Birds in the News, Postponed

Lack of interest? Measured how?

Aaaack! I, for one, will miss it should you decide to discontinue the series. I've always been impressed with the amount of love you put into it, balancing pictures and news clips. Not to mention, birds are awesome. (Though, not so awesome as pets...been there, done that, seen the poo fly 6 feet away and still hit a standing person in the forehead.)

So, one one hand, I don't blame you for wanting to reduce the workload.... but on the other hand, I hate to see it gone forever. Maybe you could do biweekly or monthly editions instead? For you and I, if no one else? ;)

Since discovering your site not that long ago, I've tuned in faithfully every Friday. I can't imagine that I'm more than a face in a crowd in appreciating your efforts.
Thanks!

are you sure? are you ok? do we need to beg?

Oh. I'm sad to hear this. I never commented because I frankly know nothing about birds but I always appreciated this series. That and I just like to look at pretty pictures, and what's better for that than birds? Beats the pants off kitten posts, that's for sure. Are you sure you won't reconsider?

well, no, no begging necessary, i guess .. but BITN is one helluvalotta work, especially compared to any and all of the other .. er, "experiments" i conduct here. BITN is the single most expensive investment i make each week. putting BITN together takes a fair amount of time each day each week for each issue, yet i actually see a significant DECREASE in "hits" on fridays. since i am very tired when i put BITN together, i regularly make mistakes that i shouldn't if i was operating with more than say, five hours of sleep per night, so i just assume BITN is a poor quality product that doesn't interest the public. and honestly, just getting the "featured photo" can take up to 7 days and as manhy as 2-3 long-distance phone calls (yeah, that's the worst case scenario, but still!).

recently, i have been thinking i'd rather just go out drinking (just call me an ethanol whore), despite the fact that drinking has been the one thing i've spent my energy trying to avoid doing, for reasons that escape me, considering that it doesn't matter to anyone (not even me) what the hell i do with my life anymore.

I really love Birds in the News, although I don't necessarily read it on Fridays.

I can't argue with going out and drinking. I have plans to do that very same thing in Sapporo next week! Woo hoo!

Well, I come here for the birds. I was fearing this when I saw your post about the Philippin parrot yesterday. That had birds in the news written all over it.

But I understand you, when "How Much of You Does Your Blog Own?" gets 22 comments, and Birds in the News 51 only has my comment on it, it's discouraging. But I still think that it's not lack of interest, people just feel more at ease commenting silly stuff.

Please reconsider.

comments are not always a good measure of interest IMO. i don't know the details of your traffic, so you might have a better assay, but comments tend to (in my experience) relate most directly toward triviality/food for gossipy/non-seriousness. something substantive and scientific may not elict the same comment because people have little to say, or, they feel foolish saying something glib and ill-thought.

anyway, those are my opinions. if you aren't getting what you want out of it, you should quit of course.

also, you put a lot of content in birds in the news. i was always impressed, for what's worth :)

Friday traffic is always lower. I read the Bird in the News slowly over a period of several days. And, it is true, the number of comments is inveresly proportional to the quality of the post. If people feel there is nothing else to add, nobody comments, but everybody READS it.

Well, my husband and I credit your blog with completely adubrating and amplifying our love for and interest in birds!

we'll buy you a drink in Williamsburg sometime, to defray the blog cost!

xox L

I understand the amount of work involed and respect your decision to reclaim some of your private life. I did want to say thank you for your efforts. I appreciate it and the other projects on your blog.

"...putting BITN together takes a fair amount of time each day each week for each issue, yet i actually see a significant DECREASE in "hits" on fridays."

I really doubt that has anything to do with it. My hit count falls on Friday every week, regardless what I post (which is why my Friday posts are usually less serious and more brief). My hit count then continues to fall through the weekend (which is why my weekend posts are often even less serious) and doesn't recover back up to its normal level until Monday. Your hit count going down on Fridays is probably completely unrelated to BITN. You could always check by posting it on a different day.

I'm a fervent but irregular reader (i.e., not necessarily on Friday -- usually it's the weekend when I have time to check ScienceBlogs) of BITN and have recommended it more than once; I'd be sorry to see it go, though I can see how time- and energy-intensive it might be. If you can bring it back from time to time, great; if not, thanks for the pleasure and information you've already sent into the 'sphere.

Personal, compensatory Bird News: There's a mourning dove nesting in the vine by my window here in Brooklyn and I am waiting for the thrilling hatch moment.

Sounds like time for some good avian news (in case it didn't already make onto the radar here): The wild population of the endemic and beautiful Gouldian Finch of northern Australia is staging a solid and much better than expected recovery, and as a result it is probably going to be reclassified from endangered to vulnerable status.

NBM; do you have a camera? can you take some pics? i love mourning doves, although i imagine their newly-hatched chickies are rather ugly. i remember doing some serious rock climbing in eastern washington when i was a kid so i could peek into their nests.

i really only have time to post BITN at the end of the week, so i guess i am stuck with that. last night's drinking spree was a big disappointment anyway -- i can't even get trashed properly. so i guess i'll just think of this "week off" as another learning experience and get back to business as usual next week.

I love Birds in the News. A friend of mine who is a financial analyst at a major law firm in Houston is also a fan since I forward her a copy as soon as I see that you have published another issue. We join in mourning the passing of an outstanding piece of ornithological journalism.

Hey, please continue BITN. I am a regular reader with my daughter (well, since she's only 3 she's more of a regular looker-at-the-pictures.) Birding is one of the ways I hope to instill a love and understanding of nature in her, and your blog is a really handy place for the super-casual newbie birders to find interesting articles. If it's too much effort to do weekly, try dropping to once every two weeks or monthly. BITN is definitely appreciated.

I have always enjoyed BITN, so I will be sorry to see it go if you decide to stop. Maybe it would be easier to compile if you cut down its length a bit, or broke it up into a few articles during the week highlighting the big stories.

[delurk]
Please don't quit BITN! I am a regular reader of it, and I'm here every Friday to read it. I'm sure the hit counter is just a phenomenon unrelated to BITN. Plenty of people read it, but perhaps not on Friday but first thing Monday. Just thought I would let my voice be heard. No lack of interest here, and we appreciate the work you put into it!
[/delurk]

Indeed, the need for a break is easily understood - but there's no lack of interest here!

As a possible way to reduce the work load - why not have a rotating emphasis, focusing exclusively on just one section (People Hurting Birds, Birds Streaming, etc.) with each BITN.

But by all means, we understand this can be very time- and energy-consuming!

I hope you'll continue doing BITN. It's part of the ambiance of Friday blog reading. I can't imagine a Friday without it.

Thank you for doing BITN for so long.

I always enjoyed it and will miss it very much.

I've learned so much from you over the years.

*hugs*

Girl, you nuts!!! I read BITN every week, I just can't read it on Fridays usually until the middle of the night or the weekend because by then the tsunami of my workweek has thoroughly overwhelmed me. I hope this comments section proves otherwise about the interest. The internet is a fickle thing indeed but silence does not equal lack of interest... Why don't you write it on Fridays but delay the posting until Monday or Tuesday, which are higher traffic?

if you need help with putting BiTN out, just call me... i look forward to your passion each week... maybe you could use a month or two off, just to clear your mind... if so, just do it...

looking at the above, it seems people care about you and the writing you do... buck up, kiddo... when next we are sharing the same city, call me and i'll buy the first two rounds... :)

re the dove: no camera, sorry, esp. since I have an amazing view. Mama bird really gave me the beady eye today, but she didn't fly off even when I opened a window just a foot or two away and leaned out.

glad you're willing to bring the birds back. staggering drunkenness is overrated anyway.

The image is so cute. Can I steal...I mean...use it?

I just wanted to say I love Birds in the News too! I appreciate your hard work.

There were lots of good suggestions in the comments. I especially like the idea about posting smaller components of Birds in the News on different days of the week.

Just a suggestion: don't worry about traffic. Don't write things because you think your readers will like to read them, write them because you want to write them. If you aren't interested in writing Birds in the News, then don't write it; reorganize, rethink, write something you know you'll enjoy doing. If you like putting together BitN, then do it because you enjoy it even if it makes readers run away screaming.

You are in a privileged position -- one should only blog because it's what you want to do. When it turns into an obligation and a chore, change.

Seriously. I think it's a zen thing. Don't strive for a goal outside yourself, be you as best as you can, and let the readers come for who you are, not who you think they want you to be.

I would be heartbroken to see Birds in the News go... going through every lovingly-assembled link is one of the highlights of my week. I would like to add my voice, small as it is, to the persons that are begging you not to stop. Please.

Don't do it! It is a good thing to provide for the public.

Terry Suchma