Sorry to report some disturbing news, but it appears
that the alleged Red-bellied Woodpecker pictures and
sightings that were claimed by a non-birder, amateur
photographer, in Spokane County were apparently faked.
According to our own expert bird photographer, Ron
Dexter, the alleged photos contained numerous data
discrepancies and non-matching backgrounds. Along with
incongruous problems that affected all the photos, the
land owner kept altering his story. Although the
alleged culprit has denied that there was an
intentional deception, the hard facts seem to
contradict his claim.

A hoax would certainly explain why not one of the top
birders in Spokane County (who collectively spent
innumerable hours searching) could never find a bird
that is noted for being noisy and conspicuous. A
couple of possible "heard only" moments probably
resulted from hearing another birder playing a
recording.

Kudos to Ron Dexter for unraveling this mystery.
Hopefully, we can return to chasing real rarities and
not fabricated ones.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA


____________________________________________________________________________________
Looking for last minute shopping deals?
Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping