[mou] Reason for posting birding questions

[Richard Wood]

Hi all,

I agree it's good to post questions.  It's also good to be able to question things and not be judged; that is how things get changed.

A few days back, I asked a member of the MOU what is the benefit of me joining their organization, and was there a cost?  I was told "Why are you pulling my chain? Of course 
there is a fee for joining MOU, because we offer services. You are interested in 
birds, so you should join. You come across as being critical, I doubt if you are 
in person to person contact. But if you are critical and difficult to get along 
with, it is probably best you do not join a community of birders."

What is the point of giving an answer like this?  I sincerely wanted to know what benefit would I get from joining the MOU, other than their web site, which I can use for free.

I'm only "critical" because I've been made to be that way by the birding process.  What was just fun when I began, has become far more serious.  One literally has birders from other states questioning your sightings.  I personally feel that I have people all over the country watching what I write or report on these lists, so I have to really think about what I say.  And if dare attack a record committee, then someone half way around the world (or even in northern Minnesota?) will pick up on it, and call me a trouble maker, because I've had trouble with reports in other states.   So what if I have?  That's because I am certain that I saw what I reported, otherwise I wouldn't have reported it.  And obvioulsly, it DOESN'T rake a photo to get a record accepted, contrary to the common belief. (If you don't believe me, look up the reports for the state of Utah, for example).  There is a certain species of bird that has been seen eight times in the last 25
 years or so in Utah, and of the six accepted sightings of this bird, NONE had an accompanying photo.  On the other hand, of the two non-accepted records, one had a photo with it.
But I digress...

I'm also critical because I am a scientist and have a belief in the "true scientific process" and birding has none of that, when it should.  It's also kind of hypocritical that supposedly anyone can make a scientific contribution to birding, yet there is a person whose job it is to throw out the "non-scientific" data points during events such as Christmas Bird Counts.  if birding was truly a science, all the bad data would be left in.


But I really digressed...

We should ask questions, but we should also be aware that we have people out there that will come down on you if thou doth sayeth too much, and so we should keep this in mind when we write.  The bottom line is that we need more Pastor Als and fewer....well, most of you know whom I mean.

Richard


   
Richard L. Wood, Ph. D.
Hastings, MN
rwoodphd at yahoo.com

----- Original Message ----
From: Pastor Al Schirmacher <pastoral at princetonfreechurch.net>
To: Michael Hendrickson <mlhendrickson at yahoo.com>; mou-net at moumn.org
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2007 4:13:01 PM
Subject: [mou] Reason for posting birding questions

Mike & MOU,

Reason for posting questions:  growth through knowledge & sharing, for 
others & myself.  Not particularly interested in the debate process, and 
certainly not in personal attacks.  My condolences to those who have been 
hurt or offended, it was not intended.

It's a classic learning & teaching approach, questions challenge us to think 
things through.  I learned a ton recently when an MOU member sent me his 
paper on the probable bobwhite extirpation in Minnesota.  Since bobwhites 
are countable in Wisconsin (with extreme care), I was unaware of their 
status in our state.

As a side note of potential interest, one of the questions led to magazine 
articles and a short-run publication a few years back (not by me).  The 
sharing (50 some participants) showed how a listserv can also be an 
e-community.

We all need to grow, whether as expert, "middlin" or novice birders - or as 
human beings.

Thanks.

Al Schirmacher
Princeton, MN
Mille Lacs & Sherburne Counties





 









       
____________________________________________________________________________________
Got a little couch potato? 
Check out fun summer activities for kids.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=summer+activities+for+kids&cs=bz 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://moumn.org/pipermail/mou-net_moumn.org/attachments/20070814/897a23b8/attachment.html