John Chandler wrote:
>
> As the current operator of the Vancouver RBA I should provide you with some
> background on this.
>
> A possible Great Knot was first reported to the Vancouver RBA by a very
> excited Rick Toochin on the afternoon of Jan 12. Rick and his brother Mike
> and one other very good birder had seen the bird. Mike has seen this
> species in Australia. As I understand it, they were reasonably confidant
> in the ID but waited until they could consult their shorebird texts at home
> before confirming the sighting Monday evening. The RBA tape had already
> been updated when the confirmation was confirmed. I spoke with Rick on
> Tuesday evening and he told me the observers were confidant they had seen a
> Great Knot.
>
I'll make this short -

With no disrespect to Mr. Toochin and Mr. Toochin, I'd like to share my
previous understanding that it doesn't matter if the reporters are
Dennis
Paulson and Ken Kaufmann (arbitrarily choosen birders). I had always
thought that what mattered was not the reputation of the observer
(except I suppose if a person had a reputation for false reporting), but
the comprehensiveness of the field notes, pictures or other records of
the sighting.

Sincerely,
Michael Kennedy
Victoria