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Not expecting much in the way of Ivorybill news through the holidays, so just another rerun piece from one year ago in which J. Jackson focuses on the Suwanee River region of north Florida (rated by the World Wildlife Fund as one of the "top 10 coolest places in North America") as potential Ivorybill habitat:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061215-woodpecker.html
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Elsewhere on the Web:
some "cyberbirding" resources listed here:
http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/sports/stories/1375974342.html
a birdwatcher's guide to global warming here:
http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/globalwarming/birdwatchersguide.pdf
Speaking of which, not sure where the statistics came from, but Martin Collinson, mentioned previously on his blog, that in Nov. 2006 Tom Nelson had 37 posts on IBWOs, generating 450 comments, but in Nov. 2007 the very same blog posted 247 entries, mostly on global warming, and generating only 12 comments. Would seem that the choir Tom once preached to has largely abandoned the pew!
yeah, I'm a sucker for Snowy Owls, so another nice shot of one here, as this irruptive season for them continues (although this particular shot is actually from 2 years ago):
http://www.birddigiscoping.com/2007/12/snowy-owls.html
Since I've been noting some books lately, might as well mention Jonathan Rosen's "The Life of the Skies," due out in February --- I've been mentioning it elsewhere around the Web, sight unseen. Just based on Rosen's past writings would expect it to be a wonderful read and tribute to American birding.
Finally, if you're looking for some great birding and traveling in the new year you can't do much better than Ventures Inc., headed by superb bird guide Simon Thompson (Tyler Hicks of IBWO fame is also on staff), based in western North Carolina, but leading tours all over the southeast and world. There is a south Florida outing at end of January and a Congaree Swamp trip in May, and more varied offerings in-between. Check them out here:
http://www.birdventures.com/home.htm
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