10 years of Looduskalender forum – How it all started ten years ago

Submitted by Looduskalender on Fri, 05.10.2018 - 13:15
Autorid

This forum, literally for citizen science, started 10 years ago. Registered members at  the moment are 3756, subjects handled 635, more than 600 000 posts…

Photo and text Epp Harmon.

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10 aastat tagasi - grupipilt
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The first Forum meeting in Alliklepa at the Looduskalender field site. Autumn 2008.

To tell it all from the beginning we have to look back ten years and across an ocean. Back then viewers of the black stork web camera of Looduskalender were from the whole world. By chance we gathered at that time in the Canadian Hancock Wildlife Foundation forum.

The black storks nested, the years went on, the circle of friends grew. Here is a good place to explain why the Looduskalender forum that you open today is in English. How could it be otherwise? The posters – the watchers of the Estonian Looduskalender – live all over the world: Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Russia, United Kingdom, Poland, Hungary, France, USA, Turkey, Canada, Australia. Quite certainly there are forum watchers elsewhere too. So of course the communication language must be international.

NB! The English does not need to be perfect; for many the forum has been an in-service training. Only registered members can post contributions. The atmosphere in the Estonian stork camera forum has been praised sky high. Newcomers were happily welcomed but who hesitates is of course welcome to start by reading only.

Here a fine concept that most black stork camera watchers use about themselves should be explained: ”Storkaholics".  Caution – it is addictive! In the black stork breeding period and the growing up period of the storklets the first and last thought in a  storkaholic’s day (and mostly in between as well) has to do with the image in the camera

When the storks have left there will obviously be withdrawal symptoms. Luckily Looduskalender has taken care of a "soft landing" – cameras for wild boar and feeding place for eagles and more surprises will eventually be added. 

The professionalism of the forum is guaranteed by the posts from specialists. Eagle man Urmas Sellis for instance has replied enjoyably and thoroughly to the dozens and dozens of questions from the storkaholics.

What more? Friendship is truly the right word for the forum people. Many gatherings have been held, the storkaholics have even travelled there from outside the borders. So in the Looduskalender Forum we have a ready-made meeting ground  – welcome to join us!

Video from the first forum meeting in Alliklepa, autumn 2008.

Ten years seems like a long time but observing the developments in Looduskalender as well as the forum, they have passed,  generously providing education, interest and emotions – in good times and bad , as in everyday life

The posts in the forum are a great help to the ornithologists in summer when they are mostly away on field work; the daily entries with observations and discussions together with images or videos allow them to keep up to date with developments in the camera nests.

Friendly people all over the world support the entire enterprise  both physically and mentally: they have also organised material help for projects in need of support. Many thanks for showing this caring!

Best anniversary wishes and a long life for our ventures!

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