-- More Dunne --

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Since citing Pete Dunne yesterday, might be worth mentioning/plugging the largest tome of his prolific writing career, "Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion" in which, without pictures or illustrations, he presents the reader 700+ pages of incisive verbal descriptions of North American birds. Dunne is the consummate promoter of the wholistic or GISS approach to bird identification ('general impression of size of shape,' though actually entailing many more factors than just size and shape), also known as the 'Cape May school of birding,' over the reliance on specific field marks as generally taught to beginning birders. In fact, the vast majority of birding and count IDs by experienced birders is done with such a gestalt approach, often in but seconds of time, rather than any list-like checkoff of field marks, yet some choose to believe it can't be applied or accepted in the instance of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. ....It can.
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And, in honor of Valentine's Day upcoming, this from the Web Grab Bag:

http://www.romanticmath.de.vu/

...also for your entertainment this post of Chet Raymo's (RE-run from 3 years ago at Valentine's Day) for all the lovelorn scientists out there (I honestly don't know if these are completely real or made up!???).

Looking backwards, yesterday I failed (especially, as an Illinois-born-and-bred fella) to acknowledge Abraham Lincoln's birthday (no doubt spinning in his grave at what's become of the Republican Party in the interim); R.I.P. Abe, it ain't your fault; and it was also Charles Darwin's birthday (probably also spinning in his grave at the current state of affairs!).
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