Hi All,
 
I joined the ABA just last year, after many years of birding.  I would agree
that their publication should focus on North American birds a bit more.  As
for the more technical (ornithological) articles that appear in Birding from
time to time, I'm all for that.  Years ago one of my favorite magazines,
Birder's World, was bought by a publishing company that totally changed it's
format.  What was once a glorious magazine with exquisite photographs of
birds, sometimes excellent scientific articles  and a recurring section on
North American avian conservation status became a dull, banal magazine that
catered to the then-burgeoning backyard birding phenomenon.  I cancelled my
subscription.
 
It's my opinion (which I am not shy about voicing :P  ) that there are only
a handful of publications out there in the birding community that satisfy my
curiosity for more in-depth discussions on ornithology - and birding.  I
really don't care about listing, so Birding shifting away from what was  an
obsession is, for me at least, a good thing.  The Auk is another excellent
publication that I read.  I've also been a member of the Cornell Laboratory
of Ornithology for a number of years and American Birds is another great
publication.   There you have it - the three magazines I personally enjoy
about birds nowadays, and I've seen them all.
 
So the ABA is catering to  American birders' interests  outside of North
America?  Good.  Our world is shrinking faster and faster, and like it or
not, it's global issues that we have to come to terms with.  I agree with
Norm that the ABA certainly has to walk a tightrope to try and satisfy the
whole membership community, and as we all know, that ain't gonna happen. 
 
 
The Woodcocks in our back pasture seemed to have moved on after the weather
turned colder this week.  I was afraid they were gone - but last night there
was one displaying again in the cold, sharp north wind.  Wow.  Curiously, he
uttered nary a "peent" on the ground, but the wind whistling through his
wings and the bubbly display call were in fine form.  
 
 
Cheers and Good Birding.
 
 
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Frank Boyle
Rohrersville, MD

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