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Should you tick "heard only" birds? (1 Viewer)

Johann Sebastian Bach said:
Your abbreviation for Heard Only takes on a whole new meaning in the US ;);)
I guess this is also a moral question.

Peter
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Yeah, guess if you're gonna pimp your list with HO's ... tsk tsk. The end is nigh.

;)


Heard Whimbrel, Tawny Owl and Bullfinch today, amongst sight records of various other species - all on the daylist, reported in to the birding authorities as present and correct, no differentiation.
 
It does? You mean, you don't have 1/87th-scale trains in the UK?
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Great post!

I use my plane spotting analogy, you could not 'cop' heard only e.g. above the clouds so I do not tick 1/87th scale trains.

After all it is bird spotting not bird hearing.

For difficult species like Corncrake and Quail you just need to put a bit of effort in, Corncrake is not too hard, Quail is a bastard and took me until 2015 to see one - but well worth the wait (and was the last bird from the regulars in the Shell Guide that I needed).
 
It's sad to note that a significant number of quail sites in Hampshire show plenty of signs of crops being trampled. Of course, this could be caused by hos, rakes or 1/87th scale railway lines but I suspect the iconic "wet-your-lips" call is insufficient for some.

Peter :-C
 
I'd mentioned blind and sight-impaired birders way back near the beginning of this thread too. While I acknowledge that what we call our hobby tends to emphasise the visual nature of it: bird spotting, bird watching, surely the whole point of a list isn't just that you've seen (or heard) a bird, but that you've correctly identified what species it was.

For most people that will have been by sight (and I count myself among them), but those who can't see and can only hear birds aren't any less birders than anyone else. If they (or anyone else) can correctly identify a bird by sound then surely it counts on their list and it should also be acceptable for comparison with other lists, again I stress, the importance is really on identification, not on sight.

The problem lies with the majority making the rules and not considering the experiences of others. It happens in all walks of life.

In my own experience though, I've no real interest in comparing my list with others. I don't even care how others record their birds, although it's important to be true to yourself and not list birds that you couldn't identify, especially if you DO compare your list with others.

My list is for my own uses, although I do contribute to BirdTrack and the like.
 
Johann Sebastian Bach said:
It's sad to note that a significant number of quail sites in Hampshire show plenty of signs of crops being trampled. Of course, this could be caused by hos, rakes or 1/87th scale railway lines but I suspect the iconic "wet-your-lips" call is insufficient for some.

Peter :-C
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But the more experienced will know that pursuing Quail is futile - you will only ever get blip views. Watching the edge of a crop with a Quail in and deploying fieldcraft (e.g. stillness, silence and concentration), or talking to locals and being told the place to stand, or even which individual Quail is the one to concentrate on, will get you prolonged observations of even this notorious skulker.

I blame Thatcher and the whole "I want it now" culture she fostered. ;)

John
 
Farnboro John said:
But the more experienced will know that pursuing Quail is futile - you will only ever get blip views. Watching the edge of a crop with a Quail in and deploying fieldcraft (e.g. stillness, silence and concentration), or talking to locals and being told the place to stand, or even which individual Quail is the one to concentrate on, will get you prolonged observations of even this notorious skulker.

I blame Thatcher and the whole "I want it now" culture she fostered. ;)

John
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Too true, John.

There are certainly "can't be ar$ed" birders whose patience is all-too-easily exhausted and will then take action where they could end up with yolk on their boots.

Life-ticking birds like quail by resorting to crop damage is bad enough but year listers also deem it necessary. When the birds are calling, I really can't understand why it's so important to see them (for a year/Hampshire tick).

Harrumph!!

Peter
 
You clearly don't go to the sites that I have been to ;)

My one and only view (admittedly extremely good views) was a bird that inhabited a small bit of weedy field, so could easily have been someone with a tape (but was not, 'cause I got a video of it, so there).

Great bird, well worth the long wait, doubt I will ever see one in Hampshire though.
 
Johann Sebastian Bach said:
It's sad to note that a significant number of quail sites in Hampshire show plenty of signs of crops being trampled. Of course, this could be caused by hos, rakes or 1/87th scale railway lines but I suspect the iconic "wet-your-lips" call is insufficient for some.

Peter :-C
Click to expand...

http://www.goingbirding.co.uk/hants...id=196&speciestype=1&datetype=2&photo_id=4841

No crops were trampled - or tapes used - at this well known Quail location - note the diverse components of a native grassland sward!

cheers, alan
 
lewis20126 said:
http://www.goingbirding.co.uk/hants...id=196&speciestype=1&datetype=2&photo_id=4841

No crops were trampled - or tapes used - at this well known Quail location - note the diverse components of a native grassland sward!

cheers, alan
Click to expand...

Good to hear this - and a decent photo too. :t:

For the sake of providing balance, I know there are plenty of Hampshire birders who abide by the birdwatcher's code and don't trample crops armed with ghetto blasters.

It is worth remembering that Quail is a Schedule 1 bird, so "it is an offence to intentionally or recklessly disturb at, on or near an active nest." (Quote from RSPB.) I would classify the use of a tape to get a response as reckless disturbance.

Peter
 
No crops trampled, or tape lures used here either, and it had the decency to join me for an early morning breakfast....;)
 

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