Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 17:51:51 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Norm Saunders Subject: Re: Booby hysteria MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I agree with Marshall. As far as I could tell this sulid wasn't reported anywhere NEAR a swimming pool! Best, Norm ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marshall Iliff" To: Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 7:35 AM Subject: [MDOSPREY] Booby hysteria > MDOspreyers, > > I was going to let this whole booby thing pass without comment, but > Paul's recent post prompts me to ask: Why in the _WORLD_ was this > "Blue-footed Booby" not a young gannet. The observer, by his own > admission is not experienced, but furthermore at least two elements of > the description strike > me as inconsistent with Blue-footed Booby. First, as I recall, gannets have > blue eyes, Blue-footed Boobies have whitish eyes. Second, I don't > expect "dull blue" feet to match Blue-footed at all, but I do think it > could match a > young gannet in its second or third year (SY/TY). Streaked head could apply > to either. > > Furthermore, Blue-footed Booby is unknown in the Atlantic Basin to my > knowledge, short of a report from the Texas coast (I think). There certainly > has never been one anywhere near DE (there is a Georgia rpeort from > some time > ago, but I think that is not to be believed either). > > I'd love to find out that this bird was a Blue-footed Booby, but I > have to say I am truly amazed with how the birding community has > embraced this outlandish report. That said, I encourage all > MDOspreyers to head to Ocean City this weekend because Maryland's > first Brown Booby is long overdue. > > Best, > > Marshall Iliff > miliff@aol.com > Irvine, CA (formerly Annapolis, MD) > > > > > In addition to the BLUE-FOOTED BOOBY reported from Delaware this > > past week, which I presume to be of ill health given it's behavior, > > there's now a report of a sick juv. BROWN BOOBY that was picked up > > on the beach in North Carolina. As they say, 2 data points is > > enough for a trend for us non-statisticians, so perhaps there's > > something afoot and worth keeping an eye out. > > > > Good birding, > > Paul Pisano > > cheep@erols.com > > Arlington, VA > > > > > > ====================================================================== > = > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =======================================================================