I'm not suppressing them! I do send in a report on the Notebooks to the BBRC but with it being a single observer report with no photographic evidence it always gets thrown out.
I actually like the easy postings where people haven't looked in a book. They're the ones I get right.
Hi All
Judging by a lot of recent postings on this Forum , I was wondering if some of the newer posters had seen one of these recently , I am pretty sure that they are quite widespread and pretty much resident in most countries around the world , I appreciate that there may be subtle plumage differences , but I am sure they are available for all to see (!)
Its funny , but after I have seen or photographed a bird that is unfamiliar to me , I tend to see one of these straight away , and then I see no need to post my obvious image here
Maybe its just me
Let me know if you find any !
Simon
Ah Birdforum,
A nice, friendly place to meet new people, talk about birds, share some images, and be ridiculed by those who know more than you do! :eek!: Huh?
Birdforum prides itself for being for all levels of birder, including those that are so new as to not realize that there are such things as field guides and especially that there is a lot to learn from taking good field notes. These concepts are best taught through mentoring rather than belittlement.
Anyway, seems as though there's a lot of folks who don't mind answering those "silly" questions and looking at nice pictures.
Oblio
Ah Birdforum,
A nice, friendly place to meet new people, talk about birds, share some images, and be ridiculed by those who know more than you do! :eek!: Huh?
Birdforum prides itself for being for all levels of birder, including those that are so new as to not realize that there are such things as field guides and especially that there is a lot to learn from taking good field notes. These concepts are best taught through mentoring rather than belittlement.
Anyway, seems as though there's a lot of folks who don't mind answering those "silly" questions and looking at nice pictures.
Oblio
I had some of these things you refer to on board (photo 1), but when I got into Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe, they didn’t do me much good. Funny how the birds change from one area of the world to the next.
Some of these (photo2) things are not as easy to find as you suggest. I looked for field guides from Malaysia to Greece and couldn’t find a comprehensive book. I only got the Collins about a week ago because I ordered it through the net when I had a security system and a semi-permanent address. I will also order for my next part of the world now. I don’t want to go blind into the Caribbean and South/Central America.
For the first 5 years of our circumnavigation, we didn’t have internet access from our boat. (Hell, we didn’t have refrigeration for the first three!) Our first connection to the internet with our computer was in 2005 while in Egypt. I found BF and was thrilled to have a way to id birds I was unfamiliar with. It was frustrating to see birds and not be able to find out what they were. I did post quite a few photos asking for id while I was in Egypt and Turkey; but I found even more myself by searching the net. It could be a long search at times. I would find the family and then narrow it down to the species. Sometimes those could be confusing, then I had to find behaviour, range or voice. Some of the little brown job warblers were tough; as were Gulls. It really is kind of hard being in a strange place without prior knowledge of the birds there and not being able to find one of those books. For example, the first time I had contact with a European Jay (one of those very common species-as someone mentioned), I was a bit thrown. I heard it first. It was ‘talking’ to itself in a dense group of pines. I thought it sounded like a parrot chattering away. I finally honed in on it with my bins, but only saw a small bit of the head in profile. It flew away and I saw a white rump. I went back to Peregrine and told my husband about the talkative bird that had a head somewhat like a flicker. I saw the bird (in sections) three times before I saw the blue on the wings and it dawned on me it was a jay of some kind. I went into the gallery to search and that night, DOC from Israel had posted a great shot of a European Jay! Mystery solved. I’m really surprised that there are so many posting snide remarks about id posters. We don’t all have the proper reference materials with us all the time. Some people are really new to even noticing birds and may be curious enough to google before going to a book store or library. They should be encouraged to develop an interest in birds and nature, not ridiculed. I am grateful for the help I got here especially with the warblers, raptors and gulls; but I’m glad I have a good book now. I prefer to identify the birds I find myself. I guess I could have shelved all the birds I had questions about until I got books, but I was in strange places with strange birds and I was anxious to find what they were. Even with the book, I still have some raptors and a peep I’m unsure about, but don’t worry, I won’t post.:eek!:
Bit harsh aren't you Simon? After all, I bet there's a few things you're not so good at. Or so your wife tells me (cue lots of bawdy Seventies humour....)
Yawn
Birdforum may be a place for thickos but is not a place for the over-sensitive, as this light-hearted jibe of a thread has proven.
Seamus
Oh go on, let's see the peep!
Clearly this thread is not aimed at you. It is aimed at people who live in a country, claim to be birdwatchers and post a picture of the commonest local bird without trying.
I enjoy looking at every peep, gull and lbj thread - those are the esoteric birds that this forum is all about. On those we nearly all learn.
When I go abroad to see birds, however (given that I'm a birder) I will get a field guide to take with me, as that helps me identify birds in the field while I can look at them - not a day or two later when the photo might not have the relevant bits showing. It's called preparation.
And, some views are so bad there will always be birds that go unidentified.
ps there aren't many woodland birds in Europe with a white rump, let alone big pink ones.
If these posters have tried an id, then they don't seem to participate in the discussion much after the initial posting. Giving me the idea they just sit back and let others do the sorting out for them!
Oh the other thing that grates is when someone say I have no idea what this is..... they are told its x (fill in common species) and why by several people. Then they start disputing the ID.