Dennis--

Did you send a private email to the person involved before you made a public
complaint about the report? It seems to me that it would be the kind and
courteous thing to do.

I have been birding for about 5 years and still am probably *only* a NOVICE
by your standards. I have not posted any sightings on this list as I am
really only able to identify for sure the common birds. However, I would
appreciate it if I ever do post sightings that people would be kind enough
to send me an email before pointing out in public the *obvious* errors in my
posting.

I have come across all kinds of very knowledgeable and helpful people in my
birding. I would hope that there would be a helpful attitude towards people
that you consider to be less skilled, rather than a critical attitude.

If "no offense is meant" then perhaps the private email is the way to go.
Then the person themselves would have the opportunity to correct their
posting on-list. Just a thought.

Linda

----- Original Message -----
From: "Netta Smith" <nettasmith at attbi.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2002 8:11 PM
Subject: problematic bird reports


| Hello all.
|
| I was just browsing and noticed a sighting of 59 Western Sandpipers at
| Magnuson Park on Feb 7. That would be so unlikely as to deserve further
| documentation. Dunlins are quite common visitors to Magnuson and elsewhere
| along the shoreline of Puget Sound, but I don't know of records of Western
| Sandpipers in the same areas, especially not in winter (even in migration,
| they're usually in ponds rather than on the lake shore). A House Wren was
| reported in the same paragraph, and it's not a bird that winters here (and
| is actually quite rare in Seattle at any time). Our Marsh Wrens are duller
| than those pictured in some field guides and have often been the source of
| "House Wren" reports.
|
| No offense meant to any beginning birders who report possibly incorrect
| sightings on tweeters - everyone has to learn - but it gives me some
anxiety
| to think that such reports will then be taken as fact by *other* beginning
| birders who don't have the perspective of knowing what should or shouldn't
| be around. Some (many?) tweeters will then themselves think that it's
| nothing unusual to find a big flock of Western Sandpipers and a House Wren
| in Magnuson Park in winter. This may lead to the reporting of 59 Spoonbill
| Sandpipers and a Musician Wren one of these days - hard drugs will be
next!
|
| I wish there were a way to filter sightings before they were published on
| the internet, but of course there isn't in an open society, and I'm the
last
| one who wants to squelch enthusiasm in observers. Yet I'm disturbed by the
| potential for misleading information. In fact, I consider that sometimes a
| greater problem with tweeters than some of the controversial discussions
we
| have, and of course that's why I jump in as the house critic on bird
| sightings. I don't suppose Dan will impose on us a "no bogus sightings"
| rule!
|
| The only solution to this problem that I can envision is for all birders
to
| gain a reasonably good knowledge of the status of bird species in the
area,
| so they can be assured that the species they are reporting are likely ones
| (or if they are not, then what more needs to be said about them). Birding
is
| a sport and a hobby for many, which is great, but the reporting of bird
| sightings on a public forum is - to me - a somewhat more serious endeavor.
|
| Dennis Paulson
| --
| Netta Smith and Dennis Paulson
| 1724 NE 98 St.
| Seattle, WA 98115
|