Re: Yellow-billed Loons...
Ed Boyd (edboyd@ccpl.carr.lib.md.us)
Sat, 14 Mar 1998 18:03:32 -0500
Marshall,
You couldn't have written a better first post. Considering the audience that
you are dealing with, it was both courageous and gracious.
Perhaps it will inspire others to more freely admit when they know that they
have also "botched the call" and to admit it in open forum.
Everyone makes errors, especially in the birding world, and no one
infallible with their identifications. We have all been in the field
somewhere when someone hollers "Shrike!" when it's just a Mockingbird. I
have seen one of the areas most respected birders make the gaff of calling a
Black-headed Gull flying overhead a Laughing Gull, even when the bird he was
searching for at the time was the Black-headed Gull. These mistakes are
usually laughed off and made light of in good nature when they happen. We
could all list hundreds of examples and it is not necessary to do so in the
space. However, it seems that when it involves a species of such notoriety,
the offender is quickly labeled with a number of unflattering names by those
that forget.
I would much rather that the person making the original call make some
contacts and get some help, allowing others see the bird, than to have them
remain quiet for fear of ridicule and have the bird go unseen be the rest of
the birding community. It is this abrasive behavior that has caused many
birders to remain silent when they find an unusual bird. I have much less
respect for those that make the errors and are much too egotistical to admit
it, than I do for the person who is willing to admit, if only to a few.
Perhaps their insecurity and need to be placed on a self erected pedestal
makes them blind to the truth and unable to see the error of their ways.
I hope others can use this to "come out of the closet" when they know that
they have made a misidentification and to admit it without fear of
persecution by their peers.
Again, well done Marshall. You will get more respect for this than trying to
falsely stick to your guns.
Ed Boyd
Finksburg, MD
edboyd@ccpl.carr.lib.md.us