Just to keep the list hopping, I'll give you a minority view that may stimulate some strong disagreement.

Idea 1: Get a notebook with a page or section of a page for each species; keep your notes there using an old-fashioned instrument such as a pen or pencil. Some of these things are available commercially; one of them, I think, is an accompaniment to the National Geo. field guide.

Idea 2. Get a simple list in word-processor, such as Word. (I'll send you mine, if you wish, though I think I have to update it to AOU or ABA standards.) Then just type in all the information you want. I only keep a life list, with the date and place where I first saw a representative of a species, but of course you can write in as much as you please.

As I've told some Tweets and Birdchatters before, I get very impatient with the contemporary attitude that if it ain't done with a computer, it ain't worth a damn. (More often than not, I believe, the computerized, electronic world we are being forced to live in makes life more difficult, frustrating, and dangerous, and it increasingly removes us from direct, honest, satisfying human contact. Okay, go ahead and shoot!) And, yes, I've been told about all the marvelous things that the bird-listing software can do, and I don't care much.

Burt Guttman
The Evergreen State College
Olympia, WA 98505 guttmanb at evergreen.edu
Home: 7334 Holmes Island Road S. E., Olympia, 98503

________________________________

From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu on behalf of Lee
Sent: Wed 2/9/2005 7:00 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] List keeping software


Hi,
I'm a new birder (6 months) and have been informally keeping my sighings on various pieces of paper,ok for a short time but I need to improve my record keeping.
A birding friend of mine said in the future you will be sorry if you did not start the "list" at the beginning of you birdsighting hobby...thus my current search for an easy and effective mechanism to keep and organize my sightings. I know there are a number of software products available but have not been able to discern the advantages and disadvantages of various options. I use Windows XP and also have access to Apple. Is there any site that gives reviews (ala Consumer Reports) or are there educated opinions among the Tweeters re:Software products? I am not a techie and don't need lots of bells and whistles,something easy to use,and flexible (if I become fanatical about this in the future). Thanks.
Lee
Seattle,Wash.
walesl at comcast.net