I should have said "directly and politely messaging an individual" in my
last comment. Labeling someone a lunatic, calling them delusional, etc.
are political tactics which really ought to be avoided in discussions of
this nature...
On Wed, Jul 26, 2017 at 1:07 PM, Janice Frye <byrdnyrd33@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Marlene, I private messaged a copy and paste of what you wrote when I
commented that I would ponder what you said earlier as I scouted a BBS
route and did grassland surveys (out near you, you didn't volunteer for
them, so while the study runs I drive there 3 times per year to do them). I
had made an effort to educate "mb b" on who did the playback he/she
criticized, but am still not convinced they know who he is or that he was
the person they pointed a finger at ("delusional" and "your continued
references to a man who is irrelevant to what i posted are mysterious"
was used by this person during this education attempt). Your contention was
that only 2 people on the entire thread actually cared about birds. I still
contend that an inexperienced birder can learn a lot from directly
messaging an individual as to the why and how of what they did rather than
making a critical post on the listserve as a starting point, not to mention
the possibility of going birding with them. Doing nothing to learn about
crashing populations, loss of habitat here and in other countries, hunting
of migratory birds in other countries, pesticide impacts, etc. is not a
viable or sensible option, and travel will necessarily happen to carry out
these studies. I am very happy your BBA block leaves you able to do it all
from home. My own approximately 9 square mile home block is full of
shopping centers, toll plazas, major highways, and tightly packed
neighborhoods with variable crime levels, so your method would not work at
all for my tired body in this 5 year time frame along with juggling kids,
work, marriage, etc. I also adopted more than one block due to large
parcels of private land no one else will manage to get access to because
they don't have a long term relationship with the owner. The BBA is an huge
and amazing project unlike any other I have been part of, so glad you are
contributing!
Jan
On Wed, Jul 26, 2017 at 12:57 PM, Janice Frye <byrdnyrd33@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
MARLENECONDON@xxxxxxx
6/16/16
to me
The problem with the private message is that it would not have been seen
by more-inexperienced birders. I do believe that was the main reason the
person wrote it to the list-serve, and it did obviously spring from a
genuine concern for birds.
As with this message from you about all of the research you are doing
today and tomorrow, the thread was all about birders and how wonderful they
are for what they do, rather than about being thankful there are people who
have concerns and try to express them for the benefit of the birds everyone
claims to care about. That's what my point was.
Enjoy your drive--it's very hot and humid out. And as you are patting
yourself on the back about how much you are helping birds, you might want
to consider how much the driving habits of birders adds to climate change
and air pollution. If you really care about these avian creatures, you'd
probably do more for their welfare by staying home!!!!!
Sincerely,
Marlene
