[texbirds] Re: Written and sketched reports and Reconstructive Memory (short
- From: Stenmead@xxxxxxx
- To: Boyd.Sanders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, custom_heirlooms@xxxxxxxxx, c.o.carver@xxxxxxxxx, texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 11:13:51 -0400 (EDT)
Hi Texbirders,
Just read the movie plot of "A Birder's Guide to Everything" released
3/18/14, currently showing in Texas theaters. The movie's plot relates
directly
to this discussion, documenting and receiving acceptance of a rare bird
sighting. This is a topic that warrants a movie!! Birding just moved up the
ladder of interest to the public, and also possibly inherent nature of
human beings.
Has anyone seen this movie? If so please reply privately with your
thoughts.
Stennie Meadors
San Leon
In a message dated 3/20/2014 9:16:43 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
Boyd.Sanders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
Howdy All!
Smart phones are not the best for getting bird photos, even with a scope.
A digital SLR camera with decent lenses a very expensive, especially for
this state employee. What I carry with me is a relatively inexpensive digital
video camera. It is very small and has a 60X zoom so I can get really
mediocre video and photos, but are adequate for identification. With the video
camera, the start-up is very fast, I don't have to worry about getting the
perfect shot and I also record bird behavior that can be beneficial to an
ID.
Keep taking notes and writing descriptions, however. It helps with
documentation and it will make you a better birder. Collecting your thoughts
and
writing your observations and even sketching forces you to remember details
to improve your skills.
Good birding!
Boyd A. Sanders
Interpreter/Exhibit Tech
Tyler State Park
boyd.sanders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(903)597-5338
-----Original Message-----
From: texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Jan Piecznski
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 5:04 PM
To: c.o.carver@xxxxxxxxx; Texbirds
Subject: [texbirds] Re: Written and sketched reports and Reconstructive
Memory
To say that everyone carries a smartphone or have a cheap digital camera,
there's a lot of people who don't have smartphones. If I didn't need it for
work, I wouldn't have one. And I don't keep a digital camera in my suv,
but I do keep binoculars. There is a reason why both a smartphone and/or
inexpensive digital camera are generally useless. I can provide many
pictures that I've attempted to take using both of those options. I do have a
smartphone, a very nice one that I know how to use well. It has 8MP and great
video in HD. I can tell you in good lighting, unless I'm 3 feet from a
sparrow you can't tell what type it is. I even have an HD video of a bird on
a rock when I was riding the mule up the Grand Canyon about 20' away and
have its call. Still don't know what it was, sent it to their CC and he
doesn't know. Also by the time I drop my binoculars, dig out my
smartphone/camera, push the buttons that are needed to get to the camera or
video, the
bird is long gone
and I've wasted time messing with a smartphone that I know will take a
terrible picture that I could have used looking at the bird to check the
details.
Anyways if someone is going to misrepresent a bird they saw or fill in the
blank descriptions, it would be just as easy to make your own photo of the
bird to provide a picture. Wow, I could get to those 500 species really
fast!
As far as my reporting of birds, I am doing so for my own records. If
someone questions my sighting, I'm happy to provide the information I know. If
they want me to fill out the paperwork to send in, I'm happy to do so. If
it is accepted or not, doesn't make any difference to me. If Cornell or
anyone else is able to use the information I've provided for something,
great. But I'm not going to worry about it either way.
To say "photos or it didn't happen", tell that to Allstate that made our
son at fault for backing into someone when I have the photos and video that
show otherwise. Their reasoning, the other driver was over 40.
There comes a time when an organization needs to ask itself, do we want to
weed through a few birds to give them a second thought or do we want to
make it so difficult to report anything people quit trying and thus lose
interest. I won't post pictures to my ebird because it's not convenient. But
I'll be happy to email any I have. I'd rather have people interested in
birds and because of that, my neighbor ran off a kid that was shooting at my
Rufus Hummingbirds and warblers.
Jan Piecznski
Pearland, Tx
________________________________
From: Cameron Carver <c.o.carver@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Brush Freeman <brushfreeman@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Texbirds <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 2:27 PM
Subject: [texbirds] Re: Written and sketched reports and Reconstructive
Memory
Brush,
"Photos or it didn't happen" is a common tongue in cheek saying.
As for those Razorbill, Pigeon and Black Swift... there is a reason why
they are on the "presumptive list".
Cameron
Sent from my iPhone
> On Mar 19, 2014, at 14:01, Brush Freeman <brushfreeman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>
> "Photos or it didn't happen" Geez Cameron that is profound. Hey I am
right there with you. Maybe we can convince the TBRC to throw out the
huge bulk of well written and accepted documentation that have no associated
photos with the record, no matter the observer's expertise.....Let's try!.
That would include such silly things like "murre Species, Razorbill,
White-crowned Pigeon, Black Swift and Crescent-chested Warbler. I realize
that
you will no longer be reporting species you could not photograph and
meanwhile I am voiding my notebook of birds that "did not happen" this
morning.
I don't even like taking bird photos so I will just continue to imagine
those Blue Jays and Chickadees.
>
> **********************************************************************
> Brush Freeman
> 503-551-5150 Cell
> 120 N. Red Bud Trail. Elgin, Tx. 78621
> http://texasnaturenotes.blogspot.com/
> Finca Alacranes., Utley,Texas
>
>
>> On Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 11:50 AM, Cameron Carver <c.o.carver@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
>> Written field reports and sketches are certainly great ways to learn.
Studying the bird in front of you and writing/sketching the details is a
great way to learn a species' nuances. BUT here is the problem: Let's say that
the view of the bird was fleeting or that you didn't write/sketch details
until after the bird left (both of these scenarios are extremely common in
birding). Your brain likes to fill in blanks. And in order to fill in the
blanks it uses what you know, think you know or what you expect. In doing so
your brain may (and will) fudge the details to help you better explain the
story or observation.
>>
>> Take for example "The war of the ghosts" (Bartlett 1932) where
participants were told a story and then expected to recount the story. The
participants added their own details to the story and eliminated some elements
that
seemed implausible. With repeat tellings the story deviated further from
the original.
>>
>> This sort of "filling in" extends to any and all aspects of human
observation. So, written/sketched reports made at any point after the
observation are inherently flawed.
>>
>> Heidi's sketch of the original Harris's Sparrow was made after the
observation. While she may not know it, her mind had plenty of time to process
what she was seeing. It was already comparing the bird to other HASP she
has seen and the one she saw previously at the location a year before. That
sort of thinking could have easily influenced her sketch and likely did.
>>
>> This doesn't even address the fact that human observation can be
influenced by stress and emotion.
>>
>> Written/sketch reports are certainly a necessary tool in birding, but
they are not "hard" evidence. Nothing beats photo, video, audio or a
specimen. This sort of "hard" evidence should be encouraged over any sort of
"soft" evidence. As I stated in a previous post, 61% of US adults own a smart
phone. Your smart phone can not only take geotagged photos, but record video
and audio. Not to mention that inexpensive, mega-zoom point-and-shoot
digital cameras are numerous.There is a reason why reliance on
photodocumentation has become the standard.
>>
>> The art of writing a report is certainly lost. Written reports add a
sense of feeling and place and are nice for historical accounts, but writing
is certainly not a necessity. It only supports an observation, it does not
confirm it. And if you have enough time to sketch a bird with it in front
of you, then you certainly had enough time to get a photo.
>>
>> "Photos or it didn't happen"
>>
>> Cameron Carver
>> Lubbock, TX
>>
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