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...or, perhaps not???
It was 8 years ago today that Cornell Lab of Ornithology (with others) officially announced to the world, and published in the journal SCIENCE, that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker had been re-discovered in Arkansas:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/Birdscope/Summer2005/ib_press_conference.html
Time flies... but do Ivory-bills?
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Sunday, April 28, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
-- Gallagher On Radio --
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In case you missed it, Tim Gallagher ("Imperial Dreams") was guest on Diane Rehm's NPR show yesterday. Nice interview (50+ mins.) about his search for the Imperial Woodpecker in Mexico, available via podcast here:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/audio-player?nid=17584
More information on the show here:
http://tinyurl.com/amv78fz
...encouraging to know that the whole subject is of enough general interest to merit inclusion on Diane's show!
On a side-note, since mentioning over at IBWO Researchers Forum that this was an especially slow winter/spring for IBWO claims coming my way, a couple of folks troubled to email me about possible sightings they had or knew of in the last 6 months. So if anyone else thinks they had a possible encounter this winter or spring, that they haven't already emailed me about (or didn't put on the Web somewhere), I'd still be interested to know of it (primarily interested in locations, but of course any details welcome).
---------------------------------------------------------
In case you missed it, Tim Gallagher ("Imperial Dreams") was guest on Diane Rehm's NPR show yesterday. Nice interview (50+ mins.) about his search for the Imperial Woodpecker in Mexico, available via podcast here:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/audio-player?nid=17584
More information on the show here:
http://tinyurl.com/amv78fz
...encouraging to know that the whole subject is of enough general interest to merit inclusion on Diane's show!
On a side-note, since mentioning over at IBWO Researchers Forum that this was an especially slow winter/spring for IBWO claims coming my way, a couple of folks troubled to email me about possible sightings they had or knew of in the last 6 months. So if anyone else thinks they had a possible encounter this winter or spring, that they haven't already emailed me about (or didn't put on the Web somewhere), I'd still be interested to know of it (primarily interested in locations, but of course any details welcome).
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Wednesday, April 10, 2013
-- Flatboatin' Around Natchez --
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As a big fan of Jane Goodall this recent posting makes for an amusing story... and, with an Ivory-bill element tossed in to boot, it's all-the-more a fun read:
http://clermontsun.com/2013/04/07/george-brownadventures-of-a-novice-naturalist-at-natchez-trace/
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As a big fan of Jane Goodall this recent posting makes for an amusing story... and, with an Ivory-bill element tossed in to boot, it's all-the-more a fun read:
http://clermontsun.com/2013/04/07/george-brownadventures-of-a-novice-naturalist-at-natchez-trace/
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Sunday, April 07, 2013
-- John V. Dennis Tape(s)? --
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"Houston," who posted the John Dennis Texas summary reports over at Ivorybill Researchers' Forum that I cited last week (April 2), has another entry up, this time relating to whatever tapes (possibly a lost one) Dennis made of Ivory-bill calls in The Big Thicket… old (1960s), but still interesting stuff:
http://www.ibwo.net/forum/showpost.php?p=6057&postcount=77
Some of "Houston's" information, BTW, has come from Freedom of Information Act inquiries to the appropriate state wildlife agency. Depending on the individual state, agency, and the precise information requested, FOIA requests can sometimes take a considerable time and effort, but still might be worth thinking about for other sleuth-minded folks in various key southern states.
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Thursday, April 04, 2013
-- Chasing Another Ghost --
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All people have dreams… some dream of power or riches or castles… some dream of big woodpeckers . . . . .
With so little Ivory-bill news to report I'll go ahead and post a blurb about Tim Gallagher's new volume on his quest (with Martjan Lammertink) for the Imperial Woodpecker, "Imperial Dreams" (I believe it is to be available in bookstores within the next 2 weeks, with its gorgeous, artsy, almost gaudy cover!):
This is a book partly centered on adventure, partly centered on a bird (known to Spanish-speaking natives as the "pitoreal"), and very largely centered on an obsession/compulsion! It is likely Gallagher's best offering yet. Certainly all Ivory-bill aficionados will enjoy it; and probably most birders, naturalists, conservationists as well. Still, having said that, those who never found Tim's prior book, "The Grail Bird," convincing, or for whom he simply lost all credibility because of that book, might not be moved much by the current volume (in which he does briefly recount the Arkansas Ivory-bill story, but gives little hint of the controversy and perceived debunking that followed).
It will be interesting to see how well this book sells to a broader audience of non-birders, who may scratch their heads at the whole premise… why would anyone risk life-and-limb to chase after a big bird that may be long-gone… how does one explain such a quest, or compulsion, to the non-initiated?
The volume is chock-full of risky adventure, man-made and natural history, fascinating details, word-of-mouth anecdotes, and also very sad accounts of lost possibilities, of human senselessness, the wanton killing (shooting and poisoning) of Imperials, and avaricious destruction of their habitat. Very sad… very very sad… But Gallagher is a gifted story-teller to be sure, be it hype or accurate history.
I won't even attempt a summary of the wide-ranging content... I sometimes felt tired just reading of the travails that Gallagher and Lammertink endured. But I will mention that my favorite chapter is chapter 9, covering the expeditions ofChicago Pennsylvania dentist William Rhein to find and eventually document an Imperial in the 1950s, and Gallagher and Lammertink's preparations to follow-up on the Rhein findings. Much of this storyline has already been covered on the internet; for starters see here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=2314
Still, such stories of human infatuation, and fervid human connection to nature transfix me (Rhein's video documentation of the species is the ONLY film of an Imperial ever known.)
I didn't personally care as much for the more suspenseful, exciting, even violence-prone chapters of the book, though I suspect those will appeal to many readers for whom 'excitement' is a desired component for a good read.
Another interesting section comes in chapter 11 when, almost out of nowhere, Gallagher proceeds to tell the back-story behind Martjan Lammertink and his wife-to-be. It has virtually nothing to do with the main thrust of the book, and I won't give away any of it here, except to say that it is a testament to Gallagher's story-telling skills that he manages to shoehorn in this wonderful little human interest story amidst the larger tale he is telling. But the volume is peppered throughout with interesting passages, more pertinent to the story at-hand.
Oddly, reading Tim's book reminds me once again (as some other Ivory-bill matters have done) of the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." In that film innumerable individuals are drawn in unison to an out-of-the-way locale by a knowledge or intuition they can't understand or pinpoint, of the impending arrival of aliens from elsewhere in space.
Those of us who have believed in the Ivory-bill's persistence for decades (often since childhood) can't explain the intuition or source of confidence, that impels us to that conclusion (it isn't just wishful thinking), in the face of what so many view as "empirical" evidence otherwise. Intuition, though, is a powerful force in life… and... in science. The problem arises in distinguishing the sometimes thin line between valid, inspired intuition and irrational, pressing obsession. (I won't claim enough objectivity to separate the two with certainty!) Gallagher believes some Imperials still exist, even though he never found them, nor even much direct evidence for their presence… I don't assume him wrong…
In the end though, a large reservation still hovers: for one can't help but wonder if Gallagher's time, energy, and dollars wouldn't have been better spent in continued searching for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, that he helped resurrect over a half-dozen years ago. Some of us believe there remains a better-than-even chance the Ivory-bill will yet be verified, but IF it is NOT, Mr. Gallagher's future reputation may well be that, not of a good birder nor ornithologist, nor even a fine writer or interesting naturalist, nor exciting adventurer… but rather, simply as a major teller-of-tall-tales… a cherry-picker of information, with a penchant for embellishment… and… THAT... would be a shame.
(Meanwhile, we're still waiting for Cornell to publish or make public a predictably overdue summary of their aborted IBWO search.)
With all that said, I have no hesitation recommending the book… with the proviso that each reader will have to decide for themselves if it is simply a stirring story from a great spinner of tales… or, indeed another chronicle of real, if slender, hope for yet another beautiful, incredible, and tragic creature.
As Jerry Jackson... and Fox Mulder would no doubt be want to say, "The truth is out there."
You can also check out Jim Williams' review of "Imperial Dreams" here:
http://blog.aba.org/2013/04/pitoreal.html
Also, Gallagher shares some of the book at his blog to promote it:
http://imperial-dreams.blogspot.com/
-------------------------------------------------------
All people have dreams… some dream of power or riches or castles… some dream of big woodpeckers . . . . .
With so little Ivory-bill news to report I'll go ahead and post a blurb about Tim Gallagher's new volume on his quest (with Martjan Lammertink) for the Imperial Woodpecker, "Imperial Dreams" (I believe it is to be available in bookstores within the next 2 weeks, with its gorgeous, artsy, almost gaudy cover!):
This is a book partly centered on adventure, partly centered on a bird (known to Spanish-speaking natives as the "pitoreal"), and very largely centered on an obsession/compulsion! It is likely Gallagher's best offering yet. Certainly all Ivory-bill aficionados will enjoy it; and probably most birders, naturalists, conservationists as well. Still, having said that, those who never found Tim's prior book, "The Grail Bird," convincing, or for whom he simply lost all credibility because of that book, might not be moved much by the current volume (in which he does briefly recount the Arkansas Ivory-bill story, but gives little hint of the controversy and perceived debunking that followed).
It will be interesting to see how well this book sells to a broader audience of non-birders, who may scratch their heads at the whole premise… why would anyone risk life-and-limb to chase after a big bird that may be long-gone… how does one explain such a quest, or compulsion, to the non-initiated?
The volume is chock-full of risky adventure, man-made and natural history, fascinating details, word-of-mouth anecdotes, and also very sad accounts of lost possibilities, of human senselessness, the wanton killing (shooting and poisoning) of Imperials, and avaricious destruction of their habitat. Very sad… very very sad… But Gallagher is a gifted story-teller to be sure, be it hype or accurate history.
I won't even attempt a summary of the wide-ranging content... I sometimes felt tired just reading of the travails that Gallagher and Lammertink endured. But I will mention that my favorite chapter is chapter 9, covering the expeditions of
Still, such stories of human infatuation, and fervid human connection to nature transfix me (Rhein's video documentation of the species is the ONLY film of an Imperial ever known.)
I didn't personally care as much for the more suspenseful, exciting, even violence-prone chapters of the book, though I suspect those will appeal to many readers for whom 'excitement' is a desired component for a good read.
Another interesting section comes in chapter 11 when, almost out of nowhere, Gallagher proceeds to tell the back-story behind Martjan Lammertink and his wife-to-be. It has virtually nothing to do with the main thrust of the book, and I won't give away any of it here, except to say that it is a testament to Gallagher's story-telling skills that he manages to shoehorn in this wonderful little human interest story amidst the larger tale he is telling. But the volume is peppered throughout with interesting passages, more pertinent to the story at-hand.
Oddly, reading Tim's book reminds me once again (as some other Ivory-bill matters have done) of the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." In that film innumerable individuals are drawn in unison to an out-of-the-way locale by a knowledge or intuition they can't understand or pinpoint, of the impending arrival of aliens from elsewhere in space.
Those of us who have believed in the Ivory-bill's persistence for decades (often since childhood) can't explain the intuition or source of confidence, that impels us to that conclusion (it isn't just wishful thinking), in the face of what so many view as "empirical" evidence otherwise. Intuition, though, is a powerful force in life… and... in science. The problem arises in distinguishing the sometimes thin line between valid, inspired intuition and irrational, pressing obsession. (I won't claim enough objectivity to separate the two with certainty!) Gallagher believes some Imperials still exist, even though he never found them, nor even much direct evidence for their presence… I don't assume him wrong…
In the end though, a large reservation still hovers: for one can't help but wonder if Gallagher's time, energy, and dollars wouldn't have been better spent in continued searching for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, that he helped resurrect over a half-dozen years ago. Some of us believe there remains a better-than-even chance the Ivory-bill will yet be verified, but IF it is NOT, Mr. Gallagher's future reputation may well be that, not of a good birder nor ornithologist, nor even a fine writer or interesting naturalist, nor exciting adventurer… but rather, simply as a major teller-of-tall-tales… a cherry-picker of information, with a penchant for embellishment… and… THAT... would be a shame.
(Meanwhile, we're still waiting for Cornell to publish or make public a predictably overdue summary of their aborted IBWO search.)
With all that said, I have no hesitation recommending the book… with the proviso that each reader will have to decide for themselves if it is simply a stirring story from a great spinner of tales… or, indeed another chronicle of real, if slender, hope for yet another beautiful, incredible, and tragic creature.
As Jerry Jackson... and Fox Mulder would no doubt be want to say, "The truth is out there."
You can also check out Jim Williams' review of "Imperial Dreams" here:
http://blog.aba.org/2013/04/pitoreal.html
Also, Gallagher shares some of the book at his blog to promote it:
http://imperial-dreams.blogspot.com/
-------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
-- 1967, Texas, John Dennis --
------------------------------------------------
A member of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Researchers' Forum has posted a number of the interesting original 1967 reports of John V. Dennis concerning sightings of the IBWO in the Big Thicket of Texas:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BwTmMmXDrBKnYzNoTnRBWDlwVDg&usp=sharing
You may want to start with the 33-page "Final" report to get an overview, but the other (shorter) weekly reports are also definitely interesting to peruse. Wonderful historical documents.
Unfortunately, Paul Sykes' lengthy 1968 follow-up report is cited but not shown in full The Sykes 1968 document DOES now come up in its entirety; the first time I clicked on it it didn't (a couple of the more recent follow-ups from John Arvin and Fred Collins are also included).
------------------------------------------------
A member of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Researchers' Forum has posted a number of the interesting original 1967 reports of John V. Dennis concerning sightings of the IBWO in the Big Thicket of Texas:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BwTmMmXDrBKnYzNoTnRBWDlwVDg&usp=sharing
You may want to start with the 33-page "Final" report to get an overview, but the other (shorter) weekly reports are also definitely interesting to peruse. Wonderful historical documents.
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