I was birding with Bill Tice on the Dallas CBC last week. He is subscribed
to eBird alerts for Polk County, so his phone whistled at him when the
Mockingbird was found near the Morgan Lake parking lot. Through the day he
was able to text back and forth with birders on the other side of the count
circle about what they were seeing, how foggy it was, etc. We got directions
to the mockingbird. Instant communication.
It made me think back to when I did the Dallas CBC in the '80's. If you'd
found a Mockingbird near Morgan Lake, you would have had to drive to
Rickreal to a pay phone. You would have needed several dollars in coin in
your pocket or purse to make the call. If you didn't want to carry that
weight, you could keep coins in the ashtray of your car (if no one was a
smoker) or the glove compartment - cars didn't have cup holders.
You would have hoped that the person you called was home. Not everyone had
answering machines. The Macintosh computer hadn't been invented. Apple
machines didn't format five-inch floppy discs the same was as IBM machines.
The two systems barely communicated - certainly not over a wire, let alone
wireless.
You might have called Roy Gerig or Bill Tice, but you also might have called
Walt Yungen, Jack Corbet, Barb Belllin, Floyd Schock, Gerrry Smith, or Dave
Copeland - names you will see in the Listing Results when we get them
compiled again this year.
For the teen birder connected instantly to people across a CBC circle, 36
years is two lifetimes ago. To me it is half a lifetime.
Perhaps in 2060, Isaac Denzer will have a chip that he carries on him that
he can touch and ask, "Tell me all the Mockingbird sightings near Morgan
Lake" and it will list them out for him. He can remember when he found the
first one back in '18. The chip may even help him remember the last name of
that kid, Caleb, he birded with that day. He may wonder what ever happened
to him, or maybe they'll still be birding together, remembering '18.
Who knows what the teen birder of 2060 will say to that?
Happy remembering - and timely reporting,
Paul Sullivan
