Date: 7/10/26 10:15 pm From: Jerry Tangren via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] revelling in our misidentifications
Great memory and/or even better notes… Jerry
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From: HAL MICHAEL <ucd880...>
Sent: Friday, 10 July 2026 22:06:04
To: Jerry Tangren <kloshewoods...>; Gary Bletsch <garybletsch...>; Gary Bletsch via Tweeters <tweeters...>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] revelling in our misidentifications
The others were, I believe, Willie Argante, Ben and Marie Eizinger, and my dad.
In May of 71 you and I went to the Woodland Sewer Ponds and flushed, among other things, Fulvous Whistling Ducks. We also found Semipalmated Plover, both of which were lifers for me.
Hal Michael
Olympia WA
360-459-4005
360-791-7702 (C)
<ucd880...>
On 07/10/2026 8:55 PM PDT Jerry Tangren <kloshewoods...> wrote:
Wow, Hal! I was there; I'd forgotten we'd ever birdied together...Tim Manolis and I must have been the group you met for lunch. All a distant memory.
--Jerry Tangren
East Wenatchee, WA
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From: Tweeters <tweeters-bounces...> on behalf of HAL MICHAEL via Tweeters <tweeters...>
Sent: Friday, 10 July 2026 20:46:40
To: Gary Bletsch <garybletsch...>; Gary Bletsch via Tweeters <tweeters...>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] revelling in our misidentifications
During a CBC in Sacramento the two groups doing our area met for lunch and went over what we saw. They had seen a Peregrine, which in the early 70s was rare in the area. After lunch we went to see it and there it was, in the big transmission tower. Couple of the guys went out to get pictures. When they got closer they noticed it didn't blink. Then they noticed it was a decoy. One guy climbed up to retrieve it and while they were removing it a real Peregrine flew by, so we did get to report one.
Turns out that a CSUS prof had set a bunch of decoys out to see what would happen. Some got shot. Ours got collected.
Hal Michael
Olympia WA
360-459-4005
360-791-7702 (C)
<ucd880...>
On 07/10/2026 6:51 PM PDT Gary Bletsch via Tweeters <tweeters...> wrote:
Dear Odette and Tweeters,
Aw, gee, shucks, we all misidentify birds sometimes! A rather famous birder once called out in an excited voice. Everybody turned their head. A big group of birders had come up to Skagit County for the "grand opening" of a habitat restoration site, so we all heeded the words of the expert. "Great Grey Owl, Great Grey Owl!" We scurried over to look across the field, to where the man was pointing. It was a Bald Eagle. The misty Skagit air had caused the white head of the eagle to "disappear," leaving a big, grey shape. The silhouette really did look like that of an owl. Except it wasn't!
Another time, a group of pelagic birders got all excited when the expert spotter called out, "Leatherback Sea Turtle! Leatherback Sea Turtle!"
It was a log--a really cool-looking long, but a log nonetheless.
Another time, I was helping out in an unfamiliar CBC territory. The person who knew the area told me that we would be stopping briefly to tally a little flock of Trumpeter Swans that was known to visit a certain field. "One, two, three, four, five, six Trumper Swans!" Before I wrote down the six Trumpeter Swans, I asked if we could sneak a bit closer, since the swans would be a county tick for me, and I wanted a better look.
"Sure, no problem!" The leader inched the vehicle closer. I stuck my scope out the window. "Six white plastic five-gallon buckets!"
We ended up ticking a solo Trumpeter later on during the count, so it was okay that we'd almost called six buckets six swans.
Okay, those are just three gaffes that I remember other people making. I will sign off before I am tempted to venture into my own long list of misidentified birds.
My friend Bob Kuntz likes to say, "It's not what you call it the first time, it's what you call it the last time!"
