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Hello and welcome to the American Birding Podcast from the American Birding Association.

I'm your host, Nate Swick. What happens when county birding goes wrong?

Now, as I have stated multiple times on this podcast, I do enjoy the county listing. I like the

immediacy of it. I like the excitement that goes along with adding a new bird to my home county

or a nearby county list, especially if I find it, which is a thing that happens more often with county listing than with state or ABA listing where I'm sort of, I am more beholden to the efforts of other birders. I wrote a whole essay about it in the book, Good Birders Still Don't Wear White. You can follow me deep down that rabbit hole there if you're interested.

So it was with some interest that I read an account that made its way around the birdosphere, about a little bit of county birding gone wrong in Southern California regarding a short-tailed to albatross. I had a couple of people hit me on social media and an email about talking about this, and I'll be honest. I haven't have two minds about it, sort of resisted it until now.

I'll be honest. I haven't of two minds about it,

sort of resisted it until now. I'll explain why, but first, I'll give you the facts,

lay out the facts as we know them. A short-tled albatross was noted by a Pelagic trip,

a few kilometers off the beach in Long Beach, California, in June, back in June, three months

ago. It's a noteworthy bird just about anywhere on the coast, and especially so in Southern

California. They were near extinction, not all that long ago. It is technically speaking

a vulnerable species, according to the IUCN. It's very exciting. And in promptu, Pelagic was

scrambled the next day. A bunch of people went out,

we found it, which is notable enough for a pelagic bird. Photos were taken, e-bird lists were

eagerly submitted, by all accounts. It was a pleasant time at sea with a cool and rare bird.

But then stories started coming out first on the L listserv, then more widely afterwards, of

...