Hi all, It's great to see that so many people are getting the opportunity to see the Grandview Heights Western Tanager. An unbelievably cooperative bird, for the most part, and the only one of the few Ohio sightings of this species that has hung around long enough for birders to go see. If you haven't seen Bob Royse's incredible photos of this bird, visit: http://www.rarebird.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1670 <http://www.rarebird.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1670&PN=1> &PN=1 As always happens when such a rarity appears, people are interested in how many records there have been. I've had a number of people ask that, and it looks like our western visitor will even get some ink in the local paper, as a reporter called about it today. One thing that is an important differentiation to make with rare bird records is between REPORTS and ACCEPTED RECORDS. In the case of Western Tanager, there have been a number of undocumented reports - most probably correct - that just didn't have enough detail to allow for either the Ohio Bird Records Committee or authors of scholarly publications on Ohio's bird life to accept them as strongly documented with enough good evidence to accept. Documentation of rarities really must be strong enough that independent reviewers can look at it, even many years after the sighting when the firsthand observers may no longer be around, and make the determination as to its identity. That's why it is so important to thoroughly document rarities, so that they can become part of the accepted scientific record, and not slip through the cracks. The beauty of modern technology is that it often is much easier to document rare birds, thanks to the vast improvements and widespread accessibility of digital cameras. Now, we often get evidence like Bob's awesome photos. Anyway, a few good sources that all Ohio birders should have for basic research about birds are: 1) Bruce Peterjohn's "Birds of Ohio (2001). Bruce has great data on all Ohio species up to the time his book was published, and cites two records of Western Tanager that he felt were acceptably documented. He also mentions three other possible records. 2) The Birds of the Cleveland Region, by Larry Rosche (2004). My copy is at the office, but I think this publication mentions four possible records, with only one being documented with photos. 3) Birds of the Toledo Area, by Anderson et.al (2002). One Western Tanager, the last prior to this year, from 1996 at the Magee Marsh bird trail. Finally, a wonderful publication that is the most recent and exhaustively researched checklist of Ohio birds, with much effort given to ferreting out rare bird records, is the Ohio Bird Records Committee Checklist of the Birds of Ohio (2004), authored by Dave Dister, Joe Hammond, Rob Harlan, Bernie Master, and Bill Whan. This is available online at the Ohio Ornithological Society's website at: http://www.ohiobirds.org/publications/checklist/checklists.php The OOS is hopefully going to be updating this checklist soon. The authors cite two accepted records of Western Tanager, both since 1980. The Records Committee has already accepted the two Western Tanager reports from last spring, and if they accept the Grandview bird, we will be up to five (probably six) acceptably documented reports of this western vagrant in Ohio. Jim McCormac Columbus, Ohio ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]