As usual, some of the more interesting findings and discussions about Ohio birds are not being heard on this and many other forums. I don't subscribe to any of the proliferating semi-commercial on-line chat forums--life is too short, the errors too numerous--but I do read some of the better open regional ones, like Cincinnatibirds and rarebird.org. I guess most people first read about the ibises recently at Fernald on the Cincinnati site, but while talk about their identity wandered widely elsewhere, they appeared on this list only as an opinion that one of the birds was a hybrid, an opinion echoed on some other internet forum by other contributors, I am told. Photos were discussed but not linked to. Later, another good argument was posted on Cincinnatibirds that it might indeed be a white-faced, and later an excellent photo on the same forum seemed to support this: http://cincinnatibirds.com/message/showthread.php?Thread=2392#message8 What I take away from this is not whether the bird was a full-blooded white-faced ibis or not--I sit on the OBRC and will see a lot of evidence I'll have to weigh with my colleagues about this Review Species--but the breakdown of our exchanges of electronic information and opinions about Ohio birds. The forum on which I now write was started by Vic Fazio a long time ago, then taken on by the Ohio Ornithological Society when it was still the only Ohio bird internet list. For many years this remained *the* place to report and discuss Ohio's birds online. Since then, a few sites have taken a closer focus at local birds, and this has worked out. But now there are all kinds of chatty Facebirdy sites, largely but not exclusively used by beginners (and those who want to influence them); and this is fine for exchanges about feeder birds and hummingbird arrivals, etc, the usual news. More important discoveries and discussions are welcome anywhere of course, but they do not belong exclusively on minor sites, and Ohio records may suffer as a result. This goes for reports that appear only on E-bird sites, too. If you have a significant sighting, send it to Ohiobirds, and to the editor of your local publication and the Ohio Cardinal. If you don't want to sign up on Ohiobirds, by all means announce it anywhere you want, but also send it to me or another Ohiobirds subscriber, and it will be forwarded here in your name. Significant Ohio bird records deserve to be seen and reviewed by everyone, not just our buddies. We have a lot of sharp people, sharp photos, and a forum shared by *everyone* (if you don't want to subscribe to Ohiobirds, you can read every post on the American Birding Association pages at http://birding.aba.org/maillist/OH ). Tell your chat-room correspondents the same. Let's get it together. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. 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]