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Well, have canned the much longer post originally scheduled for today. :( After sleuthing around the internet yesterday to learn who the SC claimant is and becoming momentarily slightly more hopeful (...but then using Google Earth to explore his property and becoming less hopeful), I received overnight a series of emails from him that make things much less clearcut and far more problematic, and a story not worth me spending time on (...though again I'll say that if this tale was ever authenticated it would easily be the greatest story in the annals of American birdwatching). USFWS is supposedly investigating the case, so I'll end simply mentioning that the observer also claims to have Bachman's Warbler present on his property or nearby (he even sent me pictures), so gee, er, ummm, they may wish to pursue that as well, and make it a two-fer... ;)
Am hoping with the USFWS comment period finally over, all the hullabaloo will die down between now and November elections, and I can get back to other matters for awhile.
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3 comments:
note: a prior commenter requested that his comments be removed from this post, so I have done that and removed my response therefore as well.
How about just spending some time discussing on this blog the images and video provided? There is a wing with individual feathers. The terminal edges are white. There is a moving object in a measured hole. There is a white saddle turning in the same hole. What else could these be? I think you realize they could not be just "anything". And these are all from videos. Would like to see your discussion of these at some point. They should not be ignored. The backstory is not as important as the evidence.
John, there are frames in the Harrison video that I find interesting, but don’t find the overall video compelling, and similarly there are bits of your evidence I find interesting but not at all conclusive (and any alternative explanations I would offer to your assertions/assumptions would merely be speculative). A dozen years ago endless back-and-forths were common here (at the blog) over pieces of data, and it never settled anything — I’m trying to largely avoid that now, but other sites are free to argue all they want back-and-forth. What I’d prefer at this point, like USFWS, is video that does NOT require analysis or explanation or enhancement.
For any who have missed it, the brief wing-flash video that John references is here (I consider it the most interesting of John's data... but still somewhat minimally interesting):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7lsvp4gvakd541t/4%20july%20wing%20video%20half%20speed%20zoom.mp4?dl=0
slowed and zoomed here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kyjda74my9kql2c/4%20July%20wing%20%20video%20slower%20zoomed%20mor
And you're right, the images you mention can't just be "anything" but the very poor video quality (of a bird returning to the same tree/hole for months or even years) leaves open plenty of candidates.
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