Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 18:56:46 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Norm Saunders Subject: Re: From Ft. Belvoir MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Norbert Garfinkel writes: > Highlights of the day were two Eurasian Kestrels... Oh good grief, now Virginia is YET ANOTHER species ahead of Maryland...sigh. Norbert, can you sort of shoo them across the river please? All kidding aside, and all remarks about stuffy experts notwithstanding, mega-rarities such as this should be accompanied, at the very least, with detailed field notes and even better, be documented by many photos. Beginning birders need to learn that among birders credibility is very much like virginity--you can only lose it once. Starting off easy with your reports and gaining an understanding of what constitutes a common species vs. what constitutes a true rarity is all part of the learning curve. This list is an excellent place to begin that learning. See, I did that without ever once saying Norbert was wrong in his identification. I would like to see some more detailed notes on the sighting though, hopefully compiled in the field before refering to a field guide. Best, Norm Saunders Colesville & West Ocean City, MD marshhawk@att.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================