2. An article on Mark Ross' failed IBWO search in the Congaree is available here (registration may be required). An excerpt:
The closest Ross came to finding an ivory bill was on day four of his search when he spotted a cormorant flying toward him from about 90 feet away. The large, dark bird turned and gave him a broadside view of its head, wings and body in good light. It was only a naked-eye view, but for a few seconds Ross thought it could possibly be an ivory bill.
"I kept thinking ... cormorant, cormorant, but I could never fully discern a cormorant," said Ross, education coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Conservation at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Fairbanks. "I immediately stopped paddling and wrote notes and sketched."
In the end, though, Ross concluded it was a cormorant.
"There was not enough brilliant white on the wings or bill," he said.
It was the second time that Ross had his hopes dashed. In January, Ross traveled to the Florida Panhandle and undertook a solo 11-day search for the ivory-billed woodpecker along the Suwannee River. During that search, the sighting of a pileated woodpecker, a smaller ivory-bill look-alike, temporarily got Ross' hopes up.
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6 comments:
Once again, and I cannot stress this enough: BRIEF, POOR views are VITAL. Good looks will always turn your Ivory-bill into a Pileated, Cormorant, Branch Stub or the like. Do NOT get a full frame photo. Do NOT get a focused photo.
"There was not enough brilliant white on the wings or bill," he said.
"Not enough" white??? Shouldn't be *any* at all! If he saw some, it speaks to the way the mind can see what isn't there if you want it bad enough (are you reading this, Fishcrow?).
My Two Cents
By the way, here is an interesting diatribe from Fishcrow (from his Winter07 webpage) which shows the inner workings of his mind. Hmmmm.
"Geoff's book is every bit as hard to put down, especially to someone who has spent time in the Choctawhatchee. I agree with many of Geoff's opinions, but not when it comes to birders. I don't understand why a professional ornithologist would submit a report to a records committee, but Cornell did so in Arkansas, and Geoff also thinks it's a good idea. It seems unusual for professionals to submit their findings to amateurs for their approval. I do believe that amateurs have an important role to play in ornithology, but the birding community blew a golden opportunity to do this by failing for decades to document a species that occurs in several states. Over the years, ivorybill reports were repeatedly dismissed and ridiculed by the types of people that Geoff refers to as "top birders." My definition of a "top birder" would have gotten out in the field after Cornell's announcement two years ago and found ivorybills at new sites (like Geoff did in the Choctawhatchee), but none of the so-called "top birders" has even managed to see an ivorybill at one of the sites where hard evidence has already been obtained. Geoff mentions experience as a guide as one of the criteria for being a "top birder." Working as a guide may enhance the reputation (and ego) of a "top birder," but it's not the most effective way to learn about birds. Geoff mentions the ability of "top birders" to analyze video. After interacting with some of these "dudes who own video cameras," I found that they don't have a basic understanding of geometry, probability, interpolation, sampling, and other concepts that are essential in video analysis."
My Two Cents
Ross's comments are so telling. If he couldn't have ruled in cormorant then it would have been IBWO!
This is the way you idiots think! Reverse your logic folks. If you don't have a clear photo or video of an IBWO, then it's a cormorant, duck, swamp gas, or UFO.
Now, you got that!
From the Ivory-bill Researchers Forum:
Great activity, saw and observed 5 Pileated…got quite a scare when I could not make out a Red Crest on one for almost a minute, it seem longer.
This person broke a cardinal rule. The view was not BRIEF enough. Had the look been for 30 seconds, a True Believer would have claimed it HAD to be an Ivory-bill because all pileateds have red crests.
Remember, most of Cornell's confirmed sightings included only one field mark and lasted only seconds.
Ol' Fish whined..
...but none of the so-called "top birders" has even managed to see an ivorybill...
Hmmmmm...let's see; so those who see the IBWOs are not top birders, whilst those who are actual top birders don't see them.
It jest don't add up.
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