Chris Benesh
So much work, so little time...so let's go birding
Hi All,
I'll skip any commentary on the harrier/buteo whatever for the moment, but I simply wanted to state that Birdforum is a place for birders of all levels. It is a community of birders, and it is not a place reserved for the experts. The diversity of opinion and experience is its strength, not its weakness. As contributers, we should make every effort to be inclusive rather than exclusive. Birdforum is a great learning place for any birder self confident enough to post photos or descriptions of mystery birds, and for others self confident enough to chime in with what they feel a particular bird is. Sometimes it is knee-jerk "Jedi" birding. So what? Someone generally comes along and offers up another possibility if the knee-jerk seems misplaced. If no one does, take initiative and set everyone straight, but in a constructive, tactful manner. I suspect that one stands just about as good a chance of getting an ID worked out here at Birdforum than in just about any other cyber forum, though the process might work a bit differently.
One thing I would like to see more of on this forum would be for contributers to more consistently explain their positions. It is not always necessary, but if someone posts a picture of Bird X wondering if it is X,Y, or Z, they are probably also searching for the reason why.
And lastly, even if you feel the person you're in disagreement with is out-of-touch with reality, try your best to keep those thoughts to yourself. It really serves no one for that sort of vitriol to get slung around. Many birders get easily put off when their opinions and expressions are dismissed in a callous manner.
Chris
I'll skip any commentary on the harrier/buteo whatever for the moment, but I simply wanted to state that Birdforum is a place for birders of all levels. It is a community of birders, and it is not a place reserved for the experts. The diversity of opinion and experience is its strength, not its weakness. As contributers, we should make every effort to be inclusive rather than exclusive. Birdforum is a great learning place for any birder self confident enough to post photos or descriptions of mystery birds, and for others self confident enough to chime in with what they feel a particular bird is. Sometimes it is knee-jerk "Jedi" birding. So what? Someone generally comes along and offers up another possibility if the knee-jerk seems misplaced. If no one does, take initiative and set everyone straight, but in a constructive, tactful manner. I suspect that one stands just about as good a chance of getting an ID worked out here at Birdforum than in just about any other cyber forum, though the process might work a bit differently.
One thing I would like to see more of on this forum would be for contributers to more consistently explain their positions. It is not always necessary, but if someone posts a picture of Bird X wondering if it is X,Y, or Z, they are probably also searching for the reason why.
And lastly, even if you feel the person you're in disagreement with is out-of-touch with reality, try your best to keep those thoughts to yourself. It really serves no one for that sort of vitriol to get slung around. Many birders get easily put off when their opinions and expressions are dismissed in a callous manner.
Chris