Tweeters,



I understand that Seattle Audubon's BirdBox machine has finally packed it
in, and I am not suggesting that further attempts be made to revive it. The
last time it broke down, several years ago, I believe it took several weeks
and a large amount of money to get it going again.



However-- does this mean the end of telephone RBAs in the state of
Washington? I hope not. The only other RBAs that were operating in recent
years and covered parts of Washington, in the Tri-cities and in Moscow, ID,
both stopped operating a few years ago.



Oregon still has a statewide RBA (operated by Harry Nehls for the Audubon
Society of Portland), and BC still has three telephone RBAs-- one in
Vancouver, one in Victoria, and one in Nanaimo. I have been in overall
charge of the one in Vancouver for the last 4 years, although we have
usually had 3 people, taking turns, who do most of the work (thank you so
much, Kevin Louth and Mark Wynja).



Because of the wide and easy accessibility of E-mail groups (e.g. Tweeters)
and websites, some people seem to think that telephone RBAs are now
unnecessary. I disagree. For local birders within Washington, they are
perhaps less necessary, as most of us have access to computers and E-mail.
However, the problem in making information about rare birds readily
available is a big one for visiting birders from outside the state-at least,
for those who don't carry laptops with them, or who stay in remote areas. It
can also be a problem for Washington birders who are away from home for
several days at a time.



For example, I don't own a laptop. When I make forays into Washington, if
there is no telephone RBA, I will be cut off from any information about
newly-discovered rare birds. One solution may be to visit "Internet Cafes",
where for a small amount of money, one can surf the Internet and check
Tweeters or other E-mail groups on Jack Siler's webpage (
www.birdingonthe.net ). However, on past trips into Washington and Oregon,
I have had difficulty in finding Internet cafes-most of them aren't listed
in local phone books, and even when they are, they seem to move or go out of
business at an alarming rate.



I would like to suggest that an organization-preferably WOS, the Washington
Ornithological Society-should consider setting up a statewide telephone (and
online) RBA, to be updated once a week, similar to the RBA that Harry Nehls
has run for so many years in Oregon (a huge thank you, Harry!!). As an
alternative, perhaps WOS could try to maintain a list of Internet cafes at
various locations throughout the state, post it on their website, and keep
it up to date, so that visiting birders can check the recent archives of
Tweeters, Inland-NW-Birders,

Whatcom Birds, BirdYak, etc.



There will definitely be something lost if there are no more telephone RBAs.
Here in Vancouver, even though most sightings of rare birds are posted on
E-mail groups within a day or less of the observation, I would say at least
30% or 40% of our sightings are reported by phone, by birders who either do
not have E-mail, or prefer not to use it. Without a telephone RBA, we
probably wouldn't even hear about some of those sightings.



I hope this message will stimulate some thought and discussion, and that
Washington birders can come up with some alternative system of notifying
birders about rare birds. If not, visiting birders from out of state will
feel the loss more than local birders.



And while I'm at it, an enormous "thank you" to Phil Mattocks, Richard
Russell, Hal Opperman, Rachel Lawson, and all the other birders who have
given so freely of their time over the years to keep the Seattle RBA
running.





Sincerely,



Wayne C. Weber

Delta, BC

contopus at telus.net