Hi James, birders:
Thanks for posting this link. This thread is very good for many reasons.
One main point is that birds often wander in absolutely spectacular
fashion, and just because something is unlikely does not mean it
could not happen. Just consider in the last few years:
Short-tailed Hawks in Ohio and Michigan
Grace's Warbler in New York (!!!) and Illinois
Lucy's Warbler in Michigan
Lewis's Woodpecker in New York (!)
Kirtland's Warbler in Maine
I could go on. And yes, we can argue about migrants versus
non-migrants, but still. Birds wander, sometimes spectacularly.
We should get used to it.
Of course as many have pointed out, extraordinary claims
also require extraordinary evidence. Today's run-of-the-mill
digital cameras are often good enough to confirm rarities
without much effort. Note the Kirtland's in Maine was
confirmed with a point-and-shoot. Hey, a bud of mine and
I confirmed an Oregon Junco with an iPhone on the local
Christmas Count here in Concord, Massachusetts. This
wasn't a digibin shot. Just whipped out the iPhone and
snapped a single picture.
There's great stuff out there! Go find it and get a picture.
We might be surprised with the results.
Good luck on the Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Ohio Birders!
Tim
On Sun, 29 Jan 2012, James Fox wrote:
> In this discussion several people have implied that a it is virtually impossible that a Golden-fronted Woodpecker would wander to Ohio since there are almost no vagrant records. I agree that an aberrant Red-bellied Woodpecker is much more likely but Michigan does have a record of Golden-fronted Woodpecker from November-December 1974 so it is possible. Photos of that record are here http://www.michiganaudubon.org/research/recordscommittee/photo_gallery.html/title/golden-fronted-woodpecker
>
> If Carl could post a link to his photos that would be great.
>
> James Fox
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