Beyond where the birds are

Thanks for your vaguely insulting article about birding and birders in Los Angeles [“Flights of Fancy,” March 9]. The description of birders as goofy white people who track down something special and then, unable to contain their excitement, frighten away the object of their search -- did your reporter actually see this happen? I doubt it. Anyone who lists binoculars as “common accessories” -- as opposed to essential equipment -- for birding has not spent much time in the field.

It would have been nice if you had directed readers to their local Audubon Society or other birding organization rather than just handing out the locations so that dedicated birders will not be overrun by people looking for something new to do but who haven’t put any thought into what birding is about, who bring dogs and small children, etc.

You could have done a more respectful job of writing about birders had your reporter not stood to one side with an amused smirk on his face, but rather gotten fully involved.

JIM HOUGHTON

Encino

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I was dismayed to read that birders are mainly 45-plus, Caucasian, affluent adults. This brought to mind a quote by author-professor David Orr, who stated: “A society that loved its children would not teach them to recognize over 1,000 corporate logos, but fewer than a dozen plants and animals in their home place.”

E. JOY OAKES

Los Angeles