Laura Lagomarsino, PhD

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But I’ve told you my experience as a beginner-level birder is not that 😭😭.

You haven’t groked that I am not an intermediate or advanced user/birder? You are telling me a tool that I find useful… is not useful for me?

Those red-crested cardinals were cool though? (Sort of sarcastic but also not…)

My experience in our interaction is you would like to invalidate my enthusiasm and learning about birds that Merlin has cultivated, because you are opposed to it in all use cases. That sentiment can impact who feels comfortable identifying as a birder. That is what I mean by gatekeeping.

I saw a native cotton species and a native subspecies of bracken fern, and a couple cultivated Metrosideros. Two plants, in a week of vacation.

I was so sad visiting Hawaii. Almost all the plants, like all the birds, are invasive and completely out of place in Hawaii, with natives now largely restricted to those high montane habitats. From what I learned, above the temperatures where avian malaria devastated the native birds too 😕.

Maybe? Maybe not? I’m not birder or a gatekeeper 🙃.

We’re back to that professional vs hobbyist distinction again. Those are different contexts- of course one shouldn’t use Merlin with its high error rate in many research contexts! That’s inappropriate use of a tool, not anything inherently to the tool.

Yaaasss!!

Wow, that is powerful. What an ethereal recording too, if that was the one you used. But even if not, what it signifies is so very sad.

Merlin results with orange-crowned warbler, house finch, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler, tufted titmouse, and downy woodpecker

Merlin results with downy woodpecker, northern parula, blue-gray gnatcatcher, Carolina wren, cedar waxwing, and northern cardinals.

I did my #TenMinuteMerlin! I concentrated on the parula, cause I particularly don’t know that one’s deal yet. But you can see why my backyard got me into noticing birds.

Lol I lovvve that level of dedication! And honestly that sounds pretty delightful.

I say, to each their own, especially when it comes to a hobby that doesn’t harm anyone else! I guess we disagree on that!

Woah, mad respect- both of those seem entirely more inconvenient than a sleek app!

I mean, the drawings are being handed to me and the colors are being prescribed. It’s a shortcut that allows me to focus on the bits I’m trying to cultivate (painting). Kind of like Merlin does in my backyard birding (birdsong).

And then people (me) have the agency to take that information and learn! Or not (the birding boogeymen you keep invoking).

Oh, you would hate how I’m approaching my new watercolor hobby and I’m not even kidding lol…

Thanks for your scicomm and your approach to birding! I suspect your #TenMinuteMerlin posts were initially what got me sitting outside on a nice day just seeing who shows up, as opposed to trying to figure out a specific call. And Baton Rouge gives!

It’s okay if someone else’s goals aren’t aligned with yours. Maybe you need to establish a Merlin-free bird club where you aren’t bothered by the way others approach their hobby. There might be demand.

I share your perspective! And sorry for engaging. I was finding it quite entertaining to call out clearly bad faith or gatekeeping arguments, but RIP your notifications. Sorry 🙃.

I don’t think that’s true, you’re not giving fourth grad you enough grace.

Merlin would have been a really helpful tool for third grade you!

That’s so good for you! You must be a natural!

And to be clear, I don’t have anything against learning fieldmarks! Like many other Merlin users, I’ll read the info about the bird and sometimes pull out my Sibley guide. But most the time I just want to know who is serenading me.

That’s not my implication. I’m trying to say that even with my positionally in close proximity to so very many birders and ornithologists, I don’t have access to easy training in birding. But I have a cell phone and a free app!

Sigh, this is all so very gatekeep-y.

Okay, we’re done here. That’s absolutely not a good faith extension of this conversation.

And for what it’s worth, I have used Merlin on dog walks— probably while picking up dog poop. There can be nature in then quotidian!

Justice for beginners who may only be interested in the names attached to the noise (me)!!

You’re made a broad statement about the utility of Merlin, and I’m sensing that your specific criticism is that my wildlife ecologists use it as a crutch? My friend, wildlife ecologists are not beginners. And I gather from social media that identifying as a birder alone results in gatekeeping 😕.