h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Gull Family and Other Seabirds - A54046055
Author: gandalfstwin OGGMSTKMBGSUIKWIATA - U13926421

I believe that this just needs a bit of a polish up!

Oh, it's much simpler than that. My Dutch grandfather always classified them as "drijfsijssie" - any bird floating on the water - "paalsijssie" - any bird sitting on a pole - "vliegsijssie" - any flying bird - and his own special category, "dobbersijssie", which is a bird on the water that's bobbing up and down because of the waves.

I have no time to read through this until sometime next month, sorry. But good luck with it!

Maybe these will help you:

A48674361 The Rise of the Urban Seagull
A30081700 Winter Birds of the Niagara Gorge

Thanx Mala!

Will have a scan..



GT

Hi G this is excellent.

Do what Mal suggested

Remove this bit though.
(On one thread recently, the word 'seagull' came up. As this word is one of my pet hates, I thought I would educate all hootoos about the 'gull' family, and other commonly seen 'seabirds'.)

Bit removed, Bob!!!




GT

there will be more but this needs a good reading

Bob!!



GT

This looks good

One way you could improve it would be to drop the header at the top (it's unnecessary) and use header tags for all the individual headings in the entry. Also, some of the tags could be removed so that there aren't huge gaps between paragraphs.

Alex

Hi gandalfstwin,

I don't have much input into the Edited Guide these days, so you may feel free to ignore anything I say

The biggest problem I have with this admirable attempt at a guide is that, well, it isn't very interesting as a piece of writing. You see, when I go out birding and want to take a field guide with me, I take a field guide. If I have my netbook with me, I can connect to the Internet and use the RSPB or BTO guides, which have additional photos that make iding birds easier, so I wouldn't use a text-onoly guide such as this. So I'm not entirely sure what purpose this would serve in its present form; for a field guide, books are better, and for an online guide there are better sites out there already. I think you need to find another slant on this subject.

My advice to you would be to seperate it into a number of entries - eg gulls, waders, estunrine species and so on - and expand the information about each so it's more of an interesting and comprehensive read. Three examples of ways to approach this can be found in Fiddler's Non-Native Species project (see A19032789 for an example), Venus's Orchids A29232632 and my own Mammals A13391129. Each of those Entries is one of a series (see the links at the top of each to read more in the series) and I think are good examples of ways you can take an Entry like this beyond the 'pure' field guide format, which I don't think is very appropriate to h2g2.

Good luck with it, whatever you decide to do

Hi Skankyrich.

Thanx for comments on my piece. This is meant to be supplimental to a 'Field Guide', not a replacement. I am with Bill Oddie in one respect. Taking a field guide with you, I regard as cheating; besides, while you riffle through a dozen pages of guide, half a dozen
other birds have flown past, and you have lost them.

Hence with this piece, you can study the guide at your leisure, and match up my 'pointers' with the photos, and learn that way!

Besides that, I have been told that all hootoo material automatically becomes BBC copyright: That I cannot have, as I have a book on the back-burner (3000+ words written to date.), which I mean to have published as MY copyright!! So really any major expansion would foul my own nest, as it were.

So thanx, and I will bear your comments in mind, in case I get bogged down, or fed up writing my own book........




GT

I disagree with you over the use of a field guide. I do a lot of birding in The Gambia (see A19441613 if I can plug my stuff once more); the key is to be able to nail down the family yourself, then use the field guide to work out the species. Besides, a clear look in a field guide with the behavioural and environmental pointers helps you to identify the bird better the next time you see it. I just think it would make a fairly dull EG Entry in its present form; but, as I said, that's more for you, the Scouts and reviewers to work out than me!

All the best with it, and your book.

S




GT

Hi S!

You have given me an idea!!

A short intro on familial recognition before distinct species types could be inserted!!


Thanx!!



GT

That would be a great idea

(And you can shorten to simply 'Rich' if you like, as that is my name )

Ok Rich!


Cheers!

(I am away to shut-eye)

TTFN!


GT

to late in the day for me to do a full check but in the first para should the names of birds terns etc not ahve capitals?
and in the first line of the second paragraph you write te rather than the.
As help goes its pretty poor but ill have a good look over it tommorrow

Nosebag!

Will look and amend where neccessary!




GT

Hello G mate, I offer this as a suggestion for guide ML for the next stage

A56669917

Please have a look if you need any assistance call me

Said that i would come back and do a good check, have only done a bit over a half atm, will do rest later. Be careful about adopting all of my corrections though i have tried to indicate where i am unsure about possible mistakes.


1)Great Northern Diver
alternating darkand light ---
alternating dark and light

2)with a striped back and black bill distinguish. ---

with a striped back and black bill as distinguishing features. (not sure about this one)
Red throated Diver
1)Another point of identificatiion ---
Another point of identification

2)In some cases when talking about the different breeds of divers collectivly you use divers and in other cases Divers, not sure which is correct but i assume they should be the same.

Fulmar
1)is ulikely to be seen in Winter.---
is unlikely to be seen in Winter.

2)are referred to as 'Boobies' - needs a full stop.

North Atlantic Gannet
pelaegic - don't know what it means but you may have it explained it elsewhere, if so

SHAG
Carries distinctive crest ---- carries a distinctive crest

grey heron
A medium long neck and conical bill are the first impression --- impression needs an "s" i think.

Eider
1)Drake and Duck significantly different in colouration ----
Drake and Duck are significantly different in colouration -----
(or better yet) ...differ significantly in colouration

White Tailed Sea Eagle
1) Lapwings and Plovers,(Charadriidae), and Sandpipers
i think that the first comma around Charadriidae isnt needed.

Golden Plover
1)the sides.Cheeks, ---
the sides. Cheeks
2)plumage dissappears---
plumage disappears

Knot
1) feeding at edge of tide line, and following it in, feeding with heads down -- second feeding not needed?

Will finish off later, good work spelling mistakes seem to be the only problems.

Second part of corrections, make sure to check what i write.

Redshank
1) and on mudflats.Dark --- space after full stop

Long Tailed Skua
1) All species relatively common ---
all species are relatively common

Herring Gull
1)of Gulls.Light slate ---- space after full stop

Iceland Gull
1)Northernmost Shores of Scotland --- shores doesn't need a capital

Roseate Tern
1)Summer.Very similar --- needs a space after full stop

Gullimot
1)but tha black around -
but the black around

Thats all for now, sorry for the somewhat list nature of it but i see nothing wrong with the information itself.