Very honest assessment Peter and something that we all have experienced
from time to time. Thanks for the report.
John Rawinski
Monte Vista, CO
On Sunday, November 10, 2024 at 4:17:19 PM UTC-7 Peter Burke wrote:
> Hi COBirders,
> This morning I found myself scanning a local reservoir where some loons
> have been reported. It was a beautiful scene with the newly frosted
> mountains reflected on the still surface of the water, and the gloriously
> warm sun rising to my left.
>
> Almost immediately I found a loon diving in the NE corner, slightly
> backlit, but clearly a Common Loon, with its large bill and somewhat knobby
> forehead. A nice sighting, but I was looking for its rarer cousin, a
> Pacific Loon reported yesterday. I found two more Common Loons, and then a
> smaller loon popped up that I assumed was the Pacific. But I lost it
> fumbling around with digiscoping gear.
>
> About 20 minutes later I found a smaller loon that wasn’t too far away,
> providing plenty of time to study. What I did was tick off all the reasons
> that it wasn’t a Common Loon, so it must be the Pacific, right? Down it
> went on my ebird list. Not long after some other birders showed up, and I
> saved them the time of scanning by pointing out the “Pacific.”
>
> Only later did I see the report of a Red-throated Loon from the same
> location. Mild panic rising, I asked the observer if there were both
> Pacific and Red-throated present, but even as I texted I suspected that I’d
> blown the ID, and worse, infected others with the same case of “birding
> bias,” that bad habit associated with chasing other people’s sightings
> where we simply see what we’re looking for rather than carefully analyzing
> what we’re looking at.
>
> I thought I’d share this story as a way of apologizing to those who I
> pointed out the “Pacific” to, but also because it’s something I’m sure many
> can relate to. Misidentifying birds is something I’ve gotten good at over
> the years, and I don’t think there’s any shame in goofing an ID. But of
> course it sucks to have had the opportunity to correctly ID a good bird
> that was right there in my scope.
>
> It’s a reminder to be vigilant.
>
> Good birding everyone!
>
> Best,
>
> Peter Burke
> Boulder, CO
>
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