1. David Luneau led a search in the White River area in early 2003--this failed attempt included the use of remote cameras.
2. In the summer of 2003, Cornell used ARUs in a failed attempt to locate Ivory-bills in the White River area. Mary Scott writes:
I informed local wildlife officials in Arkansas of my [March 2003] sighting. I talked with Richard Hines, the refuge biologist at White River, and with the forester there. It was the first time the prospect of ivorybills in their midst had been raised. I talked with them about the specific feeding habits of the birds, and how they could enhance the chances for the birds through appropriate forest management. I then contacted Chris Tessaglia-Hymes at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and told him of my experience. Chris and I had corresponded about the search over the years, and I trusted him. It is because of Chris that the Cornell Lab of Ornithology got the inside track on the Ivorybill. Chris wasn't a bigwig at Cornell, and his work in the Bioacoustics Program didn't put him in the epicenter of possible interest, so Chris suggested that I contact Tim Gallagher with my sighting. I did so. It was interesting that Tim had been trying to contact me for some time, but until Chris's advice, he seemed just one of many who wanted to chat about their experiences, and mine. Until my sighting in Arkansas, I had nothing to say that was not on my website. So, I called Tim, who to his credit was able to get past my unsavory reputation and listen to the details of my sighting. It sparked his interest in Arkansas as a place to search. I put him in touch with Bob Russell as well, and Bob's report did generate serious interest in the White River region. The Cornell team deployed automatic recording units at the White River, but not until August, well past the time period when vocalizations would be more prominent in the breeding season. The results were first called "inconclusive", but in January of 2005, the Cornell ARUs placed within one mile of the location of my sighting at the White River picked up the first known ivorybill calls (a series of short toots) recorded since 1935. Of course, our scientist friends are still struggling to make the case for the calls ~ doing spectrographic analysis to make sure the calls weren't made by a mimic such as the blue jay.3. Then there are the BirdForum claims (circa Sept 2005) of Wanda Ellis ("fishing4clues"). An excerpt from one of her posts (the bold font is mine):
This sighting occured in aug.1999 I told the wildlife officers in decof 1999 and met Gene Sparling the first time in Jan 2000. Then when the press is called in 2005 they released that Gene found the bird within 1/2 mile from where I saw it you be the judge. Oh and by the way....Marjon limmertink (probably spelled his name wrong too.) Stated that he had no doubt it was me that started Gene in looking for the bird. He actually said thank you for the help in finding the bird. He seemed to know of me and he has the hand written version of the sighting I gave it to him to give to Ron because he wanted it in writing.Another interesting post is here. An excerpt (the bold font is mine):
May be then you'll relize It's not somewhere you want to just to kayak in. Look other than what I told him he [Sparling] had no previous reason to even be in that area. He belived what I said enough to keep looking you said so yourself that he kept coming back over and over and over etc...I just wanted him to say thank you and he did but not PUBLICALLY which that is what I deserve. Put yourself in my position would you be happy?In this article, Wanda Ellis is identified as an employee of Penny Childs (of Ivory-billed Woodpecker hairstyle fame).
An excerpt from this Outside article:
"I was familiar with the legend of the ivorybill," says Sparling, who speaks with a richly seasoned raconteurial drawl. "As a young man, I fantasized at great length of traveling to the Big Thicket, in Texas, finding a lost colony of ivorybills, and photographing them."Remember, Sparling has been consistently painted as a mere "kayaker" who stumbled onto an Ivory-bill, not as someone who was out looking for Ivory-bills.
4. Note that this timeline doesn't reflect any of the information in points 1-3 above.
Posts
6 comments:
So Sparling was looking before Mary Scott even hit the state? What's the true nature of their connection, then?
It all goes back to the Pearl River search getting everyone's juice up? Sounds like too much wishful thinking has gone into all this to make anyone credible at all as an unbiased witness.
Without good photos, mass hysteria seems to be the most likely explanation for all this?
Regardless of what anyone might think of Mary Scott and her credibility/reputation, I've always thought that Fitzpatrick et al. were disingenuous or negligent (perhaps even dishonest) in not acknowledging her in the Science article for making them aware of the possible presence of IBWOs in the White River. If not for Mary's tip, there might never have been an expedition to the White River in search of IBWOs. In my opinion, Mary's description of her 2003 sighting is no more and no less credible (but much more detailed) than the sightings reported by the CLO/TNC team to supplement their audio/video evidence. Could it be that Fitzpatrick et al. intentionally neglected to acknowledge Mary Scott's contribution because they didn't want their reputations besmirched by association with an individual who is regarded in some circles as somewhat of a kook?
"…they didn't want their reputations besmirched by association with an individual who is regarded in some circles as somewhat of a kook?
Well that strategy sure worked. While they avoided association with a "kook" now all of the authors of the Cornell IBWO paper are in line to be inducted into the Ornithological Hall of Shame. There are so many of them I hear they are thinking about building a CLO addition to the Hall to accommodate all of the plaques, memorabilia, photos – oh, that’s right they really didn’t get any photos.
And I sure hope that at the induction ceremonies they give full credit to the Fitzcrow. I look forward to hearing them say "No thanks would be too much for his leadership, intellect…."
>There are so many of them I hear they are thinking about building a CLO addition to the Hall to accommodate all of the plaques, memorabilia, photos – oh, that’s right they really didn’t get any photos.
>
Actually, they did, but they're of crumbs on a plate, blurs of camo dashing through the forest, mugs of coffee steaming near computers (showing screen savers of IBWOs), etc. I'm not sure if any have definitive fieldmarks... Well, except Fitzcrow's IBWO-stache.
My Two Cents
Don't give undue credit to Mary when its her psychic who deserved the credit and Science coauthorship.
Anyone else notice that Chris T.-H. wrote an absolutely glowing review of Tim's book on Amazon?
Personally, I don't think there is such a thing as pre-Sparling at Bayou Deview. As earlier mentioned in the "bonafides", someone named "Jean" has been "seeing" ivorybills at Bayou Deview since the late 1970's. One would think in over a quarter century "Jean" would have gotten a decent photo by now. Also, this individual should be regarded as the world's living authority on ivorybills. I'm still anxiously awaiting to hear about the "ivorybill in the freezer" which allegedly was shot on Bayou Deview in 1980. Oh how I wonder if the deep dark secrets of the Wilson, Arkansas and Crowley's Ridge gang will ever come to light.
Bona Ditto
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