An anonymous source provided this assessment (Word format) of the flimsy Florida "Ivory-bill sightings".
Here is the (in)famous FieldNotes2006.pdf file.
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20 comments:
Yup. That pretty wells knocks it out of the park
OK Tom,
Mea Culpa. I must now admit that I was wrong and you were right. That’s make twice in my relatively young life that I have been….er….embarrassed by my peeps.
Everything you predicted came true. Within your probabilities!
I predicted that there was “no way on god’s green earth that Dr. Hill would publish without a good photo, video, etc.” Well, what can I say? My only defense is that I did have logic on my side. I mean…who in their right mind would believe that another eminent American Ornithologist professor type would do such a thing?
OK, you did! I’ll concede.
We True Believers are going away to lick our wounds.
Don’t get me wrong. I still believe. That’s the nature of a TB. We will be back! It’s not over ‘til it over! Curses to you Skeptics!
Signed,
The True Believer (TB)
Man, if you don't keep up with your reading this blog can get way ahead of you.
I couldn't figure out what the Aliens were talking about a blog war!? Now I get it!
Tom, ya the Man!!
(Sorry TB, your time will come...on another planet..ahahahah..)
Tips for future ivory-bill (sic) hunters:
1. Learn how to operate binoculars.
2. Learn how to operate an automatic digital camera.
3. Consult standard protocols for reporting birds such as those established by state records committees in all fifty states.
4. Learn to distinguish upper from lower wing surfaces.
I admit #4 is tricky so:
5. read and understand Sibley et al. before publishing!
Tom, thanks for the post on the field notes, but please link to the full, original FieldNotes2006 pdf so that others can fully appreciate the beauty and precision of the sketches and diagrams and don't have to wade through the nonsense at Birdforum to find it like I did.
Here is the (in)famous FieldNotes2006.pdf file.
http://www.oregonbigfoot.com/database.php
834 reports listed at the Bigfoot Field Note database at above link; notes may be viewed by clicking on the region on the map.
Bigfoot recordings: http://www.oregonbigfoot.com/sounds.php
Photos/video
http://www.oregonbigfoot.com/gallery.php
http://www.oregonbigfoot.com/report_detail.php?id=00250
These people saw a lactating gorilla-like creature in Klamath County.
Who are we to call them confused or dishonest?
The entire state of Oregon should be quarantined until we contact these creatures and learn their secrets.
There are now on the market several brands of inexpensive binoculars with an integral digital camera. Yes, the optical quality is fair to poor, as is the image quality ... but at least we'd get SOMETHING to look at ... maybe.
What can you expect from a country where ca. 80% of people believe in angels and one-in-five claim personal sightings?
http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/angels1.htm
None of this Florida stuff bothers me, since I just received a shipment of cheap Afghan opium called K-Mart Kabul. Slumped on the floor of the laundry room, I noticed that the hole in the wall is big enough for an IBWO, the long water stain looks like a tupelo, and the water heater is blissfully double knocking.
"...and the water heater is blissfully double knocking. "
That's great! You saying that Auburn needs more drugs or less?
http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21079040&postID=115936576263925744
Did someone say "imploding"?
That's just Mike being Mike. He pretty much imploded on here a while back.
I went birding with him once. He totally misid'ed a Parasitic Jaeger. It was hilarious. But to his credit, he's gotten somewhat better.
People pretty much stear clear of him now days.
Tim Alwood,
I love you man. But when you say on BirdForum dot Net that Tom will be wrong when the photo proves an Ivory Bill, I don't think that's accurate.
All Tom has said is that based on the evidence so far and based on the proof required by Sagan, so far it's all crap.
When and if the photo shows up, Tom will have still been right. I find that a lot of people really misunderstand this blog and what it stands for.
Now as for some, like me, who say the IBWO is extinct then I will be wrong, not Tom. But believe me, I will be checking that photo for the marks of Photoshop on it! Because this is one dead bird!
My naive friend looked at the sketches and wondered whether the artists were retarded. This was not meant to be snarky. She pointed out that kids typically produce more sophisticated drawings at a rather early developmental stage.
Hey anonymous who loves me
You're correct of course.
I didn't mean to infer Tom was wrong about the whole sorry saga. I pretty much concur with the views expressed on this blog. I was just replying to some BirdForum loon about the current sightings and i actually used 'wrong' in inverted commas.
I'm still rubbing my eyes after lookng at those fieldnotes. What were they thinking indeed...!
Tim
I would be careful in criticizing the field notes. The sketches are pretty typical of what most good birders draw in the field, and pretty common with what BRCs review from advanced birders, most of whom are NOT artists. Key words "in the field". They could probably do better back home at their desk, taking their time, but that's not the point. The observer wanted to commit to paper what he had just observed, in order to make a place-in-time account of what was fresh in his mind. Artistic quality is not the goal.
One of the biggest mistakes that beginning and intermediate birders make is not taking field notes or not recording into a hand-held recorder at the time of sighting or immediately after. I really appreciate those who do.
Field notes should depict what the birder actually observed, and it is clear that the reasonably artistic sketch by Tyler Hicks (May 27, p. 1) shows the bird in full top view, even showing the bill from above, when it is clear from the diagram that such a view could not possibly have been obtained.
Kyle's diagram is rather pleasing, but note that he was "unable to make out any of the bird's coloration patterns" and does not mention use of optics.
The other diagrams are extremely poor and sloppily rendered. Lack of care in sketching likely reflects lack of care in observing.
I wonder what Don Eckelberry or Arthur Allen would have thought of these sketches and notes?
It amazes me that the folks at the CLO can look at Fuertes drawings every day and still find these notes and sketches worthy of their endorsement.
I am well aware that records committees often receive this type of documentation, filled with anecdotes and other irrelevant information and failing to note essential informations such as optics used. These reports should be rejected!
"5. read and understand Sibley et al. before publishing!"
Be fair. Only three of the sightings post-date Sibley's paper.
Also, the paper does not preclude any discussion of wing patterns.
"Be fair....only three of the sightings post-date Sibley's paper"
I didn't say read and understand Sibley's paper before making a bogus, copycat IBWO sighting.
I said "read and understand Sibley et al. before publishing!"
The wing pattern is discussed and illustrated in the fieldnotes and should have been discussed thoroughly in the paper. TBs seem to be falling back on their supposedly high quality sightings alone now that the sounds, cavities, and bark adhesion evidence has been discredited.
By "preclude" you meant "include", didn't you? Please consult a dictionary.
I would love to see the video because it is evidently even less conclusive than the sketches.
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