In the same vein-
When I was a beginning birder in my teenage years, I got all excited when,
on a family vacation to Yellowstone NP, I insisted that a piece of
driftwood on a distant sandbar on Yellowstone Lake was a juvenile Bald
Eagle. Upon closer examination, it clearly was not.
For the rest of his days, my late father would always inquire, whenever I
returned from a birding outing, as to "how many juvenile Bald Eagles did
you see?"
Andrew Melnykovych
Louisville KY
On Fri, Nov 2, 2018 at 8:54 AM <brainard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Good idea, Scott, although I think there is merit to "going public" by
sharing such stories of humility!
I have a few favorites ...
When I first started leading trips years ago, I had an entire caravan of
participants turn around for a banana peel on the highway . . . I thought
it was an interesting yellowish bird that had been hit by a car.
One of the most humiliating was back in the late 1980s when I called one
of my mentors, Dr. Burt Monroe, Jr., about a Nelson's Sparrow I found on my
farm. Many of you may not know that we formerly had an internationally
known expert on birds here locally in Dr. Monroe. He was also my major
professor at U of L. At the time this was one of the coolest birds I had
found and I was really wanting to impress Burt with my find. I called him
about the Nelson's Sparrow (Sharp-tailed Sparrow at the time) and he
arrived soon after (most may not know of the excessive speeds at which he
often drove!). The bird was still skulking in a fence line and I proudly
got him on it. Then he crushed my ego with a brief, matter-of-fact reaction
... "well that's a really nice bird, Brainard, but it's a Le Conte's
Sparrow!" Still a rare bird, but I can still to this day recall my
embarrassment at the moment.
And just recently when Clay, Jamie, and I were chasing hurricane birds in
southeast KY, I was convinced we were looking at a Royal Tern perched on a
snag on Martins Fork Lake down in Harlan County. For five minutes, I
couldn't make the bill of the tern look anything but bright orange, and I
was imagining a shaggy crest behind the crown. Thankfully Jamie finally
brought me back to earth by contesting that the bird was way too small;
then it took flight and it suddenly morphed into a typical looking Common.
bpb, Louisville
-----Original Message-----
From: "Marsh, Scott"
Sent: Nov 2, 2018 7:02 AM
To: "'markdt7@xxxxxxxxxxx'" , "jdsole56@xxxxxxxxx"
Cc: "birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx"
Subject: [birdky] Re: Reversal on Stilt Sandpiper at JC Jones Sinkhole
Ponds
I see the makings of miss ID anonymous group here
*From:* birdky-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:birdky-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On
Behalf Of *Mark Tower
*Sent:* Thursday, November 01, 2018 5:08 PM
*To:* jdsole56@xxxxxxxxx
*Cc:* birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [birdky] Re: Reversal on Stilt Sandpiper at JC Jones Sinkhole
Ponds
Years ago I misidentified a juvenile dunlin for a stilt sandpiper. It
would have been my life stilt as well. I went maybe another 3 or 4 years
before I got my first true stilt sandpiper. I’ve never heard of anyone else
mistaking the two. I’ve been hiding my “shame” all these years. Thanks for
making it ok for me, Jeff.
Admitted only partially tongue-in-cheek,
Mark Tower
Lexington
On Oct 31, 2018, at 10:42 PM, Jeff Sole <jdsole56@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hey folks! Sorry to report that, after more consultation with BPB this
evening, I mis-ID'd the bird at JC Jones Sinkhole Ponds. It has been
determined to be a juvenile Dunlin still in transitional plumage at this
late date in October. Never claimed to be a shorebird expert! Sorry for the
false alarm.
Jeff Sole
Franklin County
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