SPREADING THE NET
Having read the latest CDNHS newsletter I felt I should pen (or type) a few words.
After leaving Chorley I had the pleasure of four years on Morecambe Bay. What more could a birder wish for? Well, professional ambition got in the way and I am now in South Manchester. The new job has created a hat full of work, and with the additional study I seem to spend a lot of time glued to the computer. What has this got to do with Natural History you may ask? The fact is that my Internet link list is growing far quicker than my bird list, so I thought I’d share a few with you.
When using the Internet it is easy to wander around, bump into a few good sites now and again, but in general spend a lot of time looking at very little. Any one in business will know that you need to "network". That is, build up a list of people/organisations which can be of help. Using the Web is exactly the same, build up a good list of URLs (web-site addresses) that can be useful. So where to begin? The big organisations are a good starting point:-
These all provide valuable information and contacts you might need, linked with their particular aims.
How about the big sites:-
This is a catholic site that caters for all interests and levels of understanding. Some may consider it "dumbed down" natural history, but I like it, especially the multi-guess quizzes. The main reason for this support being that I won one, and I am now the proud owner of a complementary copy of the BBC’s Millennium Natural History book.
Some sites are a little more specialised. This next one is really a marketing exercise for Dave Gosney. But for the twitchers out there who can’t stretch to a pager the following site has it all a couple of minutes later.
What’s more this site does offer a few hotlinks to other sites. Sites with links are really useful and should be stored in your favourites folder. They can save lots of time when compared with the all-encompassing search engines. The best link site I have found is,
A bit of a mouth full, but click on this and the World (including a lot of America) is at your feet.
Don’t discount the search engines, but look for good ones. This one is quite good for hobbies:-
This leads you to
This is an online birding magazine. I am planning a trip to Lanzarote for the family. My part is a hunt for Houbara Bustard and Cream Coloured Courser. From this link site I was able to find a report of someone’s visit to the Island at about the same time as my visit, with suggestions of sites to look at. I’ll let you know if the information was good.
If you do find a good site, like a Dotterel on Croston Moss, make sure everyone hears about it! This quip does highlight one fact - for most sites nobody checks if the information is correct, so read it carefully and where possible check.
Happy Surfing!