Used to be, you had to talk to someone to hear a good birding story. Or read a book, magazine, or newsletter. These days, real-life tales from fellow birdwatchers are available seven days a week, 24 hours a day, via the internet and your computer. Tojoin in the fun, all you need is an email account and a subscription to what the digital cognoscenti know as a listserv — a high-tech computer programmed to perform a low-tech function: to receive the emails that subscribers send to it and then re-emailthem immediately to every other subscriber. More than 100 bird-related English-language listservs are in operation in North America, and for the last year or so, I have subscribed to every one. The experience filled just about all my non-birding hours.I read as birdwatchers shared sightings, asked questions, gave directions, discussed bird identification, told jokes, and announced birdwalks, lectures, and festivals.
NSTL
