At 09:21 PM 10/30/97 -0800, you wrote:
>Sorry I didn't save the original post, but I thought I'd add a few
>comments. If one is in the area of Sac NWR for any length of time, there

<snip>

>By the way, any ibis seen in that area is almost certainly white-faced. I
>would say certainly, but not wanting to risk the wrath of Michael Price, I
>include the qualifier. :-)
>
>Rob Saecker
>
>

Agreed (and who listens to Mike Price ;-) ). I have seen several hundred
white-faced ibis at Sacramento NWR and not a Glossy in the bunch that I
could pull out. True, but I have also scoped hundreds of ibis near Anahuac
in Texas and found that White-faced Ibis in various ages and plumages can
look like Glossies. A nationally known birder/guide showed up and pointed
why they were White-faced but even then a couple still formally defied ID.
Not always easy to come up the solid determination. When an expert can't
ID everything based on what can be seen, it certainly inspires greater
respect for ID's that he does make. Like Yogi once said (?), "Birds are
what birds are." and "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

Also, in a follow-on msg I mentioned Delevan but could not recall the names
for the others. There is also a pretty good location in the same area for
Nuttal's Woodpecker. The entire area could tie up a birder for a number
of days. The list at Sac NWR changes constantly. I would guess that F & W
could come up with data on what is recorded and when. But the staff at the
office is not necessarily knowledgeable of birds, i.e., a request for where
Yellow-billed Magpies were being seen was translated as, "Where can these
folks see Double-billed
Magpies?" !

Bob
taylorrt at geocities.com