[mou] ID skills retooling - confessions of a middle aged birder & erstwhile trip leader

[Richard Wood]

Hi all,

Pastor Al's email got me to thinking about a few things regarding birding reports, including some things that didn't involve myself.

The first one was about a bird that was seen a number of years ago in the Cayuga Lake area in upstate New York.  It seems that there was a bird outing to a local hotspot in the woods, and the group saw a bird that they identified as a Kentucky Warbler.  The leader had seen them before, and everyone in the group saw it and agreed it was a Kentucky.  Well, when it came time to report it, this bird that was ID'ed by a whole group of birders as a Kentucky Warbler, was shot down by one of what I call the "High Priests of Local Birding", who wasn't on the trip, but yet because, "we don't have Kentucky Warblers here", he quashed the sighting.

The second of these is more about a person than any one specific sighting report.  In Maryland, there was a guy by the name of Rick Blom.  Mr. Blom, who is now deceased, birded for a long time, and I believe was a co-author of what they call the "Yellow Book" in Maryland (which I have a copy of).  Mr. Blom was one of those people that was above question.  If someone said they saw an unusual bird, and Mr. Blom doubted the person's report, it usually died there.  From what I have heard about him from others, he would "browbeat" people into submission.  So, if you reported seeing a Broad-tailed Grackle in Maryland (even though they are possible according to range maps), and Mr. Blom questioned it, generally, the reporter changed their mind.  Mr. Blom was also what I would call a "High Priest of Local Birding".

A while back, Pastor Al posted asking why more people didn't post.  I think it's because a lot of people fear being questioned from afar, by someone that didn't see what they saw.  We have the "High Priests" to thank for that.

Good birding and reporting to all,
Richard   

 
Richard L. Wood, Ph. D.
Hastings, MN
rwoodphd at yahoo.com

----- Original Message ----
From: Pastor Al Schirmacher <pastoral at princetonfreechurch.net>
To: mnbird at lists.mnbird.net; mou-net at moumn.org; BIRDCHAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU; wisbirdn at lawrence.edu
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 4:02:09 PM
Subject: [mou] ID skills retooling - confessions of a middle aged birder & erstwhile trip leader

Fifteen years ago, I began as a solo birder - loved to hike since early 
years, started noticing birds (only took me 20+ years), someone gave me an 
old pair of binoculars, bought an inexpensive field guide, you know the 
story - I was hooked.

Then I learned about listservs & associations (initially Wisbirdn & WSO) and 
a whole new world opened up.  People did this together!  They helped each 
other, gathered for field trips, provided tips, gentle correction, sometimes 
a learned body slam - each step pushed me farther up and farther in.

But I picked up a bad ID habit or two along the way (probably during my solo 
time), and, frankly, would like to shed them.

First, the positives - my ear is relatively strong (some relearning each 
spring), and I tend to recognize behavior/shape/color characteristics 
easily - have decent "jizz" recognition skills.

But when it comes to documentation - when it comes to looking at the 
"component pieces", and either mentally or visually recording them for 
future recollection & recording - I struggle.  I tend to fasten on a 
characteristic or two (song or primary field mark), and miss the details 
that records committees & the like need.

Classic example:  Eurasian Wigeon that visited a local pond - I noted the 
head and crown stripe color - compared the bird to Sibley's hybrid 
pictures - but then couldn't put good enough documentation together to 
convince others - which I take responsibility for (not blaming records 
committees, they have a thankless enough important job as it is).

(This is actually reflective of a greater whole - I can remember many 
details from a marital counseling or mediation situation - but not wall 
colors in my church.)

I was asked to document a couple of county oddities recently, and realized 
that my ID of them was based on 1-2 aspects, not a composite picture.  Am I 
convinced that I correctly identified them?  Certainly!  Can I communicate 
this well to our birding community?  Probably not.  Frustrating (for them & 
me).

Feel a little like Kenn Kaufman a few years back, who confessed that he 
couldn't describe a BC Chickadee adequately.

So, some relearning and retooling is called for.  Thoughts and suggestions 
gladly welcomed.

Transparent (at least opaque) in Princeton,

Al Schirmacher
Mille Lacs & Sherburne Counties 









       
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