Did we mention that the forest is really dense?

On the Arkansas Birding listserv, plenty of excuses are being offered up once again.

Mallard Pointe

In the following two stories from last year, I think Butch Turner's quotes are notable (the bold font is mine):

1. From a Cornell article in December 2005:

BRINKLEY, Ark. -- As Cornell's Lab of Ornithology staffers and volunteers gear up for a six-month search for the ivory-billed woodpecker, residents of Brinkley might be wondering why this bird is so hard to find.

"Everybody I know in Brinkley has said they've seen the bird," said Butch Turner, manager of the Mallard Pointe Lodge and Reserve, a hunting lodge just outside of town. "Two of our guys [lodge employees] say they've seen the bird, and these are guys who have lived all their lives around the Big Woods."

Still, nobody seems able to point a camera and get a clear image of the elusive woodpecker.

2. From an October 2005 Syracuse.com article (previously mentioned on this blog):

It doesn't take a lot of high-powered economic analysis to see why Mallard Pointe Lodge in Brinkley, Ark., doesn't cater to duck hunters the way it used to.

The ivory-billed woodpecker was spotted just a quarter-mile away from the 3,000-acre spread where Mallard Pointe, originally a duck hunting club, provided guides, dogs and open bars for hunters.

"We've set most of that aside and we have gone full force into bird watching," said manager Butch Turner.

The lodge finished a 10,000-square-foot addition last month that more than doubled its capacity. It signed up the biggest name in birding these days - Gene Sparling, the naturalist who first saw the ivory-bill in February 2004 - to lead some of its tours. Bird-watching packages for a seven-night stay cost $2,295 per person.

"Red with embarrassment"

Some snippets from David Magee's column in the April 12, 2006 edition of the Chattanooga Times Free Press:

For, as badly as I want to believe, like others, that the large, beautiful ivory-billed woodpecker, considered extinct since 1944, was discovered alive last year in an Arkansas swamp, I can’t.
...
Sure, some of the world’s best scientists and bird experts were confirming the sighting as fact, but had they watched the video?

When I did, my face turned red with embarrassment for them.
...
In the 1970s, I recall seeing better evidence that Bigfoot existed.
...
I’m more concerned that high-witted biologists want a miracle so badly that they are trying to give flight to a bird that left us many, many years ago.

The ivory-billed swami

Here is a new article from Don Hendershot.

The "tip of the iceberg"?

From an Outside Online article:

According to Tom MacKenzie, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region, every state is conducting their respective searches independently, but all have the same hopes of finding encouraging signs of the ivory-bill.
...
Despite the efforts, MacKenzie believes the chances of a sighting in Georgia are slim. However, he is confident that the ivory-bill does exist, somewhere in the greater Southeast.

"I've seen the Cornell video and I've witnessed the emphasis the whole Cornell team has put on their substantial proof," he said. "It's been out of sight for 60 years, but this sighting could be the tip of the iceberg. There have probably been many sightings over the years but people haven't been prepared to fully defend their claim so they haven't formally come forward. I'm pretty confident this Cornell sighting is legitimate."

Texas IBWO volunteer orientation postponed

Some details here.

An encounter with real Campephilus woodpeckers

At this link, Bill of the Birds describes a recent encounter with Pale-Billed Woodpeckers--cousins to the Ivory-bill.

Note that he describes "leisurely looks" at the birds over a 15-minute period; note that he doesn't mention wearing a ghillie suit and face paint; and note that he doesn't mention having to find their roost hole.

He didn't find the birds immediately, and not all of his pictures are good ones. However, he did find the birds, and he did get good pictures, even with leaves on the trees.

If you Google for images of Pale-billed Woodpeckers, you'll find plenty of other decent pictures of that species.

If the Ivory-bill had survived in the US in recent decades, it's virtually certain that we would have hundreds or thousands of recent, high-quality Ivory-bill photos.

Small, skeptical AP story

Here.

An excerpt:

Doubters say millions of dollars are being spent on the false claim, and irrefutable proof should have been gathered before the announcement was made.

Believers respond that they are convinced the bird exists in Arkansas.

The Corridor of Hope

You should take a good look at the information here.

The logo is nice, the team is massive, and it looks like Very Big Plans were going to be made.

It's truly remarkable that this almost certainly stemmed from some misidentified Pileateds, an out-of-focus branch stub, some Blue Jay calls, etc.

Let's pretend

From this lengthy new National Wildlife Federation article (the bold font is mine):

Now that the bird has been spotted with scientific certainty in Arkansas, biologists are taking a closer look at reports from other areas—from Texas to Florida—where rumors persist about the bird’s survival.

Skeptical article from the Kansas City Star

Today's Kansas City Star article is one of the most skeptical newspaper pieces to date.

Some excerpts:

“I don’t believe it’s there, and I haven’t from the get-go,” said Mark Robbins, a nationally noted ornithologist at the University of Kansas.
...
“The one thing Cornell seems to have established is that there are no ivory bills down there,” Robbins said.
...
Business owners in Clarenden, Ark., are being told in meetings to keep the faith, said Donald Branch, acting mayor. They’re hoping for an eco-tourism boom from ivory bills, such as for the city’s Big Woods Birding Festival on May 20.

“If they’re not there, most tourists have never seen a cottonmouth water moccasin,” Branch said of the poisonous snake. “We know we can find those.”

Skeptical article from the Kansas City Star

Today's Kansas City Star article is one of the most skeptical newspaper pieces to date.

Some excerpts:

“I don’t believe it’s there, and I haven’t from the get-go,” said Mark Robbins, a nationally noted ornithologist at the University of Kansas.
...
“The one thing Cornell seems to have established is that there are no ivory bills down there,” Robbins said.
...
Business owners in Clarenden, Ark., are being told in meetings to keep the faith, said Donald Branch, acting mayor. They’re hoping for an eco-tourism boom from ivory bills, such as for the city’s Big Woods Birding Festival on May 20.

“If they’re not there, most tourists have never seen a cottonmouth water moccasin,” Branch said of the poisonous snake. “We know we can find those.”