Durham Birding (3 Viewers)

[DEREK.C.]

It's just a shame that DBC once had a reputation for being open and friendly to birders but now they've turned insular.

The thing is Ian, Durham Bird Club are not forcing members to post on the Durham Bird Club Sightings page.
Several DBC members post their sightings on this Forum for all the non members to see, several DBC members also post on the South Tyneside thread, which is going very well.
This Year ,there is also the option to post on the Durham Bird Club Members page, which several members wish to do . At the end of the day its up to the person who finds the bird who he decides to tell. Several excellent Bird Watchers from DBC dont post their sightings at all, apart from the odd one sent to Birdguides.
As far as i`m concerned, the main thing is the County Recorder gets to know about the sightings.:t:

 

[balvert]

For any of the Hetton Bogs regulars:

Any sign of water rails yet?

 

[Jamie D]

Maybe restricted to members only to add sightings but it should be open for anyone to view.

I would agree with this and it is something I have considered doing to the TBC website but I was put off by the fact that most Cleveland birders have had 3 'County Ticks' over the last 2 years where the finders were not members of the club and I suspect that news of atleast 2 of them would not have got out within a reasonable timeframe (allowing others to see the bird) unless anyone was allowed to post their sightings on the page. There are also ways of making it awkward for certain users to access the site if they become a problem like capturing the IP address of posters and then not allowing this address to connect. As most users keep theit IP address for a long while this should be reasonable sucessful and we use this on the forum to stop automated spam posts currently.

Regards,
Jamie

 

[IanF]

Cattle Egret and BW Teal still around early afternoon though playing hard to get at times and only from a distance when I was there.

North Gare Pier afterwards - RB Merganser c.12, Snow Bunting c.12. Oystercatcher c.30, RT Diver x5, Ringed Plover x5, Redshank c.20, Eider x1, Common Scoter x5 plus several Cormorant and Shag.
On the Common/Dunes - Kestrel x3, Sronechat x2, Rock Pipit x3, Wren c.6, Reed Bunting x2, Skylark x1.

 

[JBee]

For any of the Hetton Bogs regulars:

Any sign of water rails yet?

Worryingly no - in fact the station is deader than a very dead thing.
Sparrowhawk is constantly around so that may be one reason little else is visiting.

 

[Ray.Scott]

A few from Hetton Lyons today:

Nothing other than the regulars plus 1 cormorant & 1 Female ruddy duck.

 

[Ray.Scott]

Also a few from RM's pond 2:

Same here as far as the regulars go plus 1 grey heron, at least 6 golden eye, 6 teal and 1 kestrel hunting.

 

[StevieEvans]

It's just a shame that DBC once had a reputation for being open and friendly to birders but now they've turned insular.

Ian, When was this "once" & at what point was that "reputation" sullied?
Are you basing this statement solely on this members only info aspect.... ?
Who's this "they've" you're referring to ? the web-site team, the club Committee or are you meaning the Club as a whole ?

I can appreciate the forums section being for members only but not the sightings page.
Maybe restricted to members only to add sightings but it should be open for anyone to view.

From my experience the DBC places great value on members views / suggestions / concerns / opinions etc - only its rare for any to be put forward.........

Remember, Its only through certain people raising issues that the Club was eventually dragged kicking & screaming into the 21st century:smoke:

Perhaps if more people spoke their minds or got involved like you Ian, then the club would be a healthier, more vibrant organisation......

#############

Ho'ton Patch - Last half hour of the day for us on an otherwise bird free day produced :-
Barn Owl, Little Owl, 3Kestrel, 1Stonechat, 1Woodcock, 3Snipe, 1Roe Buck, etc (further details not on DBC website )
Cheers
Steve

 

[StevieEvans]

Any sign of water rails yet?

Worryingly no - in fact the station is deader than a very dead thing.
Sparrowhawk is constantly around so that may be one reason little else is visiting.

Strange situation compared with last year John.
As you well know, the Rails are certainly there (calls), but they're not playing ball.
I'd have thought they'd be out & about by now - increase in nos at RMs / Joes over last few weeks, where ive seen/ heard them (late afternoon / dusk) on all the pools except pool4.
It'll be interesting to see what happens at the Bogs

 

[rokermartin]

It's just a shame that DBC once had a reputation for being open and friendly to birders but now they've turned insular.

I can appreciate the forums section being for members only but not the sightings page. Maybe restricted to members only to add sightings but it should be open for anyone to view.

Blue-winged Teal is still there as well as the Cattle Egret.

Well i disagree about the old style DBC had a open and friendly reputation infact it was quite the opposite .It had a lot of problems eg big fall in the membership and issues over members bird records and back stabbing etc.Was'nt really a well run club but since all the so called experts with the big egos have left i have to say new style DBC is much better than it was .Also the Lek is always on time ,same with the yearly county report both are excellent reads .The club is now being run by a better set of commitee members and the club has more members than ever before.And the club is doing some really good conservation projects.

 

[DEREK.C.]

Going Well

Maybe its best not get dragged into the current doom and gloom mood so much.
Overall its been an excellent year for Durham Bird Club-
The Trips to Leighton Moss, Loch Ken, Holy Island etc have all been well attended.
The Indoor Meetings at WWWT have gone down really well, with around 50 members attending .
All the members seem to be enjoying the Clubs Publications.
The Club Forum has gone down better than expected.
The County Recorder has been receiving more records of sightings this year than ever before.
The Clubs now involved in several Conservation projects around the County + has its own Reserve and Hide.
20 New Members since August.

Things are not that bad.:t:

 

[DenBee]

I can appreciate the forums section being for members only but not the sightings page. Maybe restricted to members only to add sightings but it should be open for anyone to view.

I believe this topic is starting to create slight anamosity which is a pity between nieghbouring clubs who share a common boundary with the Tees. Therefore I think that the above suggestion would help both our clubs share information and increase communication accordingly.

 

[rokermartin]

The thing is Ian, Durham Bird Club are not forcing members to post on the Durham Bird Club Sightings page.
Several DBC members post their sightings on this Forum for all the non members to see, several DBC members also post on the South Tyneside thread, which is going very well.
This Year ,there is also the option to post on the Durham Bird Club Members page, which several members wish to do . At the end of the day its up to the person who finds the bird who he decides to tell. Several excellent Bird Watchers from DBC dont post their sightings at all, apart from the odd one sent to Birdguides.
As far as i`m concerned, the main thing is the County Recorder gets to know about the sightings.:t:

Their is still a problem with the lack members sending records into the club .Mark states in the autumn lek 84 contributors sent records in, 63 were DBC members.The remaining people contributed via Birdtracker or casual records.This means that less than one fifth of the DBC membership sent records in for the autumn lek.Also very few birders from South Tyneside and a elsewhere still dont send records in

 

[IanF]

Ian, When was this "once" & at what point was that "reputation" sullied?
Are you basing this statement solely on this members only info aspect.... ?
Who's this "they've" you're referring to ? the web-site team, the club Committee or are you meaning the Club as a whole ?

From my experience the DBC places great value on members views / suggestions / concerns / opinions etc - only its rare for any to be put forward.........

Remember, Its only through certain people raising issues that the Club was eventually dragged kicking & screaming into the 21st century:smoke:

Perhaps if more people spoke their minds or got involved like you Ian, then the club would be a healthier, more vibrant organisation......

#############

Ho'ton Patch - Last half hour of the day for us on an otherwise bird free day produced :-
Barn Owl, Little Owl, 3Kestrel, 1Stonechat, 1Woodcock, 3Snipe, 1Roe Buck, etc (further details not on DBC website )
Cheers
Steve

My comment wasn't as well phrased as it could have been |:$|

The Club itself I believe is well run and has a wealth of enthusiastic members. The increase in membership and a very active friendly forum speaks volumes in that respect.

I think though the Club has got it wrong with the sightings page - that to me is being insular when only members can view it. I believe it would be a far better resource if anyone visiting the web site - which after all is a reflection of the club itself - could view what birds are being seen around the County.

I had been thinking along the lines of 'members only' being able to add entries but Jamie makes a very good point about several sightings that were first reported by non-members of TBC.

There maybe the odd occasion when a dubious sounding report is made but they are after all few and far between.

 

[ColinSev]

Possible way forward.

I agree with Ian in that information should be shared between the 2 clubs wherever its sensible to do so.
But there are cases that should not be put on open forum - remember what happened to the avocet. And certainly the Hen Harriers get protection through the censoring of information.
Certain people also withhold information on owls - that is up to them and I can understand that - the SEOs last year at RMs got undue pressure put on them. Its unlikely this would have happened if the info was posted on the Clubs forum.
Perhaps the way forward is to put sightings of rare and roosting sights onto the club sight - anything else can be put into the open forum.
But it really is up to the individual - even with the open forum people do not post everything they see - (which is censoring the info).
The protection of the birds has to be the main thing here.

 

[Jamie D]

Hi,

personally I think some people are starting to miss the point I was initially trying to make. I just thought it would be friendlier to let all see the sightings page (but not necessarily post sightings) especally when DBC members keep saying on areas like this to check their sightings page for details (ie TB Crossbill andd Woodlark)

I also do not see the connection with any issues between the two clubs - I was just using the TBC as a comparison.

Unless you withhold information on Owls etc totally they are going to end up on the pager system etc so I do not think keeping your sightings page secret will achieve anything as I believe the Rare bird Info companies have access anyway!

Personally I now think this discussion has gone on long enough and the point has been made. I am therefore not intending to post any more on it as I supect it will just become counterproductive to all......

Regards,
Jamie

 

[Skelly]

3 x Waxwing at Nevilles Cross this morning. On the A167 in trees next to railway line just past the crossroads.

 

[FoghornKinghorn]

Seekng folks advice. I am going to ask for Swavoski 10x42 SLC binoculars, are they any good? please get back to me soon.
Cheers
Andrew K
(Haven't been birding for ages )

 

[IanF]

Seekng folks advice. I am going to ask for Swavoski 10x42 SLC binoculars, are they any good? please get back to me soon.
Cheers
Andrew K
(Haven't been birding for ages )

I don't think you'll be disappointed in them optically. However I always think it's best to get a hold of optics to see if the deisgn, weight and handling suit you.

Everyone has their own preference. Personally for birding I prefer 8x30 or 8x42.

 

[IanF]

North Gare Pier this morning - Snow Bunting c.57, Rock Pipit x1, Kestrel x1. Meadow Pipit x2 along the roadside fence. A Heron, a few Teal and Wigeon on the scrapes.

SEO x3 by Petroplus ponds this evening.