticed you were home at the time but I didn't know if the hummingbird was rare here in Minnesota, so I decided not to bother you." Oh sweet justice would that be.

Come on people and stop using the "stupid me" card or the "ooops I did not know" card! If you live here in Minnesota for 4-5 years and are actively submitting your sightings on the MOU listserv, you cannot say "Gees I did not know they were rare in your area" That is weak shit! Hell I never lived in Wisconsin but IF I did, I have a damn good idea what is rare and what is not rare! I would know what is out of range and what is not for most, if not all the birds in the state. So the lesson is: If birding is your main hobby, its something that is part of you and if you move to a new state wouldn't you get books about the birds in your new state? Would you look at the range maps in the National Geographic or in Sibley's to see what birds to expect to see at each season in your new location? Is it really that difficult to do a little homework on the side. Hell get a extra Nat'l Geographic Field Guide and put it in the washroom in the magazine basket next to the toilet. So everytime you sit and do your thing, pull out the book, read it, soak it in and learn what birds exist in your state. It's not that hard.

I guess that in itself seperates the experience/elite types from the "Gees I did not know" types!
It's about dedication, a urge to know more, time put in the field and ect.. I know -- I know " I am no longer going to post my sightings on the MOU listserv because of jerks like you!" I can easily excuse the novice birders on the listserv because I scan through their postings but there is NO excuse to those birders that have been around long enough to know that EARED GREBES are not common birds to NE Minnesota! HELL they are not even common in FREAKING Wisconsin nor are WESTERN GREBES! Unbelievable! Also Ferruginous Hawks are casual birds in western Minnesota and if that birder would of looked in any field guide you would of noticed that range maps do not even shade into Minnesota borders!

Well I will have to wait and see how MOURC votes on these bird sightings. Here is my predictions on all these sightings "No" "No" and "No" because I doubt anyone kept notes or took notes on these sightings.

Oh before I go and end this rant, I have one question to ask all of you 170 birders that visit my blog each weak, Are female Brown-headed Cowbirds really that hard to identify in the field?

Take care and LATER!