For me, personally, it's mainly because I want to see birds I haven't seen
before. I've only been in the US 5 years, so there are still a lot of birds
that are new to me, particularly ones that are accidental visitors to
Washington. Reading about a species is nothing like actually seeing it doing
its thing, and watching its behavior.

I don't plan a lengthy trip unless the bird has been seen reliably for a
couple of days. I'm not inclined to embark on a wild goose chase to Walla
Walla for a one day wonder.

Louise Rutter
Kirkland

-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Dennis
Paulson
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 8:58 PM
To: TWEETERS
Subject: [Tweeters] a question

Hello, tweeters.

Here's my question, and it is directed solely to those people who read or
hear about some rare bird being seen somewhere in the region and immediately
start to plan their trip to see that bird (or look for it). Why do you do
it?

I don't want this to start a chain reaction of name-calling or disagreement,
so if you respond, please don't be critical of anyone else's response. As a
long-time teacher, and certainly in this case, my questions are oriented
toward making people think, not making them react. I don't want a response
to "why do you go birding?" but just "why do you chase rare birds?"

Feel free to respond with brief or lengthy answers. I ask because I am truly
interested, and I suspect many inhabitants of tweeterdom would also be
interested, so please respond to the group. I know comments will be
individual and personal, and I don't plan to summarize them for tweeters or
compile them into a best-selling book that will pay for my retirement.

Thanks!
-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net



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