Dennis Paulson wrote:

> But I would like to question the "sad end" part just a little.

> And, for your memory bank, Stuart, the new book on rare birds of

> Britain and Europe lists the species from Fair Isle, Shetlands, on

> 6 Oct 1955 (with a subsequent record from Whalsay Island, 23 Sep

> 1971).

I think it was the Whalsay bird, although most of my memory bank is
still located in northern Scotland - my baggage allowance procluded
me from bringing more than my binocs !!!

I suppose I should have replaced "sad" with "ignominious" :-).

> I hope the River (now called Thick-billed) Warbler was taken to a

> museum and preserved as a specimen, so (a) the identity of a bird

> so far out of range could be certainly confirmed (not that I doubt

> the abilities of British birders for a second, but specimens *are*

> a more positive confirmation than either photographs or sightings),
> (b) its sex and age could be determined with certainty, perhaps of

> interest in learning about the causes of vagrancy, and (c) aspects

> of its condition and health (before the cat got it) could have been

> determined--molt, weight, fat, stomach contents--again to see how a

> vagrant fares when it's so far off course.

Birders in Scotland are pretty good about sending stuff to museums.
The Scottish National Museum gets most of the specimens which even
includes nests - after the chicks have long fledged. Nests complete
with chicks or eggs are definitely out, although this was not always
the case !!!! However a lot of valuable information is still lost,
either through a lack of funding on behalf of the museums or a lack
of awareness that specimens are important.


Also most of the collections in UK museums are getting pretty old.
The majority of specimens were collected in the 19th century and
while they are well preserved they are not going to last forever -
topping them up with recent specimens obtained through incidents,
natural or otherwise (hunters take note) is vital.

> But my second reason is that I'm a little sorry that birder

> pressure has entirely put a stop to the collecting of vagrant
> birds, which was one of the many ways we learned about nature.

Birder pressure in the UK is almost at the stage where even banding,
in certain well-watched areas, is impossible (common and rare birds
are included here). Often it leads to a massive public relations
exercise for the ornithologists, as opposed to birders, concerned.

I think the pressure from birders comes from their motivation in
conservation as well as their admiration for scale of the journey,
given that the bird has just travelled across a continent or two.
Collecting a rare bird may be seen as too high a price for the
individual.

The need for information exists, however. Vagrants may be the first
indicators of range changes in populations as well as a means of
obtaining data on species for which little is known. Starlings,
Collared Doves and Fulmars were once very rare in western Europe.

Part of the problem is that each case in isolation is difficult to
justify. However it is difficult to appreciate that a lot of science
is slowly putting together the pieces of a huge jig-saw puzzle so
each little piece is important. Birder-relations as well as
public-relations in obtaining data, is a very important activity
which is currently largely ignored. While science can easily be
dismissed as simple 'curiosity', the information gained almost always
directly results in an improved ability to conserve the species
concerned. Sometimes this point is lost or certainly is not made
clear often enough - a situation which will cause trouble in the
future.

More involvement from birders in the collection of data. For example
sending in birds found freshly dead could go a long way in educating
BOTH sides about their motivations and aims.

That's enough. Sorry if I rambled on a bit.

Stuart