Update and a Miracle(?)

I finally got around to checking out the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee report for 2004. The importance of that report lies in the power I gave it to determine whether I listed Trumpeter Swan and Thayer's Gull on my personal lists (see Waiting for the Word). The news was both disappointing and inconclusive! The committee decided that the swan was indeed a Trumpeter, but given the lack of assurance that it was a truly wild bird (introduction programs have been instituted) they were unwilling to consider it "listable." As for the potential Thayer's Gull, apparently no one submitted a report for the committee to consider, so there is still no decision. I guess I will have to prevail upon those who reported it to the birding community to report it to "the powers that be" so we can get an official word.

In another post, The Lord God Bird, I talked about the wonder of the possibility of seeing an Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Well, in what might be little short of a modern miracle, it appears that in the morning we will be getting official word from the government that they are still alive and kicking! You can read some leaked coverage here and here.