[mou] Good Bird Questions

[Warren Woessner]

Saying "They are all good" IS sanctimonious, because the question was
pretty clear. If someone asks you that question, they are clearly
serious/avid birders or they would not even know the term. So starting
from that assumption, I would indeed share my "personal best" birds from
the area, but maybe in a small cluster, like "There's a Greater Scaup
under the bridge, a Pileated Woodpecker up on that pole and a
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in that barn". If things really are slow, a
simple "Things are pretty quiet right now" would seem to do.=20
Warren

-----Original Message-----
From: mou-net-admin@cbs.umn.edu [mailto:mou-net-admin@cbs.umn.edu] On
Behalf Of Pastor Al
Sent: Friday, October 22, 2004 2:29 PM
To: mou-net@cbs.umn.edu; mnbird@lists.mnbird.net;
BIRDCHAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU; wisbirdn@lawrence.edu
Subject: [mou] Good Bird Questions


What's the first question that an incoming birder asks you as you're
leaving?:

"Any good birds?"

How does one answer that question?  "They're all good" sounds
sanctimonious.
Sharing your best bird from the location leaves you open to subtle scorn
or
a game of one-uppance (you can see it in their eyes, "is that all"?).
Replying with a question may only delay the inevitable.

So, this leads me to two highly philosophical questions on this rainy
afternoon (while stapling membership applications together):

* In your opinion, what constitutes a good bird?

* How do you answer the question?

Al Schirmacher
Princeton, MN
Mille Lacs & Sherburne Counties
pastoral@princetonfreechurch.net

(55 Bonapartes on a sewage pond were my best birds over lunch hour - but
are
they "good" birds?)

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