Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Blogging!

Just in case anyone is baffled by the use of the term "blogging" in the birding context:

A term predating the internet (blogging = to keep an internet diary) by several decades, but not in my dictionary. "TO BLOG" is a verb meaning to wander from place to place with little real purpose, the avian equivalent, I suppose, of wandering, meandering,loitering, strolling, window-shopping, etc. as distinct from actively seeking to go from A to B on migration or as a long-distance feeding or roosting movement. Perhaps it originated in 1960s seawatching, when Manx Shearwaters might be passing at 3000 per hour and Gannets at 300 per hour, but there were also a few dozen Herring Gulls (the local breeders) blogging around the cliffs. I've used it all my birdwatching life especially to seperate the "vis" (moving birds) from the non movers, without really thinking about it. It seems to be accepted and used nationally in this contex as described above.

Dave