[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

New Field Guide



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