Birding blasphemies
OK, what I am about to write here could be seen in some quarters as sacrilege, or, in others, a sophisticated and convoluted means of aiming a wrecking ball at my own credibility. I assure anyone who may read this that neither is the case. In birding circles, while there is an acknowledgement that mistakes can be, and are, made, and that (at least in theory) everyone is always learning, it is also true that it can be a cut-throat world, where honest to goodness errors of judgement can be held against someone, or people go around scared of even offering opinions lest they be proven wrong and this to damage their reputations. Now, reputation is important, to an extent. It's what makes birders go and twitch one's rare bird claims even before seeing documentary evidence or sussing the details out. And I am not advocating that anyone should just decide to throw away a solid reputation out of sheer devilment. But I wonder if it is time that us birders ask the daring question: if pr