Flamingo or faux-mingo? Picture of flamingo near Menasha Dam sparks controversy on social media
MENASHA - Wisconsin birders and sightseers are in the grip of flamingo fever since five of the birds were spotted Friday on a Port Washington beach after being blown off-course by Hurricane Idalia.
But a controversy erupted on social media over whether a Menasha photographer found an American flamingo last weekend near the Menasha Dam.
An account with the name KJ Scherer posted a photo on Facebook near the Menasha Dam with a photographer shooting a picture. In the background, a flamingo stands in the water.
When asked about whether there were any other photos of the flamingo, the poster replied there were none, saying he "wanted to be respectful of the flamingo and the photographer." As of Monday, it's the only one making the rounds on social media.
The Post-Crescent reached out to Scherer for an interview. He shared the photo, but declined to comment, saying he'd been harassed as a result of the photo.
Meanwhile, the photographer in the foreground identified himself to The Post-Crescent as James Grocki, and said he frequently takes photos of birds and other subjects in the Fox Cities. He had been at the Menasha Dam Saturday shooting photos of pelicans — but said he hadn't captured a photo of the flamingo.
"I was focused on other things that day," Grocki said, referring to the pelicans. "Just because I didn't see (the flamingo) didn't mean it wasn't there."
A number of residents mentioned trying to go out and see the Menasha flamingo on their pages, though they came up empty. Several said they felt they were sent on "a wild goose chase." Todd Ward, a leader of the Northeast Wisconsin Birding Club, said he believed the photo was fake.
Rob Zimmer, a podcaster who runs the show "Outdoors with Rob Zimmer," weighed in Monday on his Facebook page, saying the reason the photo upset so many people was because "birdwatchers in Wisconsin are deadly serious about their birds and their locations and their movements and their documentation and accuracy."
As of Monday, the post, and Zimmer's page, appear no longer available on Facebook.
The Department of Natural Resources couldn't confirm or deny the Menasha sighting. Conservation biologist Ryan Wood theorized that the bird sighting, if it was legitimate, wasn't part of the group of five found in Port Washington that traveled to Wisconsin Dells.
Rebecca Loroff is a breaking and trending news reporter for northeastern Wisconsin. Contact her with story tips and feedback at rloroff@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Flamingo photo near the Menasha Dam a possible fake
