The IRBC - Spooftocracy

Decided to start a fresh tracking of the IRBC faileptitude as the previous post was now enormous.

Like those who tracked Trump's golfing or Musk's private jet use...transparency, fact and truth matter. 

And the only place you are going to find it in regards to Europe's most ridiculous excuse for a rarity committee is right here. (Well...apart from that single posting on a closed WhatsApp group from Seamus Feeney...cos ya gotta love Irony right? 🤣)

Where did we leave off? July 2024

It's now August 2024.

So let's look at Ireland's excuse for a rarity recording system.

• Do they produce monthly provisional lists as per their own system outline? - No
• Did they sneakily change the wording on their website from "Monthly" to "Regular"? - Yes
• Do they even produce this regularly? - No
• Do they update the Irish list after the publication of each Irish Rare Bird Report? - No
• Are you lucky if that happens once a decade? - Oh dear, No.
• After announcing that they would make announcements on rare birds on Twitter, do they do so? - No
• Do they announce membership changes - No
• Did they ever get a second "Keeper of the provisional list"? - No (and there's a Cringe title btw. 🤣)
• Do they make announcements on the IRBC website anymore? - No

This Uber-Cringe group is now simply a vehicle for desperate, stringy spoofers and mental cases (scroll down to "Stand on your own feet" here if you want some background on that) to play lord of the manor. 

The faux prestige of saying "I'm on the rarity committee" to a community that pretends it still does anything.

You can see the future of it now. 

We could start a pool on who will get on there in due course and it would be easy to win. You just need to name their desperate wannabe mates. You know, The other lads that string or throw Man-baby tantrums and delete their tweets/evidence.

And so I leave you for now with this.

Because this is still hilarious and always will be. A stalking nutter, who sang their praises for donkey's years, defended them at every turn, left in the void wondering where all the outputs have gone. 🤣

Cringe. A word synonymous with Irish birding.

Update: September 2024

Yet again, no sign of a provisional list from the Spooftocracy IRBC.

Isn't it time everyone stopped pretending there is a functional rare bird recording body in Ireland?

Bit sad all the losers out there saying "all my list is accepted by the IRBC" when this catastrofuck is on full display, run by spoofers who can't ID Herring Gulls, Grey Herons or Reed Warblers. 🤣

Update: October 2024

Yet again, no outputs from the Spoof Rare Bird Committee. The provisional list system is dead.

I for one am shocked. Shocked I tell you. Well, not that shocked. 🤣

UPDATE December 2024

I do love being right. 😉

It pleases me greatly when one of my predictions comes to pass. Even when it was one this easy to make. 

Anyone, even the visually impaired, could have seen that the addition of bird flusher and all round desperate wannabe, Brian "McFlushkey" McCloskey to the IRBC was inevitable. His lickarsery of various members had increased dramatically in recent years and it was a sure thing. 

Cian Spoofer Cardiff will be on within 2 years, wait and see 🤣. The propaganda groundwork is already being laid. I begrudge no one a find, but the mark of a liar in birding (I won't use the made up term stringer, liar is far more serious) is not the birds they've accurately found... it's how the act when they KNOW, outright, that they have made a mistake. 

The most recent case of me catching Cardiff out involved him claiming to have seen an American Golden Plover on the Mullet. 

When I saw his shots on Twitter it was instantly discernable that the bird photographed was not an AGP. I queried. And he deleted the tweet, claiming he had uploaded the wrong photo... TWO photos he had uploaded to Irishbirding, were also deleted. He then claimed to have video. The video never appeared. 

In private, his mates know exactly what he is doing when he deletes evidence of his misidentifications (as you see above). 

They know. 

But like any biased clique, they don't care. Shoulder shrug. "No one likes to be wrong". Being a liar is OK...when there is a culture of liars in birding. 

Back in the day, Lickarse O'Keeffe "Waffled that good birders are often wrong and SEEN to be wrong. It was a nonsense lie then. It's a nonsense lie now. In a culture predicated on lies, does it surprise anyone the double standard exists that liars would allow themselves to lie?

With McFlushkey, You can all expect decisions to be made via WhatsApp conference with Mullarney and Brian's paediatrician in due course! 🤣 (I should know. He was asking my ID Opinions for years! 🤣).

We can already see how his tenure will go. Mistakes will be deleted, just like his dodgy mates, because the paradigm now for these clowns is never to simply hold your hand up and say "oops. I was wrong". It's hide the evidence and pretend it never happened.

Ooo all the Goshawks are accepted. Oopsie. Turns out there's been a review on Goshawks open since 2015... I'm sure you'll hear the results aaaannnny decade now. 🤣

The real question, which no one will step up to answer...is how did things get this bad, how did it get to this point, where you have people like Des Higgins or Herring Gull King or McFlushkey in any kind of position?

And if there is anyone out there ridiculous enough to suggest this kind of criticism is unacceptable or distasteful...Brian has said similar about Paul Connaughton, his now fellow team member, for example. 🙂 

Awkward.

I somewhat pity Cusack here. It's so rare that people acknowledge that getting on the IRBC is not about what you know, but who you know.

And he must now be in the uncomfortable position of having to pretend that his mate McFlushkey is there because he merits it. 🤣 

And then, of course, there's jumping on the old band wagon of "Owen's a stringer" for calling him out for the two faced prick he is. He only did this for a few minutes though, slagging off my Avocet during the Summer...before deleting the tweet (luckily a friend screengrabbed it) because pretending he's an innocent wee bell end is very important to him, but also, mostly... he's just a cowardly pussy. 🤣

Best of luck with all that in alls n'anyways.

The addition of Count Dowdall as a new chair position is a mark of how bad thing are. Resurrecting him from his crypt to get the coven in order? 🤣

Legend has it Jimmy sleeps in a cocoon of his own wings. 😉 

Again, a great deal of pity there. He will have to be dealing with a ridiculous level of incompetence compared to his tenure in the 80s.

Meanwhile....still no outputs. No provisional list, and it seems Irish Birds is delayed...Shocking.

UPDATE: Actually they missed the deadline for publication in Irish Birds. 🤦

It's not going well, is it. Be honest 

now. 

As you were.

Update: January 2025

Continuing the omnishambles, the IRBC have now dragged back Joe Hobbs to cobble together an "Interim" Rare Bird report. And it looks like something that was pieced together in an hour. It's dog shit. 😂

But by far the most important aspect, is that many rare bird records produced by the Band Rare Bird News Group, and present in the Band 2022 report are not present. 

This has always been the IRBC tactic. They don't have the balls to attack directly. Instead it has always been a tactic of exclusion. 

https://x.com/HelsinkiBirder/status/1875451169872736494?t=zSNue5BvhzdLAUBXz6_leA&s=19

They started with a smear campaign and excluding all my rare birds, rejected without assessment. 

When I fought back they back tracked, saying that from 2010 I would be treated the same as any other birder. 

When I pointed out that they were asking for descriptions of my Appendix 1 rarities from 2005-2009 but still rejecting dozens upon dozens of my Appendix 2 rarities I was told to collate these myself (no other birder has had to do that and these are supposed to be in their provisional lists).

Since that time, whenever I have found birds on visits home to Ireland they are either attributed to people other than myself, or excluded entirely. 

And this is the tactic which allows them to lie, and allows others to pretend that this is some one sided argument. 

This organization, it's amorphous mass of flag shagging followers, these are the ones who constantly continue this behavior. I'm the one who gets slammed for tackling it in classic shoot the messenger fashion. 

So please, take the time, download the IRSBG 2022 report, compare it to the IRBC nonsense, and ask yourself who was more accurate, fair, and comprehensive.

https://x.com/HelsinkiBirder/status/1875451272201113691?t=OtadFEpJ7Z1Xim4JiCovjQ&s=19

And then ask yourself...how did one man produce a report over 300 pages long, covering ALL rarities for 2022, and publish it within weeks of the New Year 2023, whilst 12 people, over the course of years, with a slashed to nothing rarity list, can't produce provisional lists, can't meet a deadline for publication in Irish Birds, and all you get is this politicized, biased crap wilfully excluding rarities.

How does that happen? 

Update: 30.01.2025

What is Rare - The Failed Rare Bird Recording System of Ireland

Do the IRBC know what they are doing? Even internally? It would appear not.

Apart from their latest recruit claiming the finding of Algeria's first Eastern Sub-alpine Warbler (it's a common species there) 😂, the Incompetent Rare Birds Committee has finally produced a provisional list for 2023. Yes...two years without a provisional list folks.

2 years to produce an excel file...badly

Many years back, when I was contacted by then secretary Kieran Fahy about their back track on the IRBC smear campaign, they requested I submit several Appendix 1 records I had found and that I would be treated the same as any other Irish birder.

When I pointed out that it was a bit dodge to be asking for my Appendix 1 records, whilst simultaneously shitting all over my multitude of Appendix 2 finds, he, astoundingly, asked that I collate them all myself and submit these.

No other Irish birder has ever had to collate their own A2 records. They are supposed to be retained in their provisional lists. Their new policy of treating me like any other birder lasted all of two seconds. 😂

So you will have to understand, I don't want to do any of their work for them.

That said, it's time to take a look at how they are actually operating.

Every time they produce a report, they have the same text at the start. The backbone of the system is the provisional list blah blah blah, here's the link to the provisional list page, which further links to the appendix 1 and appendix 2 lists.

These two appendices are now horrendous horseshit. 😂

Appendix 1 requires major overhaul. Plenty of species on their description list which are due a downgrade.

Appendix 2, apart from being slashed to barely anything since 2005 (seemingly for sheer laziness/a failed attempt to cut workload for the provisional lists...which again aren't produced), this appendix no longer matches what appears in reports.

So are they being lazy, incompetent or deliberately dishonest? Could be all 3 at once.

I won't do the work for them/you of highlighting all the species listed which are no longer being recorded, but I will highlight one funny example which really shows that these clowns don't even communicate with each other or know what they're doing.

Surf Scoter

Surf Scoter suddenly disappeared from reports in 2021, without any explanation or announcement. And an explanation would definitely be required, as there is now a blatant consistency issue in regards to what is retained and reported and what is not.

Seemingly, whoever is now responsible for producing the Provisional list for 2023...did not get that memo... because Surf Scoter is back on the menu. 😂

They really don't have a clue what they're doing. Can anyone argue otherwise now?

Where are all those brave lads who lauded this system back in 2006? Who demanded integrity and accuracy and called it enlightened and moving with the times? 😂

So take the time. Examine what is being produced, understand nothing lines up with their own targets, guidelines and lists. Ask the hard questions, if you can ever grow a pair. And think about whether the task of recording rare birds in Ireland is actually being effectively served by successive panels of spoofers?

Update: March 1st 2025

Amazingly the Incompetent Rare Bird Committee has actually produced another provisional list, this time for 2024. 

Same issues of course. You still wouldn't know what is a rare species in Ireland and what isn't based on their reports and lists.

Using the example of Surf Scoter again, included in the provisional list for 2024....not included in reports for past few years. Are you, reading this, any the wiser? 

I'm guessing not.

This though...was hilarious. 

If merely photographing a bird someone else has found, sending the shots around multiple experts, and stalling news until you get the thumbs up from them is "finding" a bird?.... I laugh. 😂 But I guess if you're on there you can rewrite history however ya like....again. 😂

#hamburglar

Meanwhile, Joe Hobbs has been added back onto the roster. 🤦

May as well add Muller back on too lads...we all know he will be IDing birds for some of the panel at least. 😂

UPDATE: 05/04/2025

Today is a funny day.

If there is one thing the sycophant blob of Irish birding HATES it is when I am right.

And I was right. I remain right. 😎

The Incompetent Rare Bird Committee has now updated the species appendices for Ireland and produced an update of their Irish List. 😱

I won't bother getting into the Irish List. If anyone out there has both brains and eyes you will quickly note what's missing from it and, hopefully, you might even ask questions.

Probably not actually.

But this does show something to be true, something which I have always said...

The IRBC can be shamed and embarrassed into doing things.

Actually I can go further than that.

ONLY through being embarrassed and shamed do they ever get off their collective arses. 😂

Already you can see some of their most obvious cheerleaders posting bicep emojis on this, like a poor man's Trumpian Signal chat! 😂

But before everyone errupts in cheers or starts clapping like the usual trained seals 🦭 they are, let's actually look critically at what exactly has been done here.

And as we go, ask yourselves the questions that need to be asked.

Have they been transparent?

Is there an actual process in play? And if so, do you understand it?

Are they being consistent in their decisions?

I have argued, for some time, for a system that is not based on whatever arbitrary decisions get made by whatever temporary goon appears on the panel.

Argued for a system that records what is rare, regardless of how many have been recorded in the past, or whether or not a group of incompetents feel a species in question is too easy to ID to be bothered with. 

If you want a rare bird recording system, then that system should record what is rare, without bias, in a consistent manner, and the elimination of species from recording for any reason such as the above amounts to vandalism.

It's not that radical a viewpoint. Rare birds shouldn't be ignored or omitted simply because a group of outright clowns, loons, mental cases or conspiracy theorists are too damn lazy to do things right.

A cursory skim of this update to the appendices (done quite lazily in a pdf rather than actually updating the relevant web pages, leading to the kind of link maze dead ends that you associate with websites from the 90s and 00s.) shows quite a few changes, baffling retentions, and outright omissions (some of which are likely solely down to incompetence, as per usual).

Let's go through some of them.

First off, species which are genuinely rare in Ireland today have been added to A2...and they were long overdue. 

Decisions made, by democratic vote in the Irish Rare And Scarce Bird Group, years ago are now reflected in this. 

Bewick's Swan, Wood Warbler, and Ring-Billed Gull have all been added to A2.
Those are now genuinely rare birds. 

Common Redstart added to A2 is perhaps a surprise...not necessarily wrong, but again, how do any of these decisions gel with the previous outlined process (vague as it was). If the system has changed, it should be explained and outlined in a transparent manner. Is that unreasonable?

Seabird changes include Balearic Shearwater added to A2...a critically endangered species on a global scale...but still well represented (relatively speaking) with autumn numbers. Is this addition explained and understandable?

Wilson's Petrel is retained as A2. In shore pelagics now produce these in significant numbers, demonstrating that this species is a scarce to regular summer migrant to Irish waters...is it's retention justified? How do these compare and contrast?

If species like this are considered rare...why then not Hoopoe? Omitted from rare bird recording for as long as I have lived, but numerically always in significantly less quantities than the above, and for that matter, Spotted Redshank is now numbering significantly less than either of these seabirds. Again, are we seeing consistency here?

In the same vein, Red-Breasted Flycatcher was removed years back (wrongly IMO), but it occurs far less frequently than those seabirds for example, and less than Common Redstart, and it has a mega rare twin species, Taiga Flycatcher. 

Wryneck remains an A2 rarity, again outnumbering things like RB Fly. I don't think there's a consistency argument to be made here, but let's look further.

As somewhat pointed to in the provisional list updates up thread, there are species being listed here as A2 which have not appeared in bird reports for several years (again wrongly IMO). 

Surf Scoter, American Golden Plover and White-Rumped Sandpiper, all supposedly removed from consideration are back here without a hint of explanation. They should be listed there. They absolutely should. But an explanation is required as to why they are here, or why they've been absent from reports.

Cattle Egret is absent (mirroring the democratic vote on Cattle Egret removal by the IRSBG some years back). But Great White Egret is retained. Again somewhat inconsistent.

Red-Necked Grebe and Black-Necked Grebe both re-appear under A2. Rightly so. Their numbers have dropped significantly, but again, explanation is required. Species such as these grebes and Green-Winged Teal were a long standing joke for many of us taking note of their repetitive addition and removal for years by the clown show. 🤡

Turtle Dove has been added to A2! Wow. Another surprise. Can that be justified under the whole overall numbers recorded, ease of identification system viewpoint? We all know Turtle Doves are in trouble, not necessarily against this, but what is the explanation? Do the figures stack up?

Lesser Scaup remains as A1 despite now numbering double digits per annum. That can't be justified. I think any rational person would question this.

Red-Eyed Video is completely absent from the list! 🤡 That can be safely put down to incompetence.

Then there are changes which consist of species moving back and forth between A2 and A1 tiers.
Again, ask yourself, are these explained and understandable?

Ortolan Bunting moved to A1.
Rustic Bunting moved to A1.
Why? Explain the rationale. Yes, these are species in decline, but their ID criteria remain much the same. Have their numbers occuring in Ireland dropped significantly enough to warrant this, vs their overall totals?

White Stork moved to A1. That's a hard one to justify. Not many birds as easy to ID as White Stork.

Spotted Sandpiper moved to A2. Fair enough, straight forward.

Forster's Tern moved to A1. Rightly so. A decision taken by the Irish Rare And Scarce Bird Group which they have followed....but will this new bird doing the rounds take up the long lived mantle of it's predecessor?

American Herring Gull moved to A1? Why on earth? Was the previous allocation of A2 wrong to begin with? Have they re-evaluated their ID criteria (seeing as one of their members spent 2 years trying to string one 😉). What's the reasoning here?

Western Subalpine Warbler moved to A1. I don't think so. Come on now. 😂 I mean I know one of them doesn't understand what is rare and what isn't and claims firsts for Algeria that aren't...but Western Sub-alp?

Baltic Gull only A2? Ah here like. Are you trying to make it easier for Bray stringers to push their dross through? 😂

Citrine Wagtail moved to A2. Ok. There's been enough of those I guess,
But simultaneously, Red-Throated Pipit on A2...when they have just been re-instated as a BBRC rarity in the UK? That's a disconnect that can't be rationalized.

Whatever your individual opinion on some of these changes, or lack thereof, the days of having such decisions made by one individual or small group of self selecting morons, should be over.

If the IRSBG demonstrated anything, it's that these things can effectively be discussed and decided, collaboratively, by the actual birding body itself.

And that's important. 

The aim should be to avoid the kind of individual bias that has so often been evident from this clown show committee. And most especially, when we now have a long standing, proven and documented track record of persistent failures and incompetence as we have with the IRBC.

Update: 03.05.2025

No sign of any return to Monthly provisional lists by the Incompetent Rare Bird Committee, or indeed any provisional list for 2025 yet.

Instead the burning clown car that is this committee has decided to spend it's time changing the "At sea recording area".

Apparently the lads all of a sudden don't like being arbitrary. 😂 

Ireland being one of the only countries (if not the only one) not to include the entirety of it's sea territory in it's list has always been bizarre.

But to contract that downwards? They really are just clowns. 🤡😂

No sign of any corrections to that new update of their rarity appendices. 😂

So if you find a REV tomorrow, sorry, but that's not a rare. Tough luck. 

Update: June 2025

Same as above. No sign of any provisional list for 2025. No corrections to their disastrous rarity appendix. 😂 Maybe Red-Eyed Vireo will be a rarity again by autumn?