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New Field Guide
- To: <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
- Subject: New Field Guide
- From: "Mike Tove" <mtove@deltaforce.net>
- Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2000 22:25:01 -0500
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
Greetings all,
For those of who have been waiting, just last week, I received the first
10 (advance) copies of my new book "Guide to the Offshore Wildlife of the
Northern Atlantic." My own review is that while the color balance and
density of some of the plates are not quite what I had hoped and I did
find an inconsequential typo, I'm pleased overall with the book. I will
have a copy for people to look at on the CBC's I plan to attend
(Morehead, Hatteras, Pea Island, Mattamuskeet, etc). Copies will be
available for sale in January from all the ususal outlets and I'm hoping
for a book-signing at the winter Carolina Bird Club meeting at Atlantic
Beach.
On a completely unrelated note, regarding CBC's - not only do I agree
with Harry about the emasculation of the counts, some 10+ years ago, I
took action by cancelling my subscription to American Birds in protest of
other aditorial annoyances and have not resubscribed since. If ABA (now
the "keeper") doesn't want to publish a full count, then they should do
the decent thing and declare the CBC dead and gone and let it die with
dignity rather than linger on attached to the "artificial respirator" of
"count highlights." The Counts provided a massive quantity of raw data
that could not be obtained by any other means, but the real value was not
in the novelties that get bold-faced - it was with the full slate of
numbers and species, particularly when counts were repeated year after
year without substantial variation in the counting methods.
As an alternative, I propose that we do the counts but instead give the
$5 copunt fee to the Carolina Bird Club (the "other" CBC) and let CBC
(Chat) publish a CBC issue which was complete. I see no valid reason to
squander, what by any measure would be a rather substantial amount of
money, perhaps even a surplus sufficient to publish complete data in a
separate issue devoted for that purpose (the "CBC issue of Chat"). As for
what happens in other states, perhaps our example would offer guidance to
others as a solution better than protests and ultimate dissatisfaction
that are sure to come. It might be less "convenient" to have the count
results published regionally but at least the data would be available to
anyone who truly wanted to obtain it.
Mike Tove
mtove@InsureAIN.com