Subject: Re: Species Coveys
Date: Aug 31 15:47:00 1995
From: Dennis Paulson - dpaulson at ups.edu


I agree entirely with several sentiments that have been expressed about how
to go about studying species: namely, at this point I hope we can let it
happen from the bottom up! Organization hasn't worked that well for us, so
let's try disorganization. I will write something brief for WOSNEWS, if
you'd like me to, Scott (or were you planning to do so?), about why this
would be a worthwhile endeavor (both single-species field trips, which
would probably be easy to get going, and study groups), but people will
have to pick it up and run with it.

I think it's *got* to come from interested parties getting together, and/or
a charismatic leader calling for help with a charismatic species (such as
Sanderling). Or I suppose a *really* charismatic leader calling for help
with a totally boring species (such as Peregrine Falcon). "I'm excited
about species X, and I wonder if there are any others out there who'd like
to go out with me to look at them." Hopefully, if X proves of interest, a
core of a few people can proceed from there to decide exactly what it is
they want to learn, including finding the appropriate references.

This could become the latest listing craze: "This weekend we determined 54
different types of insects brought to nests by Townsend's warblers, a new
warbler record for Washington," or "On Sunday the Plover People came up
with a new national high of 17 color bands read/mile of beach" (as it seems
that we're fated to be motivated at least in part by competition).

I do remember that when Mike Donahue tried to get people together for rap
sessions about topics in ornithology, it failed, so I'm not hyperoptimistic
about this, but I'd love to be pleasantly surprised by a wave of
enthusiasm. Perhaps going out in nature is sufficiently more exciting than
sitting and talking about it (as we do here day after day) that something
can come of this.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416