> A tweeter (by direct E-mail) flames:

> > Are you serious? I cannot believe you are leading a field trip to an
> > area you do not know or have not even been to.

> Well, it won't be the first time, and probably not the last.

> > Please, for the sake of the folks
> > who sign up, thinking they are going to have a competently lead trip,
> > scout out the place several times not only for birds but for road
> > conditions, distances, and facilities.

My very first visit to the Goshutes Raptor Project was as the
leader of a tour sponsored by Portland Audubon.

Not a field trip - a $350 tour.

Not only was it my first visit to the site, but it was also
my first visit to the Ruby Mountains (where we spent a day
hiking on our return).

I've been told by several participants - including a couple with
experience leading trips - that it was one of the best trips
they've ever taken.

My first two visits to the Skagit area were in the role of
leading a Portland Audubon trip. Folks had a good time
on both those trips, if the flamer doesn't believe me
he/she might e-mail fellow tweeter Cindy Lawes, who was
on that second trip.

The key to putting together a good field trip lies much more
in how you treat the folks on the trip than your absolute
competence in birding or your intimate knowledge of an
area. I know a couple extremely good birders in the
Portland area who would be totally inneffective as trip
leaders.

Go for it!

Remember the old saying "those that can, do; those that can't,
flame"!

- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>