Who am I?

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An individual, of no great importance, who is unable to see the natural world as a place for competition. I catch fish, watch birds, derive immense pleasure from simply looking at butterflies, moths, bumble-bees, etc - without the need for rules! I am Dylan and this is my blog - if my opinions offend? Don't bother logging on again - simple!

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Tuesday 1 April 2014

Where are we headed?

I had started this offering with the thought of the title - "Digital imagery = the new guns!" but, since reading a post on Birding Frontiers about "Icelandic" Meadow Pipits am happy to use the question, rather than a statement.
1st winter  "Arctic" Peregrine - North Foreland March 2011
Don't these guys understand the very basis of evolution? By definition it is a never ending process by which natural selection will allow life forms to adapt to their changing environments. I am very capable of recognising a Newcastle United supporter, with or without their black and white striped plumage - they don't look, or sound like me, however, they don't belong to a different race - let alone species, just because of the obvious regional differences (sorry guys - no offence intended). Some of this stuff, being done, in the name of bio-diversity, is getting very dangerous - it will take just one crazy scientist to claim more than one species of Homo sapiens ( you tell me if the native populations of Africa, America, Australasia, Polynesia, Asia or the Middle and Far East aren't identifiable because of their language and "field characteristics") - we will embark on the road to no-where as one "species" attempts to assert its' domination. Sound familiar? - you've got it - cheers Adolf!
Assumedly the same individual over our garden - April 2011
What is wrong with racial differences? Why is there such a mad desire to specify every subtle nuance in our natural world?
Kumlien's Gull (?) at North Foreland - March 2011
I have no problem with the quest for answers, I seek many myself, yet I fear that we are loosing sight of why the natural world is such a magical place - a place where we can derive immense pleasure yet never be quite sure why? We don't need ALL the answers - we need to know that we've done all we can to to care for and conserve this heritage for our future generations - splitting Meadow Pipits won't achieve anything to assist this cause; although it might help one work-shy, ecology, student avoid getting a proper job?

Probably the best image I obtained, from a series of seven.
Are digital cameras the new guns - or do they cause as many problems as they solve?
Kumlien's Gull - or not? 
Racial variation is something which has dominated my birding since the start of 2000 - Cormorants, Herring Gulls, Yellow Wagtails and Crossbills have all provide me with fantastic learning opportunities. The discovery of a Kumlien's Gull, in Dover Harbour, was instrumental in my appreciation of the complexities involved - a 1st winter Peregrine which spent a few weeks around Thanet, in March/April 2011, just aided the understanding. I am not against anyone attempting to push the boundaries of their (our) knowledge beyond the present state of understanding - it's what makes our species so unique. My problem is that I'm unable to accept that everything can be so "black and white" whilst the evolutionary process has to reach its' conclusion - surely there have to be grey areas where our understanding is still way off the mark?

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