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<blockquote class="gmail_quote" type="cite" style="margin-left:0.8ex;padding-left:1ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204)"><div dir="ltr">If it is any consolation, I found the banding codes confusing when I first started to get seriously interested in birding. </div></blockquote><div><div dir="ltr"><br></div></div><div dir="ltr">As do basically all newer birders. As someone who’s worked with newer birders a lot over the years (I ran the Santa Clara County version of tweeters for over a decade, among other things) I’ve talked to and worked a lot with our less senior partners, and when two senior birders start chattering in this shorthand, it tends to make them feel excluded and intimidated. It’s not a welcoming thing to birders trying to grow into their adult feathers. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Because of that, I stopped using the acronyms in casual communications where the new birders will be looking in long ago (or I’m careful to always put the term in context in the note) and I generally discouraged random use of them in open forums like this. And I think, if you want new birders to feel part of our community and grow up to be more senior birders along with us, that we do so as well. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Chuq</div><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div style="color:rgb(39,39,40);font-family:-apple-system,sans-serif;font-size:14px"><div><br></div><div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px">---------------------------------------<br><br>Chuq Von Rospach (<a href="http://www.chuq.me" target="_blank">http://www.chuq.me</a>)</div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px">Silverdale, Washington</div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px">Birder, Nature and Wildlife Photographer<br><br>Email me at: <a href="mailto:chuqvr@gmail.com" target="_blank">chuqvr@gmail.com</a><br>Mastodon: @<a href="mailto:chuqvr@fosstodon.org" target="_blank">chuqvr@fosstodon.org</a><br><br>Stay Updated with what I'm doing: <a href="https://www.chuq.me/6fps/" target="_blank">https://www.chuq.me/6fps/</a><br>My latest e-book: <a href="https://www.chuq.me/ebooks" target="_blank">https://www.chuq.me/ebooks</a><br><br></div></div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px" dir="ltr">Warning: I have opinions</div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px" dir="ltr"><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>