Date: 6/9/26 5:27 pm From: Harry LeGrand (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: Garganey and the Demise of the Listserve
I agree with everything that ncsealord, Steve Shultz, AND Ben Dover said
here.š¤Ŗ
There are a few dozen of us who "joined" the Carolinabirds listserve way
back in the 1990s, I guess it was, when Will Cook started it. Yes, for a
decade perhaps, this WAS the best place for folks to post sightings or
records of rare species. But, by the mid 2020s, most of the species
reported here seem to deal with backyard birds, such as hummingbirds. Rare
species reporting and discussion here have been dwindling, and moving to
Facebook and GroupMe, as Steve says.
There are still very important announcements that are posted here, such as
the closing, temporary or permanent, of a favored birding site. There are
announcements about bird club meetings, other important festivals or
events, and so forth. These announcements work well here because the
person posting isn't limited by space, unlike many texting sites or
Facebook sites. So, it is very important that Carolinabirds be the major
"bulletin board" for birding events in the Carolinas.
It is also important for discussions about puzzling birds, discussion of
field marks, and other identification issues. There have also been recent
discussions about birding cruises, outside the Carolinas. There are
frequently important discussions about optics -- what are the best spotting
scopes, best binoculars, best for the money, etc.
So, the Carolinabirds listserve certainly has a major function that
Facebook groups and GroupMe groups cannot address well. It is just a matter
of folks posting to the listserve -- with the knowledge that two major
areas need to be avoided -- religion and politics. And, I will admit, with
the current situation in the country right now, whereby funding for natural
resources and conservation -- such as national wildlife refuge staff, for
example -- has been seriously reduced, it is hard to stay away from the
second topic. But, folks who have recently visited Pea Island refuge,
Mattamuskeet refuge, or especially Alligator River refuge, will note the
near lack of management of such refuges -- lack of raising and lowering of
impoundment water levels, lack of gravel/dirt road maintenance, etc. I was
told that there are now 4 staff (full-time at least) to manage SIX coastal
NC refuges, including these three.
Harry LeGrand
Raleigh
On Tue, Jun 9, 2026 at 7:41āÆPM ncsealord <carolinabirds...> wrote:
