I have to admit to not looking on Birdforum anymore, far too many bad experiences with birders who look great on the forum but in the field or away from their computers and shelves full of bird books are absolutely hopeless
It often has some good discussions on there and there are plenty of very good, experienced birders too but the ones that aren't seem to be taking over for me, so other than the occasional brief visit to see what I'm not missing I shalln't bother.
I haven't seen any of the claimed birds, nor photos other than a crappy small one on Surfbirds that was of no use for ID really and I haven't spoken to anyone who actually saw the York bird but I don't think there's any doubt that mis-identifications are on the increase with birders contemplating rarities first rather than commoner species with abnormalities etc, though that said, it could well have been a Chimbley Swift (no that's not a mis-type ) and to be quite frank, I couldn't care less
I looked on Birdforum, once i waded through all the flaming of each other, and im still none the wiser, who cares anyway i dipped, probably just as well.
There's quite a discussion on BirdForum (if you can wade through all the rubbish) - doubts raised over structure, size, flight and moult - based on the photos on BirdGuides and a few personal observations.
I know a lot of people who "ticked" it have got the Tippex out.
mark cocker has an excellent piece in his book birders about mass hallucination and the fact that you only see what you want to see,,, just goes to show you the importantace of taking field notes even when looking at somthing with 100 birder, who tell you what it is, golden rule always be certain you know what you have seen
It now seems that all the reported Chimney Swifts this summer, including the well watched York bird, have been incorrectly identified and have all related to Common Swifts with either missing tails, some missing outer primaries or missing remiges, often creating an impression of a Chimney Swift silhouette.
) and to be quite frank, I couldn't care less 