An Auburn University research team says it has evidence that ivory-billed woodpeckers are living in the Florida panhandle. The team has made 14 sightings of the presumed extinct bird since May, 2005. Recordings of the woodpecker's distinctive double-knock sound and other evidence consistent with the large bird's behavior are documented in a report published in Avian Conservation & Ecology.
Reports of the Florida sightings were a relief to the birding community, which has been involved in controversy since a 2004 sighting in Arkansas.
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This is par for the course. Somebody who appears to be an authority speaks to a low paid (or unpaid) writer for a paper in some dinky town who in turn regurgitates whatever crap they were fed. They don't have an reason to doubt the "expert" and don't even understand that there is any controversy.
Watch for more articles quoting Auburn, Bobby, and maybe even Fishcrow from small towns around the country, but it looks like Cornell has gotten themselves out of the quote business already.
With the mention of Fishcrow in the comment above I had to check out his website. Here's a choice morsel from 6/16/07
"While I was trying to install the line, a massive animal charged directly toward me through the swamp. It was coming like a locomotive. I couldn't see it, but I could tell that it was veering from side to side in a sinusoidal motion (perhaps to dodge cypress knees) by the way the vegetation was moving. I was standing in knee deep water on top of a thick ooze, which extended as far as I could see in all directions. That critter--whatever it was--caught me in a vulnerable situation. I yelled out and clapped my hands, and it turned back. Last week, I heard a double rap near this area. "
"sinusoidal" --- Boy, do I love me some Fishcrow.
The Florida reports were a
relief to the fund raising
community. The birding
community remains disgusted
by what is transpiring in
Arkansas and Florida.
The only thing that's missing from this lunacy is someone from the Discovery Institute claiming that "We can't rule out the possibility that the IBWO went extinct but was subsequently 'born again' from the egg of a pileated woodpecker, a very closely species in the same baramin."
"a massive animal charged directly toward me through the swamp"
Skunk Ape? A Southern subspecies of Bigfoot?
The Florida sightings could have been the relief the CLO needed, but they failed to take advantage of a perfect chance to pass the torch to Auburn. To me this is evidence that at least some of them still believe(d)
Skunk Ape? A Southern subspecies of Bigfoot?
The Skunk Ape tends to move in a fashion that is more serpentine than "sinusouidal."
Reports of the Florida sightings were a comic relief to the birding community
Fixed the typo.
It was coming like a locomotive. I couldn't see it, but I could tell that it was veering from side to side in a sinusoidal motion (perhaps to dodge cypress knees) by the way the vegetation was moving.
I am an experienced birder but am a rank amateur in train identification. Can somebody fill me in on what type of locomotive veers from "side to side in a sinusoidal motion"? Thanks in advance to all of you trainspotters out there.
Skunk Ape? A Southern subspecies of Bigfoot?
Raccoon.
From Fishcrow's diary (all caps added):
"I heard a double rap near this area. I heard several of them today, each time when the wind was blowing. It would be interesting to track down the TREE that's making those sounds"
Tree!
Another case of confusion between the IBWO and woody Plantae
For comic relief its hard to top Fishcrow
The "birding community" is largely composed of a bunch of urban bunny rabbit types who are so freaking far in the box of conventional wisdom that they are absolutely hopeless.
To think this type would ever get way back in the woods off the beaten path is a joke. I wasted a day or two with these losers, never again.
What's wrong with urban bunny rabbits. I don't find them off-putting at all.
wait'll birdchick hears that fishcrow is dissing urban bunny rabbits. Fur, feathers and scales will fly.
If only there were more birding bunnies to meet in the city...
"so freaking far in the box of conventional wisdom that they are absolutely hopeless."
Wait a minute. I thought the conventional wisdom is that the IBWO has been rediscovered and has evolved to be incredibly wary?
"To think this type would ever get way back in the woods off the beaten path is a joke"
The urban birders I know like to go way back off the path in woods where rare endemic birds still exist, not in the southeastern USA where the three best bird species are extinct.
Anonymous said...
"Skunk Ape? A Southern subspecies of Bigfoot?"
It was Hogzilla
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