Marshal,
Thank you for posting this.
Having a comprehensive �official� eBird explanation of how some of the
noted and discussed reporting issues will be mitigated is comforting. I
hope that it soothes the anxiousness that our community seems to be
emanating as of late.
Your comments, much like others who posted previously, will hopefully
remind us all that we observe birds out of our love for nature. Birding or
photographing wildlife is not a contest. To forget this invites behavior
that may be destructive or harmful to the plants and animals that we love.
As I posted last night, birding can be and should be fun -maybe even be
cordially spirited. There�s nothing necessarily wrong with making a �game�
out of birding if that�s what you fancy and you do it responsibly. Hell,
get out there and bird like crazy people (!) -I have an odd appreciation
certain types of �crazy� people; but, never should we forget that our duty
to be conscientious stewards of our ecosystem is what we should consider to
be our most important responsibility when out in the field.
Sorry, I got off on a tangent there�
Lastly, your comments will hopefully encourage us to be conservation
diplomats and educators of what should be universally recognized as
appropriate behavior when viewing, recording, counting, photographing, or
simply sharing space with any and all types of wildlife.
Once again, thanks Marshall!
-Chris Starling
North East, MD
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