>Date: Sat, 19 Aug 1995 20:22:05 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Debbie Athanases <athanasd at belnet.bellevue.k12.wa.us>

>I subscribed to tweeters with the hope that it would be a hotline for
>birding opportunities for a beginner like myself.

If "birding opportunities" means to you a place to discuss life in the
birding lane, in all its glory (inc. kids and divorce and weed
pulling!), then tweeters is indeed an interesting place. If, on the
other hand, all you want is a pointer to the next hot birding spot,
you're likely to find a lot of "noise" and "chatter" among the tweets.

>(It would be helpful to have the various chapters' activities
>posted online so you don't have to join them all!)

Ahh, yes. This is an activity that is being hotly pursued recently by
organizations like Audubon and Sierra Club. They're just in the early
stages of planning and of making good use of "the net"

>2. When I don't have a kidless weekend, I try to take them out to a
>place with birds and kid appeal. We've done Juanita Bay and Mercer Slough
>and the Lake Hills greenbelt. It's a challenge though because if I take
>my eyes off my 4-year-old (like, looking through the binos) for more than a
>few seconds, he tends to take off! Do any Tweeters do their birding with
>kids? Any tips (places or techniques)?

Don't forget the plants and insects and other things that _really_ are
as interesting and viewable as birds. These are usually closer to the
child's sphere of view, or rather the child is usually closer to these
life forms, and it's easier to "keep one eye on the kid". In some ways,
for the adult, plants and insects are more challenging because their
existence is less well documented in friendly field guides, but that's
ok.

>Several Tweets mentioned the many other sources of this information. I
>would find it a challenge to subscribe to all those publications etc. It
>would be nice to have a clearinghouse.

One way to achieve the "clearinghouse" goal is for discussion/info lists
to stick to their "narrow" topics. If that is done, then presumably each
list will be sharply focussed on only those particular things. One can
then subscribe to "many other sources" and not be inundated with "off-topic"
subjects. Now, the rub comes because, for certain situations and interest
areas, the range of "on-topic" material is quite broad --witness TWEETERS.
So, when questions come up about "how commercial" should a list go, the
above dynamics always come to the fore, and are heatedly debated.

My personal opinion about commercial birding/nature trips is that they are
fine fodder to a list devoted to that topic. It could even be moderated
(something I don't often support), so that rather than discussion, it is
a list presenting trip providers/purveyors. A companion list could be
supported as well, where discussion about customer experiences and opinions
is carried on (I haven't seen anything like this, esp. where opinions
about particular companies are safely and freely expressed without risk
of law suit, but they may exist?).
Peter