Jay,
Typically not an easy thing for a birder to do.....kudos to you my friend! I've
stricken a couple of birds off my lists over the years as well.
Michael ToddJackson, TN
On Wednesday, January 18, 2017 6:46 PM, Jay S. <yourcatoliver@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
<!--#yiv1036043731 P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;}-->Hi all,
As someone who feels strongly about the accuracy of one's personal sightings,
and thus the legitimacy of reports, I am taking this opportunity to formally
retract a couple of my past sightings. I do this for two reasons. One, because
it's the kind of birder I am. And two, I want to be sure these sightings don't
find their way into The Migrant.
First, as an experienced birder, I've seen how easy it can be for someone to
make a bird into something it's not. That's not really the case here. I shook
that behavior off long ago, if ever I had it at all. But what does happen on
rare occasions is truly believing myself 100% accurate at the time of
identification, only to be heavily nagged about it later on. I'm sure a few of
you understand this. And so that percentage of confidence slowly drops to say,
99%. And 99, in my book, ain't a legit sighting.
So, with that said, I hereby retract the following sightings:
Friday, May 20, 2016: YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER at Seven Islands State Birding
Park, Knox Co. Of the two Yellow-bellied Flycatchers I reported last year, this
one started to feel off. I can't even remember the reasons why. Probably had
something to do with the lighting. Was it a YB? Probably. Almost everything
seemed right about it.
Tuesday, October 11, 2016: BREWER'S BLACKBIRD at Seven Islands State Birding
Park, Knox Co. For me, everything was right for male Brewer's at the time. But
not having ever seen Rusties in breeding plumage, I had to ask myself, COULD it
have been a male Rusty in lingering breeding plumage? At the time I didn't
think to look closely at the bill and other differentiating characters between
the species. All I knew was that it wasn't a grackle. So, my 100% confidence
dropped to 99% . Happily, on November 28, at another location in Knox County, I
did happen upon a pair of Brewer's, and that ID remains certain.
There you have it. Judge me as you will! :)
Jay SturnerKnoxvilleKnox Co.
