Common Gull Identification Issues
Norm Saunders (osprey@ARI.Net)
Thu, 12 Feb 1998 04:21:01 -0500
I'm enjoying the give and take on the Common Gull issue enormously.
Many of us saw this bird but did not see the field marks which some
are saying are diagnostic. Those who are pronouncing are basing that
on photographs taken by Mark Hoffman and possibly by others and on
videotape taken by Bob Ringler, and possibly by others.
Those of us who were not privileged to participate in those
discussions are somewhat left in the dark. If Mark or anyone else
can provide (on a loan basis) a few good prints of the bird in
question, we could scan them in and make them available at the
MDOsprey website for a period of time to allow everyone here to join
more fully in the discussion AND in the learning experience.
Making pictures of puzzling birds available on the Internet is
becoming a more and more widely used approach to eliciting comments
from a broader audience. See the Frontiers of Bird Identification
listserv. We clearly have some extremely accomplished birders here
in Maryland, but there may be birders in Europe, or on the West
Coast, say, who may have had direct experience with the type of bird
that was seen at Conowingo Dam.
What better way to elicit comments than to post the pictures on the
Internet? Of course, if comments aren't desired......
Norm Saunders
===============
Norm Saunders
Colesville, MD
osprey@ari.net