I concur with Peter Fissel's comments wholeheartedly!! I personally took absolutely no offense to Ryan Brady's or Jesse Ellis's comments related to my possible Kittiwake ID because I knew their comments were well-intentioned and on-target, and were meant to be helpful to folks on the WISBIRDN list. Guess I'm just saying that if you see something interesting, don't hesitate to post it to WISBIRDN...which I think is the point Peter was making! :-) Bernie Sloan Milwaukee --- On Sun, 1/16/11, Peter Fissel <pfissel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > From: Peter Fissel <pfissel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Subject: [wisb] Thoughts on reporting rare/interesting birds > To: "Wisconsin Birding Network" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Date: Sunday, January 16, 2011, 10:38 PM > I concur with Jesse's comments - it's > definitely better to risk a mis-ID than to be afraid of > reporting something potentially good. I think > beginning or less-advanced birders often feel somewhat > intimidated and worry about looking foolish, but as I always > emphasize to newbies on my field trips, even > highly-experienced birders make mistakes. It's how you > learn! Never be afraid to point out something that you > can't fully ID, even if you suspect it's not anything > uncommon - maybe it really IS something unusual, and happens > to be a very tough bird to separate from another, more > common species. At the very least, even if it turns > out not to be the rarity you hoped it was, you'll get some > (hopefully) useful feedback and gain some knowledge. (And, > if you're like me, you'll have to forget something else to > make room for that new tidbit of info, but I digress...) > > As a corrollary, even if you're an experienced birder, > something you regard as not very notable might be really > exciting to someone who's seldom or never seen that species. > This is particulary true if you're birding in an area far > removed from your home turf. I would barely look twice > at a Semi-palmated Sandpiper here in July - in Arizona, it's > an RBA species. (Just as an Arizona birder would barely > glance at a Western Sandpiper in Wisconsin.) Speak > up, share, use the wondrous new technological > tools we have. As Jesse pointed out, think about the > "old days" of phone hotlines, versus iPhones with birding > apps. > > Peter Fissel > Madison WI > #################### > You received this email because you are subscribed to the > Wisconsin Birding Network (Wisbirdn). > To UNSUBSCRIBE or SUBSCRIBE, use the Wisbirdn web interface > at: //www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn. > To set DIGEST or VACATION modes, use the Wisbirdn web > interface at: //www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn. > Visit Wisbirdn ARCHIVES at: //www.freelists.org/archives/wisbirdn. > > > #################### You received this email because you are subscribed to the Wisconsin Birding Network (Wisbirdn). To UNSUBSCRIBE or SUBSCRIBE, use the Wisbirdn web interface at: //www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn. To set DIGEST or VACATION modes, use the Wisbirdn web interface at: //www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn. Visit Wisbirdn ARCHIVES at: //www.freelists.org/archives/wisbirdn.