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Message: <blockquote data-quote="wheatearlp" data-source="post: 3508110" data-attributes="member: 78531">I understand what is being said here as well as understanding the use of cameras to 'confirm' tricky IDs... or flag up records that would otherwise be missed (important to some, less so to others - not saying one is more valuable than the other). However there also appears to be a decline in the knowledge about, and recognition of, 'common' species. Do people not notice things until they 'become birders'? Therefore, by definition, everything is new - I've certainly experienced this in the past from acquaintances/work colleagues who have started to take an interest. Do people have no mentors any more, is birding something taken up on a whim without encouragement or inspiration from others ( I was lucky enough to have a couple of friends at school who nurtured my fledgling interest). Do people not look at field-guides any more? Posts asking "Is this a [insert species name]?" is good, posting images with "What's this?" suggests no effort at all has been made. One that particularly irritated me was "Please confirm the ID" with no suggestion as to what the bird was - what were we supposed to confirm?Does all of this explain the plethora of Dunnock/Chaffinch/Blackbird photos along with the assertion "I've never seen one of those before"? Is it symptomatic of life these days, everything has to be 'easy' and all have to be spoon-fed? Slight rant over and I apologise to those who don't know me from Adam, especially as I'm not a regular poster outside my local patch threads.</blockquote>

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