Fred Collins responds

Last week, a TEXBIRDS post by Fred Collins was discussed on this blog.

Fred Collins responded with the email below (posted here with his permission):

I recently came across your blog.

For the record:

I am not related to, nor do I know Mike Collins. I have looked at his web site but I do not enjoy or put much stock in blurred photographs either.

I will be in the woods of East Texas in the coming weeks and throughout the summer because I believe that a family group with fledglings in tow and communicating with them will be detectable. Unlike the Arkansas situation (at least the public one), we have some likely nesting areas located.

And yes, I am an Aggie ( Class of '71).

And either I or one of those crazy enough to join me will eventually get indisputable evidence of an animal that scales bark from trees and makes double knocks only in mature bottom land forest since we don't see those things in other east Texas sites where Pileated Woodpecker, squirrels and the like are common. It may be that some common animal acts differently in mature bottom land forest and perhaps a Pileated Woodpecker, a squirrel or big foot is producing the scaling we have documented but if I were to bet, (and I am betting with my time,) I'm betting an IBWP made that scaling.

What else can I say, I am a believer. I would like to see an IBWP, I have not. But most of all, I want to know they exist, reproduce and will have an opportunity to flourish in the future. If that can happen, I'm happy to be the brunt of any good natured harassment the "skeptics" want to dish out. I will put in my time in the woods and hopefully, I or someone like me out there will produce the proof so all might come to know that the Ivory-bill still flies in the south.

Fred Collins

Fishcrow on Wikipedia

A reference to Fishcrow's "evidence" recently appeared briefly on the Wikipedia Ivory-billed Woodpecker page.

I'm not sure if this link will work, but here is the edit, which appears to have remained on Wikipedia for some 13 hours or so.

This text was added:

The failure of the expedition may have been due to the fact that the searchers were on foot. A solo searcher moving quietly in a kayak obtained video of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the Pearl in February 2006 [http://www.fishcrow.com/winter06.html].

It looks like that edit was done via a first-time Wikipedia contribution from IP address 132.250.146.71; a reverse DNS lookup on that address resolves to ""vireo.nrl.navy.mil".

Coincidentally, in this posting, Mike Collins provides an email address ending in "nrl.navy.mil".

Fishcrow on Birdchat

Here.

Non-fiction?

From this link:

These Hingham women join other artists and gardeners from across the South Shore in bringing to life some of their favorite books through creative flower arrangements.

Three Hingham residents are participating in Books in Bloom, a showcase of floral arrangements depicting books at the James Library & Center for the Arts in Norwell on May 19 and 20...
...
Kimberly Roell, also of Hingham, has chosen a recent work of non-fiction for her entry "The Grail Bird: Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker" by Tim Gallagher.

Nine more days

Birdchick writes:

Big News: As of May 20th, I can publicly talk about my experiences on the Ivory-bill Search Team with Cornell and if anyone on my team did or did not see an ivory-bill last December. Cornell will also be announcing their findings on that date. Should be a hoppin' time on bird listservs and blogs.

Update from The Nature Conservancy

From this link:

April 28, 2006 -- During the winter and spring 2005/06 seasons, researchers cover 8 percent of the 550,000 acres that make up the Big Woods of Arkansas. (During the 2004/05 search, researchers also covered approximately 8 percent of the potential ivory-bill habitat.) During the 2005/06 search, additional evidence gathered includes sightings as well as dozens of new sound recordings that scientists believe may be those of the ivory-bill.

Your tax dollars at work

From this link:

May, 2006 - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced a $71,269 Private Stewardship Grant to The Nature Conservancy “to treat 350 acres of private lands to enhance foraging opportunities for the ivory-billed woodpecker.”

What was the role of Civic Enterprises LLC?

If someone ever writes a book about this fiasco, maybe they should investigate the role played by a firm called Civic Enterprises LLC.

Below are a few snippets from this article (the bold font is mine):

The Washington-based research firm is headed by [John] Bridgeland, who is president and CEO and a former Bush administration official.
...
Civic Enterprises LLC is a public policy firm founded in 2004 that helps corporations, non-profits, foundations universities and governments develop and spearhead innovative public policies. With offices in Washington, D.C., Ohio and other areas, the firm draws on some of the best minds in the country.
...
Among the wide range of projects the firm has undertaken is one for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to identify and compile data on the rare Ivory-billed woodpecker. A recovery team is involved in Arkansas.

Note that John Bridgeland is listed as a member of the Ivory-bill Recovery Team's Executive Committee here.

The firm's client list is here.

Everything I know about Civic Enterprises LLC is contained in the links above. Maybe there was nothing notable about their role, but I'd still be interested in finding out exactly what the sentence in bold (above) actually means.

New York Times article

Here.