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BESG received a million hits…

on 17th September 2009

The Bird Ecology Study Group has just breached yet another milestone – a million hits.

On the occasion of a million hits, we take the opportunity to again acknowledge the generosity of many: Jacqueline Lau who continues to hosts the blog; bird photographers affiliated to NaturePixels who generously allow us to make use of their excellent images; local and overseas contributors who willingly share their observations; and of course you the viewers who continue to visit the blog

BESG was conceived in 2005 to fill an urgent need. The subsequent years saw the success of the blog beyond our wildest dreams. This is because we provide an aspect of birding that birdwatchers longed for. Lack of an effective leadership led birdwatchers into a decade long slide into activities involving mainly ticking and listing.

The Nature Society (Singapore) was initially reluctant to formally accept the BESG. The Bird Group was against a rival group challenging its dominance in the local birding scene. It took the threat of an Extraordinary General Meeting and a subsequent under the counter “deal” with the then President before she was willing to bring the issue to a vote with the Exco members. As expected, the BESG was formally approved as a special interest group by all except one member who declined to vote – see HERE for a full account of how the BESG came into being

We now provide an active forum where photographers, birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts can showcase their encounters and images, check on bird behaviour or query on puzzling happenings.

Currently, we have over 1,370 posts on various aspects. The weblog has now morphed into a scientific database on bird behaviour. In fact, many posts have been consolidated and published in peer-review scientific journals. And although our support base is still local, we are getting more and more supporters from all over the world (above). In fact this blog is one of the top few bird blogs in cyberspace.

Thank you all. The success of this blog is attributed to you.

YC Wee
Singapore
17th September 2009
(Image of visitor locations from 3 Feb-12 September 2009 courtesy of ClustrMaps)

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

Other posts by YC Wee

19 Responses

  1. Congratulations to you and all your colleagues, YC. One million hits is an honor you richly deserve! The BESGroup blog represents the best possibilities of what a brilliant birding chapter or club can offer.

  2. Congratulations to YC, Jacqueline, all the contributors and those who interact with the blog. The Bird Ecology Study Group site has made, and I am sure will continue to make, an incalculable contribution to the study of bird behaviour in our region.

    Long may it flourish!

  3. I would like to take this opportunity to specially thank Dr Ho Hua Chew for the success of this blog. His determination 4 years ago to block BESG from being accepted as a Special Interest Group of the Nature Society (Singapore) has always been the driving force behind the BESG team. Thank you Hua Chew.

  4. You don’t think I am sincere, do you Haniman? But this is the truth. I only just realise it. How else would I get the drive to spend so much time in front of the computer surrounded by so many reference books …day in and day out?

    Compare this blog with others… How much time do you think those volunteers spend? Even if they are paid ‘volunteers’? Probably very much less.

  5. To YC and the others helping to put together this site.

    Congratulations for the amount of work that you put in and the quality of the discussions. YC and I had a mutual friend (the late Professor Roland Sharma of the Zoology Department) and he knew that even more than 40 years ago I already had a strong interest in nature.

    Since retirement, I spend much time on various nature discussion sites, and I can say unequivocally that BESG is the best site that I visit, both locally and internationally.

    I know what is needed to put together a good publication, having been a professional journalist and editor for half my working life (I spent the other half in a more respectable job, as a car salesman).

    This BESG site is frequently updated. The information is either accurate or open-ended, meaning that discussion is invited. I commend the contributors for not being afraid to sometimes say that they do not know.

    And the tone of the arguments has (generally) been logical. The language used here is certainly of a higher order of civility and relevance than that used in the Straits Times Interactive On-line Forum.

    A site of such quality does not develop by itself without the efforts of people who not only have enthusiasm but also the right quality of thought.

    No wonder it has garnered over a million hits. Let’s look forward to the second million.

    Thanks again to the BESG Team.

  6. Excellent site and Well done to all who have contributed.

    This blog took 4 years to reach a million in Sep 2009 and is currently at 1,160,225 on 1 Dec 2009. A simple calculation shows that the next million will probably be hit in 13 months time.

    For more interest, and maybe to speed up the next million hit, my wish list is to include a place on this site where experts may wish give advice or answer queries from the readers. It will also be wonderful if photos could be posted to help with identification as some species are so difficult to ID.

    All the best.

  7. Thanks Dan. We do have a service of sort: any queries, etc are sent to experts for comments. However, being concerned mainly on behaviour, we leave IDs to the experts in other forums.

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