Friday, March 10, 2006

Helmet-cam operation ends in disappointment

An update today from the helmet-cam folks:
...The team was on site for 18 days and managed to fly on only 7. They accumulated a total of 20.5 hours in the air; gathered almost 80 hours of video using the four helmet mounted cameras, and flew many transects. They saw a variety of birds including Pileated woodpeckers - but unfortunately, no Ivory-billed woodpeckers.

Our assistance in the search for the elusive Ivory-billed woodpecker was funded by a grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. We were to be on site for three weeks, divided between Louisiana and Arkansas . However, the weather looked so dismal the end of this past week, we are cut the search short a few days and the crew headed home.

There are a lot of people who have dedicated years to the search for this reclusive bird, and although we are disappointed, it would be unrealistic to think we could find it in just 20 hours. The prime search season is when the leaves are off the trees, so maybe we will have a chance next year.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm afraid the most successful search technique may need to involve "thinking outside the box" to a greater degree, and an even more progressive technology, which includes a time machine.

Anonymous said...

It would be interesting to just know how much was paid to these people to conduct this detailed search? They only flew 4 planes 20 hours in a 7 day period during a 30 day contracted period! And on top of all, they didn't even stay on sight to finish their contract!

Another interesting fact stated is this was all paid for thru a grant given by the USF&W Service. Why was an additional grant given to them? Why was the money not paid with the Millions already given to Cornell?

Just another example of a total waste of Taxpayer dollars with No checks & Balances on a subject that has allways ended up with the same results!!! Nothing!!! Is enough, not enough?

Anonymous said...

Quote:
"Just another example of a total waste of Taxpayer dollars with No checks & Balances on a subject that has allways ended up with the same results!!! Nothing!!! Is enough, not enough?"

I have to agree with the above statement. Enough has been spent on this program without any results. It now apears that money is the only thing that is not extinct in this search. The bird of subject is no closer to be found as it was when this search began. What little so-called proof that was submitted has now met with a great amount of questions. But it seems the less proof we have, the more money this project requires. One has to ask a question, What has our hard earned money gotten us so far?

I also think we have come to the point where Enough is Enough!