Good morning, 

I wanted to make a couple follow-up comments on my county listing post from yesterday. Although I meant every word I wrote in extolling the benefits of county listing, my comments on the vicious trash-talking were intended as an entertaining satire. The trash-talking that I celebrated is the direct type targeted at your friends - a cornerstone of birding camaraderie. I've often joked with new people that the more I harass a person, the more I like and respect them. Of course the competitions falls second to science, conservation, and enjoyment. Of course, I respect the accomplishments of veteran birders, and more importantly, I'm all for helping any interested new birder access all of the fun and satisfaction I've found in birding. In fact, the whole point of that satire was to make the active and incredibly fun world of county listing more accessible to anyone interested. It really is a "the more, the merrier" situation. The more active county listers,
 the more great birds we'll find. That also means more fun joking about lists and, yes, good old-fashioned trash-talking. I've been thrilled with all of the new additions to the Maryland birding and county listing scene over the last couple years, and I'll bet there are more of us out there. And yes, I promise to give new people a good head start before I mercilessly tease them. Except the Ostrowskis. And Dan Small. And especially Ron. ;)

Bill

Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland

http://www.billhubick.com