Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 11:21:26 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Mark Hoffman Subject: Hoffman-Iliff II Results MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit HOFFMAN-ILIFF II THRILLER IN STOCKTON Iliff Declared Winner in 8-Round TKO Hoffman's Side Protests Judge's Scoring "I've been had again" Associated Press (Stockton, Maryland) - In what was billed initially as a "battle of titans", then "no thrilla here", the Hoffman-Iliff rematch concluded among a storm of controversy and protest. Iliff scored an 8-round TKO, in what has become to be known as "the thriller in Stockton." The most excitement in this quiet Worcester County town since the Corn Crake in '00. Iliff commented in the post-brawl press conference "Mark thought he had me against the ropes in the 7th round, buy my youth and speed were simply too much for the old man. His best days are clearly behind him. He should hang up his bins and go out in style, as opposed to this embarrassment." Iliff's manager, Jimbo Stasz, trash-talked Hoffman as well "Mark's done. He needs to work on his Pennsylvania list." Hoffman refused to attend the press conference, and had his manager, Bob ("the data base") Ringler do his talking. "Iliff's got no regard for the values of the game. He was on the mat in round seven, but Jimbo slipped him something to get him off the floor. I thought I was watching the WWF! It reminded me of H-I I, when Marshall failed with full disclosure in North American Birds re. the hooded merg at Vaughn the year before. Do we need to call for Marquis of Queensberry rules before every match? Hey, this is a guy know for harassing Le Conte's Sparrows, reporting aberrant loons and escaped feral waterfowl as first state records, you name it. There isn't a rule in the ABA code of ethics he hasn't broken." The controversy stems from a mysterious email, Iliff sent privately to Hoffman and Jimbo prior to his post to MDOsprey. In that initial draft, Iliff picked Indigo Bunting as the "mystery" bird Hoffman had seen a Vaughn/South on December 30, and challenged Iliff to quess. But in his final post to MDOsprey, he changed his selection to Grasshopper Sparrow, without any substantive change to his analysis. And indeed, Grasshopper Sparrow was the mystery bird. It was as if some "hand" had tapped Iliff on the shoulder with the right information to change his opinion. A round-by-round analysis follows, including Iliff's comments from his post: Round 1. BALTIMORE ORIOLE Iliff-Even Mark would have found this species in Maryland in winter by now... Hoffman-True, I have seen BAOR in winter, but only once, many years ago. But I assume if I had reported a BAOR it would be chased, as Marshall's presumption would be that it was a Bullock's. Round 2. ORCHARD ORIOLE Iliff-This one is disqualified based on Mark's criterion #2 - anyone in the state would be interested in chasing Maryland's first Hooded Oriole, most of all Mark. Oh did I forget to mention that if Mark had reported an Orchard I would have instantly realized that he had misidentified the Hooded... Hoffman-Note Marshall's tendency to "instant recognition." It's a skill he frequently uses in the field as well. And by instant, he means before he has even seen the bird. Now that he was his hit list of "the 10 most likely" it will be only a matter of days until he finds each, flying away, into the sun, over some corn field in Caroline County. Round 3. ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK Iliff-An interesting candidate, given that I just received some photos of a gorgeous male coming to a private feeder in Saint Mary's County this winter. This simply isn't an option because if Louise Zemaitis can find a Bell's Vireo in Cape May she certainly wouldn't miss a bigger black-and white bird with a scarlet breast! Anyway, no one ever finds these things in winter away from feeders -least of all Mark. Hoffman-Again, Marshall's presumption should have been any RBGR I found was actually a Black-headed Grosbeak. A bird we all need for our state lists. Round 4. BOBOLINK Iliff-This one would be pretty snazzy, since Maryland's only record after Nov was one that Michael O'Brien (why does that name sound familiar) found for the Seneca CBC back in mid-Dec sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Most of these guys should be ravaging the rice fields of South America by now. No rice in E.A. Vaughn South though. Hoffman-Would be very snazzy indeed. However, the observer cited above is one potential leaks in the net around Iliff. Subsequent to my initial post, Michael emailed me and asked "Your bird wasn't a Grasshopper Sparrow was it? I thought I might have heard one at Vaughn/South the day of the count." Michael's always pretty amazing. Nonetheless, it is seem likely Iliff has penetrated my personal firewall and been monitoring my email correspondence these past months. Round 5. DICKCISSEL Iliff-Mark probably chased the bird found on the Ocean City CBC back in the 1980s at the same Ocean City feeder with the Brewer's Blackbird. I know he missed the blackbird though since he didn't get his state Brewer's until 13 Jan 1992 at George's Island Landing (OK Mark, that was a good find...my state bird(s) too!.) This seems an appealing option since it is practically a dirt bird in Worcester County in fall (mid-Aug to Oct) when flyovers are regularly detected on Assateague. But again we know that the O'Brien-Zemaitis hit-team wouldn't miss any bright yellow birds "forting" from the bushes... Hoffman-This was a prime candidate. Although as we had a Dickcissel at our feeder here in Sykesville for some time in early April several years ago and this is prior to the Dickcissel migration, I would call it a "winter" record. Did Marshall forget? Also, I did not see the OC CBC feeder bird, and its hard to believe Marshall is uncertain about that fact, given his extensive knowledge of my other Worcester sightings. Again, it appears he has breached the security complex surrounding the Hoffman Worcester County bird data base but can't do a simple query correctly. I know he lacks the technological expertise for such misjif, so Jimbo must be doing his dirty work for him (so what else is new?). Round 6. BLUE GROSBEAK Iliff-Common Worcester breeder and easy field marks for Hoffman to detect make this one an alluring option. Mark knows enough about bird distribution in Maryland though that he would have made his excitement a bit more evident - Blue Grosbeak has just one MD winter record (Southern Dorchester CBC last year!), while its smaller relative is known from 5-10 solid winter records in MD. Hoffman-Given the paucity of winter records, I certainly would have been more excited. Round 7. INDIGO BUNTING Iliff-This one seems like an almost perfect option. But that wasn't what Mark found. Hoffman-Marshall's original guess, and a most likely candidate, except for one important fact, to which Marshall seems totally oblivious. This was a test of his Maryland birding knowledge, and he failed miserably. For one of the "solid winter records" for INBU is mine. Doing the Point Lookout CBC back in the late-70s I found and documented an Indigo Bunting. It seems Marshall's knowledge of Maryland birds is only substantial when he steals data from me, Jimbo, or Bob ("the data base") Ringler. Round 8. GRASSHOPPER SPARROW Iliff-I know that Mark has great difficulty finding this species in Worcester County, as he had been seriously county listing for some 17 years until he finally found his first Worcester County Grasshopper Sparrow at Ocean City Airport, 24 Apr 1992. Any competent birder that visits Worcester County anytime from May-Aug will know that this species is one of the more common breeders there. But perhaps Mark went to one too many Grateful Dead concerts and has lost some high-range hearing. Then again Mark didn't get his STATE Philadelphia Vireo until 16 Sep 1990 - so maybe he's been a late learner with this whole birdwatching thing... I also know that Mark hasn't even been able to find one of these in Worcester in winter. I myself have seen three now: one in Feb 1991 in Caroline Co.; one in my backyard Dec 1996 for the Annapolis CBC; and one in Feb 2001 at E.A. Vaughn WMA (same field as a Le Conte's!). We looked for this bird last Feb 18 to no avail. Given the cavalier attitude that Mark used towards the bird, I expected the answer would be a truly common breeding bird that even he could detect in summer - else he would have recommended that county listers chase it. Mark still considers Grasshopper Sparrow a "good" Worcester bird. Nonetheless, it is obvious that Mark has finally overcome this personal hardship of his and finally discovered another Worcester County Grasshopper Sparrow (have you seen any since 1992, Mark?.) We're all moving up in the world I guess. Hoffman-The abundance of Grasshopper Sparrow as a breeder in Worcester is an ongoing point of contention and ridicule between myself and the Iliff-Stasz one-two punch (or should I say punt?). Although the data don't bear them out, they have never let the facts stand in the way of their grandiose pronouncements regarding the status of Maryland's birdlife. Just take a look at the Yellow Book. Pray tell, just how does Marshall know the exact dates of my first Worcester GRSP and PHVI? Again, this points to a hacker breaching the security around the Worcester data base. And despite the late date in life at which I finally got my first MD PHVI, I would be more than willing to have a little test with Marshall re. the number of PHVIs we each have seen in WC. Especially if, like with Lark Sparrows, he can't count ones I've found for him. This was indeed the mystery bird. The forth WC winter record. Flushed three times (and watched through a scope for 10 minutes sunning itself). SIDE BETS As Marshall had indicated, a small cottage-industry had developed regarding the identity of this bird. Kudos to Paul Bystrak for getting it right. As Hoffman's disappointed fans left the auditorium, they were heard shouting "Hoffman-Iliff III, Hoffman-Iliif III," still seeking revenge and the return of their hero's rightful title. Regards, Mark "still former Mr. Worcester County" Hoffman Sykesvile, MD Mhoff36100@aol.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================