Hi Mark B et al, My comment was that I wasn't seeing many birders around even though there were reports of lots of shorebirds around to 'enjoy' (I guess I use that word guardedly as I must admit I find wading through ‘peeps’ equally frustrating as it can be challenging or even exciting). In previous years, it at least appeared to me, at this time of year that you could head to Milford and Sandy Point, even on weekdays' and actually run into other birders (probably because decent and cheap/free coastal access is so limited in the state everyone is pretty much forced to bird the same spots). Although I like to bird my local area as much as anyone, to me coastal birding in July and August is/was one of the few times you could run into people at the shore and actually feel like you were part of a birding community (and I've actually made at least a couple of good friends that way). To me it's the same thing as going to East Rock Park in May. I guess it is also part of the motivation for me personally for getting involved in CBC's, chasing the odd bird or joining this forum (the chance to get to know new faces in the community and catch up with acquaintances from past seasons). The observation that I noted in the offending email was that this year there seems to be fewer people around.  My question was supposed to be light hearted. I am sorry that you and the others that have emailed you seem to have read into this some kind of personal attack. Luke Tiller Wilton  ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.

Mark B, I'm not looking down on you at all, and I hope that nobody is. Interpreting tone in text is a very difficult task. Sometimes it's easy to make a mistake. I've done it many times before. I've found that it's best to give the benefit of the doubt to the writer. If there are any questions, it's best to contact them directly to avoid this sort of [public] misunderstanding. I had to defend Roy because I know what it's like to put my free time into the birding community with little payoff in the form of gratitude (a little patting yourself on the back isn't always a bad thing), so criticism of all things seemed unfair. But I suppose that we all have had this feeling before! I would like to remind people of my original comment: "On another note, Luke is right about few people out birding. Shorebird migration is at its peak for adults, tern staging is in full swing, but the same few people are birding the coast, even on weekends. What better place to be on hot summer days than at the beach!" Meant for encouragement, that is all. This will be my final posting on the subject. Back to birding! PS - Speaking of chasing, anyone who knows me knows that I'll chase any potential state bird if I'm able, or even an uncommon local bird (like Hudsonian Godwit, for example). Hey, I chased the heck out of that Sandwich Tern that Charlie found...and glad that I did! Nick Bonomo Orange, CT On 8/2/07, streatham2003@aol.com <streatham2003@aol.com> wrote: > > > > Hi Mark B et al, > > > > > > > My comment was that I wasn't seeing > many birders around even though there were reports of lots of > shorebirds around to 'enjoy' (I guess I use that word guardedly as I must admit > I find wading through 'peeps' equally frustrating as it can be challenging or > even exciting). In previous years, it at least appeared to me, at this time of > year that you could head to Milford and Sandy Point, even on weekdays' > and actually run into other birders (probably because decent and cheap/free coastal access is > so limited in the state everyone is pretty much forced to bird the same spots). Although I > like to bird my local area as much as anyone, to me coastal birding in July and > August is/was one of the few times you could run into people at the shore and > actually feel like you were part of a birding community (and I've actually > made at least a couple of good friends that way). To me it's the same thing as > going to East Rock Park > in May. I guess it is also part of the motivation for me personally for getting > involved in CBC's, chasing the odd bird or joining this forum (the chance to > get to know new faces in the community and catch up with acquaintances from > past seasons). The observation > that I noted in the offending email was that this year there seems to be fewer > people around. My question was supposed to be light hearted. I am > sorry that you and the others that have emailed you seem to have read into this some kind of personal attack. > > > > > > > Luke Tiller > > > > Wilton > > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com. > _______________________________________________ > This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. > For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org