Lack of contributors

I disagree about it being a running conversation between birders. I have checked and since 1st July only 7 different people have contributed to this particular seciton and 2 of them only did it the once with an enquiry. As for the statement about what members have seen in various locations etc that is my main problem, 99% of them contribute nothing, no listings, no conversations, the silence is deafening. I do wonder what keeps them as members. If they are interested in watching birds surely it is not unreasonable to expect that they would share their sightings.With regards to Facebook there are at least 500 different bird groups you can join covering every aspect related to birds including ID, locations, many very localised groups and regions. Just type in what you are interested in and their is bound to be a group for it. Anyway only a coupe of weeks till my membership expires and then I am gone,

Stuart,

Am wondering why Jim is named and am not in your reply, be interested to know why?

Jim, I have to disagree with some of what you have said.  Before I do, when the powers that be removed the option of members sending a Private Message to other members it has meant that everyone's dirty washing is hung out in public! 
This whole discussion was instigated by a contributor who blamed his 'alter ego' for questioning the integrity of the fellow member who has voluntarily trawled the Forum to supplement the "Sightings" section.  Quite understandably he has taken offence at this - I would have done too.  Until now I have taken part in the "conversation" on the Forum - I certainly haven't cherished it and Birdtrack provides no more hassle than the Forum.
You say the Forum is an online meeting place but so is Facebook etc. which are certainly not "almost entirely" picture based.  I will no longer contribute to the Forum as a result of your comments but my records will still be made available to the LBC and the BTO.

I wasn't going to get involved but all I will say is the one thing missing from this forum compared to the old forum is a Private means of contacting each other which this forum is sadly lacking. 

The old forum had a PM way of contacting each other (unless we are privy to knowing each others mobile numbers or emails) and many times I got in touch with members to discuss whatever the topic and along the way made some friends who although one I never met which wasn't for the lack of trying but my health issues always interrupted us meeting.

Quite a few times over the years and this I would have liked to contact members privately without having to "wash my clothes in public", I for one have my email on show attached to my profile so members can contact me in private but very few do.

This subject has cropped up a few times in last few years but as always it falls on deaf ears! 

If we did have PM service it would need to very secure unlike the old forum which is why a new forum etc was started which CC looked after and produced perfectly. My security package on here and laptop which opens any website has to be secure and if not I can't get on it.

Cheers John aka Max 

As far as I am aware the Forum was never designed to be a prime site for recording species sightings.

As its name indicates, it is essentially a running conversation between members on what birds they are seeing in various individual locations - sometime coloured with a line or two of context or commentary.

For instance, Alan occasionally  throws in a line or two about what birds he has seen watching overseas Test cricket on Sky while JG, also known as Max, throws in some personal details and the occasional (frivolous) quip or two.

Admittedly few members choose to take part in this 'conversation', but, for those who do, it's obviously cherished  or they woudn't bother to contribute.

Sites such as Birdtrack and ebird are useful recording tools, but they are one-dimensional and  serve a different purpose. Also, they can be a bit of a hassle, especially for those who aren't necessarily up-to-sped with IT.

Then there are social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and even TikTok. But these are almost entirely picture-based and, as far as I am aware, seldom involve much of a discussion.

LBC is, at the end of the day, a club, and the Forum is an online meeting place. As such, it is surely diminished every time a member decides to cease submitting contributions.

I agree, as I said I always enter my records on Birdtrack and have done for many years. I also do the WeBS survey at Messingham so I no longer can be bothered to triplicate records on a site that  hardly anyone bothers recording on.