OBOL,
Hey! we're past the window for this... February's rain-besotted posts are
16 days in the past ;-)
So I'll just wade right in then.
Inre this thread concerning longspurs etc., I am generally in agreement
with what Dave Irons has posted. If I were playing editor, I would have
left out the opening sentence (.... stop chattering..) and kept the rest of
it.
I think from where I sit this is not an attempt to "silence" anyone, rather
it is about injecting some needed clarity and realism. As Dave said, I feel
for inexperienced birders who are trying to separate out realistic
possibilities of a "good bird" versus vanishingly rare possibilities ....
And while there is no "harm" in speculating or voicing one's opinion, there
is the possibility of, at least, inducing someone to make a poor judgement
call on how they might otherwise allocate their precious birding time.
This has happened to me---I got burned (yes, admittedly, I alone lit and
held onto the match; my name's not Trump after all so I can't reflexively
blame someone else...) and drove a couple hours one-way for a would be
mega on the basis of a report by someone whose name I did not recognize
and, Much More importantly, supplied insufficient detail as to field marks
etc. . Lesson learned!!
This whole reporting and commentary thing can get dicey. Not two days ago,
I was out Sagebrush Sparrowing and, uncharacteristically, checked email.
There was an eBird alert about an Acorn Woodpecker found in Mt .Tabor Park,
next best thing to a yard bird for me. I did not recognize the reporter,
and had no way to contact the person as, of course, email addresses are not
listed. The description was just along the lines of: very vocal, redheaded,
and white rump seen while flying.
Sooooo, rarities can occur, undeniably-- I had a Lewis's Woodpecker up
there and Em S had a Williamson's Sapsucker among many other rarities that
have shown up over the years.
But, as I happen to know there are many Red-breasted Sapsuckers in Mount
Tabor which would generally fit that description and there is no likely
habitat for an Acorn Woodpecker. So...
I felt like it was just a mini dilemma. I thought about posting and from a
sideways angle kind of drizzling cold water on this report in light of what
I have just written about expected species. Why would I do this? Take it to
the bank, it would not be to "silence" anyone. But here could easily be a
person in the metro area looking to tick an Acorn Woodpecker in a very
accessible park and might make an unnecessary trip. But I also felt uneasy
about playing the role of unlooked-for kibosher about a bird I had not
seen. As of this moment, I still do not know what the bird definitively
was; like I said: dicey.
Good birding, Tom
