Posted by Jos Stratford
Post #5306
Jos
Unfortunately, like it or not, confirmation of the existance of this bird is going to require more than a series of single observer records, no matter how well they feel they have documented it.
Steve
I agree with you on this
Jos
Not casting a stone against your reputation or anyone else's,
Steve
No offense taken
Jos
but it would not take long for me to put together an entirely credible description of such a bird and claim to have seen it in the swamplands down the back of my land.
Steve
This is where the actual facts of the sighting come in.
If you are talking after the Cornell news release, you are absolutely correct.
The problem with this line of thought is that the details of my sightings (and the three most detailed pdf files) were recorded, documented and made available to Cornell and others months before any news releases or mention of the Ivorybill were made public. Much info. from these sightings was made available in the early 1980s.
You could not have recorded this degree of detail regarding this bird before the news releases as the data simply was not available. The only way this degree of detail could have been recorded before the news releases would have been
A - To have very closely examined museum specimens (which I had not)
B - To have actually seen living Ivorybills
Jos
Of course, being on the wrong continent, it would rightly be dismissed, but the fact is I could ut that description together.
Again, if observers are looking for an i.d. feature, it has occurred that they have 'seen' it when in fact it wasn't actually there, something like 'mind over reality'
Steve
Four observers described the same thing.
Jos
There was a case some years back of a Red-necked Stint being found, an extreme rarity in Europe, and many very prominent birders went to see it, dare I say reliable observers with good track records. Features were noted and the bird thought genuine. But it wasn't one! It was a Curlew Sandpiper if I remember correctly, a species not even that similar! Mass illusion, excitement of a real find, who knows?
Anyhow, for acceptance of something so dramatic as the rediscovery of a bird thought lost for donkey's years, it is simply going to take more than a series of persons who are convinced they have seen it, heard it, etc.
Steve
Yes, again, I have to agree on this
ps Hope this helps to clear the air regarding these sightings.
Steve