In a message dated 98-01-12 02:23:09 EST, you write:

<< In a recent post Mike Price expressed concerns about the level of service
provided by the Vancouver RBA. I'm interested in what the rest of you
think. Do you see any value in having the Vancouver RBA scripts posted to
Tweeters? Do you enjoy reading them? Should the posts be continued?
>>

Personally, I have always thought the Vancouver RBA was among the best in the
business. The regular updates often several times a week are refreshing and I
know this effort requires added time and efforts of those who make the
information available. I recall even hearing some that were updated more than
once a day. I certainly enjoy reading them and by all means, the postings to
Tweeters SHOULD BE continued.

I am very much aware of the time and effort involved in putting together
timely and informative RBAs. During the 1970's, the late and great Claudia
Wilds and I shared the voluntary duties as the voice of the RBA in Washington,
D.C., so I am personally very much appreciative and sensitive to the time and
effort required, and from my personal first hand experience, I really enjoyed
doing them. Sometimes time consuming research, evaluation, and legwork is
required. Sometimes you get information second or third-hand. There might be
a report of a bird which may be of general collective interest, but perhaps it
is at someone's feeder or in a sensitive neighborhood. So, you have to call
around, check with the homeowner first and find out if reporting a 'rare' bird
to the masses meets with their approval and if so, determine whether or not
they want the possibility of hordes of birders swarming over the neighborhood.
If not, then you just leave it out and no crime has been committed. Sometimes
the directions are sketchy or an identification is vague and questionable, and
you end up making phone calls. Verification and evaluation always requires
special care, sensitivity, and being tactful; the last thing you want to do is
alienate someone by coming off sounding too aggressive and skeptical. When
the directions are vague, you may have to pour over maps for awhile, to locate
the bird then concisely recite the directions in the simplest of terms that
all can understand and follow. So recording a good, useful, and user friendly
RBA is not just as simple as just sitting down and glancing over a list of
birds; a lot of time can be and often is involved to make the RBA a genuine
valuable service for the birding community.

The most important service that the RBA can provide is to give good concise
directions in a limited amount of time, and the Vancouver RBA has been pretty
good in this regard. It has not gone unnoticed that the Vancouver recording
area often seems to have more than it's fair share of 'rare' birds worthy of
report and with unrivaled regularity. Maybe that's because the Vancouver area
has more active birders then we down here. Anyway, I never cease to be
amazed.

I can absolutely think of no reason for not continuing the timely postings of
the Vancouver RBAs to Tweeters. For anyone subscribed to Tweeters and those
not but can gain such easy access just via the Tweeters website, it is far
easier and economical to actually see (and print it if necessary) the actual
transcript rather than listening to it on the telephone, maybe over and over
to clearly glean off one point. I won't be running up to Vancouver for every
little dicky-bird that's posted for sure, but I do enjoy reading about them
just the same.

Also, since my good friend Mike Force is currently somewhere in the Antarctic
Ocean (between Chile & the Peninsula) and onboard a Russian research vessel
contracted by NOAA for research over the next two months, I maintain email
communications with him and I like to keep him up to date on what's going on
around here, Vancouver, and BC. I know very well how much messages from
'home' can mean when one is out at sea on extended duty and far removed from
any sense of land-based reality. Mike has often said that I am the only
person from 'home' who usually ever writes, and I'm not even Canadian(!), so I
know he appreciates the periodic updates from Vancouver. Mike, I think was
once-upon-a-time the 'voice of the Vancouver RBA' .

BTW, This wasn't on the RBA, but I remember someone posted to Tweeters about
going to Gibsons in the snow and describing the perky little Xantus's
Hummingbird with snow flakes on it's wee little head and Mike enjoyed hearing
about that, and then we went on wondering if perhaps the bird in question
wasn't really a 'Snowcap' instead -- a Costa Rican / W. Panamanian Hummingbird
:-))

As long as we are on the topic of RBA's; in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle,
Portland, Lower Columbia Basin, E. Washington / N. Idaho region), I for one
very much appreciate the transcripts when posted on Tweeters. When I am
anticipating a trip to Eastern Washington for example, I start saving up the
weekly posts in a file, print out the parts which may be of use when I finally
do head off in that direction for a few days of birding and exploring. Ditto
the Washington Bird Box transcripts, and I extend my thanks to Bob Norton
(current transcriber) and all those responsible for making these possible.
Transcribing the bird box is no short and easy task, so the efforts do not
pass unnoticed.

In conclusion, I will say that for me personally, I find all of these RBA
postings to Tweeters a valuable and timeless service and by all means
encourage the practice to continue as a standard service to the message board,
it's members, and the non-member readers who access Tweeters via the web. One
additional thought just occurs to me. I don't know if it's worth the trouble,
but perhaps the RBA transcripts for the PacNW reporting areas could be linked
to a site specific PacNW RBA web page as well which would certainly make their
access easier for many and for the just curious. I know that some RBAs do
this already and I have found this 'quick and dirty' access quite convenient.
Or maybe they are already and I haven't found them yet??

P.S. Jack Bowling commenting on the Yellow-throated Warbler currently on
Vancouver Island; "GADZOOKS!" That was my reaction exactly! This doesn't
mean I'm going to come rushing up to look for it, but it' is most interesting
to know that there is one around. Now toss a genuine SNOWCAP on the Vancouver
RBA and you can count on my being up there in an instant :-)))

Richard Rowlett (Pagodroma at aol.com)
47.56N, 122.13W
(Seattle/Bellevue, WA USA)
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Tweeters isn't just an adventure; it's a job! :-))
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