Dennis raised it, I'll second it. <"Yesterday I had my first Vaux's
Swift of the year." etc, etc.<

I agree, to "have" is not to "see", and the use of "had" in this way does
bother me. However, I find myself using it on occasion and I suppose it's my
way of saying "I had a look at..." or "...had great views of..."

There is one thing worse, though:

"We had a couple Bobolinks this morning."

People write "a pair of Bobolinks" or "a brace of Bobwhites". Why, then, do
some people drop the "of" after "couple"?

Now back to birds. A fair birder and her fair birder son reported 4
Bobolinks in their Saanich yard (near Victoria) this morning (3 males, 1
female). Unfortunately, no photographs were taken, this was their first
encounter with the species and the birds have not been relocated. If
confirmed, which is now unlikely, this would be one of the few records of
Bobolink for the Greater Victoria area, and our first April record.

Answer? Take a picture...any picture...with any camera if you think you
have encountered a rarity. (There's that "have" word again). And hot-line
your local Rare Bird Alert to get someone out there quickly.

Bryan Gates, Victoria
bgates at assessment.env.gov.bc.ca
Victoria Rare Bird Alert (604) 592-3381