FreeLists / birdky / [birdky] Fw: White ibis: a retraction

["Gerald Robe" <ghrobe@xxxxxxxxx>]

Better to make a mistake and feel a little silly than to not report
something that might be a "panic bird"!

Gerald H. Robe
Mt. Sterling, KY
ghrobe@xxxxxxxxx
----- Original Message -----
From: <BenYand@xxxxxx>
To: <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 11:32 PM
Subject: [birdky] White ibis: a retraction


>
> Well, this is very embarrassing.  I am so sorry for my report of a white
> ibis.  I now believe that report was an error on my part (an error which
made
> me very happy for about 24 hours).
>
> Here's what I saw:
> Driving along I-24, I noticed a great egret flying toward the southeast
> across the road.  Not far behind it was a smaller, all-white bird which I
> absent-mindedly took to be a snowy/cattle egret.  (It was raining, there
was
> a fair amount of traffic around me ...)  Just after the second bird
crossed
> the Interstate, I happened to see its bill, and I did a double-take.
>
> The bird had a long, down-curved bill.
>
> The bird was just off the Interstate, to the left of the car at this
point,
> and I stared out the driver's-side window at the bill for a full second,
to
> be sure I was seeing it clearly.  I then had to pay too much attention to
> traffic to look again until the bird was behind me and too far away for
> details.
>
> The bird was strongly backlit during my look at it, but I did catch a
flash
> of red, which I took to be the bird's legs.  The bill was too backlit for
me
> to be sure about its color.  I was on the Texas coast 3-4 weeks ago, and
the
> bird's size, leg color, and bill length, thickness, and curvature were
> identical to the white ibises I'd seen several times.
>
> White bird, red legs, long down-curved bill.  White ibis, right?
>
> I have a more likely alternate explanation.  If you like mysteries, you
might
> try to see if you can come up with the explanation before reading further.
>
> Here's what I can't rule out:
> What if what I saw was a cattle egret carrying a stick for its nest, a
stick
> that extended just the right length and shape to mimic the bill of an
ibis?
> I did not notice the black wingtips of an ibis (but I wasn't concentrating
on
> the wings, so that didn't bother me at the time), and now I don't trust my
> recall of the bird's neck length (I thought "ibis" at the time, but
remember
> I had a short look and I was studying the bill).
>
> I spent over an hour looking at the birds at the Kuttawa heronry today,
> hoping to pick out a white ibis among all the cattle egrets carrying
sticks
> to their nests.  Instead, I scratched white ibis off my trip list (and my
> Kentucky life list).
>
> Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, and should require
> extraordinary caution before you humiliate yourself before your peers.  I
> hope you can find it in yourself to trust my future reports.  I should
have
> been more cautious.  Sigh.
>
> P.S.  If you spot a white ibis at Kuttawa, you'll make me a happy man.  As
> for me, I'm not reporting another rarity without a videotaped confession
from
> the bird itself.
>
> Ben Yandell
> Louisville
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>


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Visit the Kentucky Ornithological Society
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BIRDKY List Manager: Gary Ritchison, Richmond, KY
E-mail: gary.ritchison@xxxxxxx