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Noting this (below) and the article by Nicki Taws
in the latest CBN about a White-browed Babbler, brings me to mention that one of
the GBS Charts in I think the late 1980s included a record of a babbler (I don't
recall the details). When creating the GBS database I did not input this record
into the GBS database for a selection of reasons - and now I am thinking back
over about ten years - these include:
The record was not included in the ABR for that
year, which suggests the ABR compilers had reason to doubt it at the time. Maybe
the Rarities Panel of the day had declined it?
The observer appeared unknown at the time (maybe
anonymous), as in I don't recall the name was known to me or appeared elsewhere
in COG records.
The GBS chart itself was not well-kept (maybe it
didn't have an address) and this babbler was not the only strange record on it.
So I had doubts about the id skills of the person.
There was no way to verify it so long after the
event.
I had already been getting nowhere, trying to
obtain from the (then) Rarities Panel, a form of words to use, in what
was eventually to become the GBS Report, to cater for the situation as to what
credibility to give to rare birds mentioned on the charts that were not endorsed
at the time and for which, owing to the lapse of time, it would be hard to
confirm. Especially when the record is likely to be correct. Obviously there
were not many, some such as this one were left out, others, later proved to be
not so rare, such as Crested Pigeons, Koels, Black Kites & Whistling
Kites were left in.
I don't even recall whether other data from this
particular chart was included or whether the whole chart was ignored but I think
the chart itself was kept. In which case, someone may be willing to spend ages
searching for it.
So my point is, I have no idea if the observation
was valid but it has not appeared and given other records, maybe it is
feasible.
Philip
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