Responding to Feedback

It's nice when you find a link to your blog on someone else's blog, and I always take it as a compliment. It's pleasing to know your efforts are appreciated by others, but I'm nevertheless really glad there isn't a TripAdvisor type site for blogs out there. While I'd be happy to hear glowing reviews of NQS, I would sooner remain ignorant of the scathing ones! I write what I write. If others like it, great, but if not, well, there are loads of other blogs where they might find something more to their taste. And I need never know what they think of mine.

Nevertheless, I do like to respond to any feedback that does come my way. For example, on one blog where NQS resides as a link, it appears thus:

Not Quite Scilly... (Gulls)

When I noticed this I couldn't help but ask myself - Gav, is it true? Is that how you come across? Have you become a one trick pony?

I quickly reviewed a bunch of recent posts and was surprised to find some worrying evidence. I decided to count and categorize all the photos so far this year. There are exactly 90 of them, as follows...

Gulls - 50
Other birds - 24
People/Scenery - 13
Notebook scans - 2
Amphibia - 1

I must admit, there is a slight bias.

In some ways it's a shame I erased the pre-October 2011 version of this blog, because I'm sure a quick scan through the posts would have shown that I almost never looked at, wrote about, or got misty-eyed about gulls...

So, how to restore a little balance to the blog? Two things come to mind...

1. Remember that there is always June, when the blog will become 'Not Quite Scilly... (Cycling)'
2. In future, post gull pics as collages. That way, 7 photos will only count as ONE...

I have seen 6 Caspian Gulls, ever. All on the Axe. A 2nd-winter that Steve found, then five 1st-winters, each of which I found myself. Although I don't think I'll ever become blasé about the species, I am concerned that I could start getting complacent about identifying them, erroneously thinking they're easy. I hope not, because the inevitable consequence would be a monumental (and probably public) ID clanger. The collage includes shots of each bird, and amply illustrates (a) how distinctive Caspian Gull can be, but also (b) how variable they are, in size, jizz and plumage - not to be taken lightly. I must remember that.

Clockwise, from top left, as follows...

December 2009, February 2010, October 2011, December 2011, February 2012...then December 2011 and February 2012 again. What a lot to cram into ONE photo.