[Birdtalk] Possible Tricolored Blackbird in Holladay

[Glenda Cotter]

For what my two cents are worth (I know, about two cents . . . ), I'd hate to see either Pomera or Tim resign from the listserve. I learn a lot from both of you, generally enjoy your posts, and was finding the various emails regarding the possible tricolored blackbird very interesting and informative. C'mon, folks--you both add a lot to Utah's birding community. Let's just move on.

Glenda Cotter
________________________________
From: birdtalk-bounces at utahbirds.org [birdtalk-bounces at utahbirds.org] On Behalf Of Pomera Fronce [pinkstring at xmission.com]
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 9:32 PM
To: Avery, Tim
Cc: birdtalk at utahbirds.org
Subject: [Birdtalk] Possible Tricolored Blackbird in Holladay

Hi Again Folks -

You're probably sick of Tim and me squabbling so I promise this will be my last public post on the Tricolored Blackbird babble.  I don't want Milt to censure me ;>)

Tim -

This discussion has never been about whether my bird turned out to be a red-winged or a tricolored, but more the way you responded to my post.

You said you were attempting to share some information that seemed to have been overlooked when I reported my sighting.  Guess what your 858 word response felt like on my end - a lecture!  I wish you would have given me a bit more credit.  Didn't you think I knew that the possibility of the bird being a tricolored was almost nil?  I wasn't trying that night to write a report worthy of submission to the UBRC.  Good criminy, I was just trying to get some eyes on a bird that struck me as being quite unusual and with which I had limited field experience.

I had many courteous and helpful responses to my post.  Matt Mills noted the rusty feather edgings, Mark Stackhouse identified several field marks that were concerning to him for a tricolored (and even called in some experts from ID Frontiers) and Ed Leite called me from California to talk about the vocalization (others mentioned this as well).  Your discourse outlined all the reasons my bird couldn't be a tricolored and provided nothing helpful for going back out in the field the next day for a second look.

I am still so perplexed why you felt the need to rush to judgement on this bird (and all based on the premise that this species does not wander).  It took a lot of thought and even more courage to report this bird and I can't tell you how dismissive your post seemed.  Why not just wait until my photos were posted to take a quick look or buzz by the park on your way to work and then post your opinion?

Tim - you need to turn this around.  How would you feel if someone had responded to one of your sightings as you did to mine?  I think I know the answer.

As to one or both of us unsubscribing to the listserv, I doubt the masses would rise up in protest.  In fact, there might be more applause than we care to admit.  No one (or two) birder is bigger than the birding community of Utah at large.

Enough said -

Pomera
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://secureserver.securesites.net/pipermail/birdtalk/attachments/20090323/735c93f2/attachment.htm