And, of course, Paul, you never have bad looks at birds when you are out in
the field. And never have fleeting glances. And the birds always look
perfect like the best images in the best books. (And things were always
better in the good ol' days, but that's another story).
Unfortunately, that isn't reality for most of us. We learn more pushing the
envelope, challenging us to go beyond our comfort level and having things so
they aren't wrapped up in a box with a little bow on top. That's why some
people study empids and come up with ways of separating them. Or sub-adult
gulls. It's why we don't have only "confusing fall warblers" anymore. A
recent Birding photo quiz showed the underwing patterns of some birds with
their heads chopped off. They point was these are similar looking birds,
can you ID them without the obvious advantage of seeing the whole bird.
Bad photos are good challenges and separate those willing to stretch their
ID skills rather than have the answers handed to them on a plate.
My 2 cents worth, with all due respect.
Tom Crabtree
-----Original Message-----
From: obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Paul Sullivan
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2017 10:07 PM
To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: larmcqueen@xxxxxxx
Subject: [obol] teaching with bad photos
Larry, with all due respect,
I am strongly against teaching with bad photos. If you want to educate
people on what birds look like, I think it best to marshal the best images
you can. Isnt that why we make field guides? Dont artists aim to capture
the true color, shape, jizz, etc of each species at various seasons and
ages? If you want to teach mathematics you dont begin with insoluble
puzzles.
Ive been to presentations where marginal photos are offered as examples of
what a rare species looks like. Ive been to birders nights where quiz
birds are offered up. People talk about challenge and some folks enjoy
the back-and-forth. It is a place for the people who already know a lot to
show off, to get (or guess) the right answer. It is a place for the
presenter to say, I know the answer, bet you cant guess what this is. I
think these kind of experiences intimidate or confuse people more than
teach.
I dont think such sessions really educate people. I think if you are going
to take someone and lead them along, you need to move in an organized
progression, showing field marks, explaining habitat and behavior,
illustrating your lesson with the best images you can muster. Echoing your
comment, I believe the living bird on a field trip can teach in a few
minutes more than can be captured in any series of photos.
Thats my two cents.
Paul Sullivan
----------------------
Subject: Re: digest non-attachments
Date: Wed Jul 19 2017 22:32 pm
From: larmcqueen AT msn.com
Joel and all,
This is of course, another lesson on the difficulties of photo IDs, and this
was an especially challenge one, due to limitations. Most aspects of the
field are not present in photos, and these were reduced to nearly minimal.
The fun of it is the challenge, and we could be playing more with the
challenge. How about others deliberately posting bad photos on this list,
as a teaching exercise?
Larry
POST: Send your post to obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx JOIN OR QUIT:
//www.freelists.org/list/obol
OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Contact moderator:
obol-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
POST: Send your post to obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
JOIN OR QUIT: //www.freelists.org/list/obol
OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol
Contact moderator: obol-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
