"The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile." - Plato
Birders...sad news today. An anonymous source from my inner circle recently delivered this screenshot to me. What you see is eBird's California 2013 rankings from a week ago. I would like to direct your attention to Birder Number 4.
Yes. Believe your eyes. Dipper Dan claimed he saw a Northern Giant-Petrel in California waters, which of course has never been proven to happen anywhere on the continent. It is as if he plunged a dagger into his own reputation. This is quite possibly the most depressing misidentification in the history of California birding, although the "Agami Heron" submitted to the state's bird police is good competition for that (not joking).
This man, up until now, was a very good friend of mine...I never suspected he was a sketchy birder. But with GBRS immediately docking him 100 points for such egregious stringing, I don't think I can be seen in public with him for a long time. You have been warned, and would be wise to do the same. View his reports with extreme caution...it is warranted.
if you're going to be sketchy go big. giant.
ReplyDeleteI know someone who would agree with you.
DeleteDipper Dan was the victim of a malicious prank, pulled off by none other than the Ubër Elite SEFIMMXIIIFALL crew. I, too, was momentarily victim of this prank, until I carefully read their description of the Giant-Petrel, which stated that the bird's "white body gleamed in the afternoon sun". As all birders of any worth know, this is a false statement: only the SOUTHERN Giant-Petrel is known to have a white form. I quickly called off any DEFCON 1 alerts that might have been issued with this blatantly erroneous eBird report.
ReplyDeleteI guess it still doesn't explain why Dan added it to his eBird list, though.
Brave of you to try to cover for your friend like this Matt Brady...but the truth is plain enough to see.
DeleteSo.... is Pileated Woodpecker really so hard down there that the #1 should have only recently added it?
ReplyDeleteCurtis doesn't get out of SoCal much (no PIWO down there).
DeleteI'm wondering why Dipper Dan hasn't just deleted this list from his account. C'mon, Dan delete the list and throw away the cute kitty shirts, damn it!
ReplyDeleteI think the kitty shirt is all he has no Fowler.
DeleteIt’s birders like you that make getting my recent Harpagornis moorei sighting certified so facking difficult!
ReplyDelete