— And Now For Something Totally Different — +Addenda

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These days I mostly try to focus here on current news or genuinely fresh, credible information (not speculation, hearsay, theories, rehash, same-ol-same-ol etc.) of which there is precious little… but I’ll take a moment to pass along this quirky tangent that blew me away!

On Facebook, Mishelle Lynn posts about a TV show including a segment showing Charlemagne's Palace Chapel Cathedral in Aachen, Germany where she noticed a single mosaic (as they were panning around) with what appears to clearly be an Ivory-billed Woodpecker (certainly more clear than anyone else in recent times has produced ;) Mind you this cathedral dates back to around the year 900!, though from Mishelle's own research this mosaic may have been a replacement(?) put in around the 1870s -- that would be well passed the time of early American painters/ornithologists prominently noting the IBWO, but still a bit mind-boggling that it should end up in this context.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/179784035376368/permalink/7046358702052166/

Campephilus woodpeckers (let alone IBWOs) were certainly not a German, nor even European, species, so what an oddball occurrence. It’s well-known that Ivory-bill specimens were distributed to museums throughout the world, including Europe, but still fascinating (to me) that an artist would see fit to include it in a medieval chapel setting. What was he thinking; what was the inspiration???

Mishelle asks several questions in making the FB posting, so do visit it (if you’re on FB) and see if any further questions get answered.

(I don't have the time to research it myself, but if someone else does and wants to report back any results feel free, or perhaps someone already knows the back story on this!). 

Sometimes I almost get tired of hearing the adjective "iconic" applied to this bird, and feel it is overused... but then I see a story or example like this, and think, YUP, it's iconic!!

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ADDENDUM :

And now today, yet another crazy, entertaining story off Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/179784035376368/permalink/7052449328109770/

It reminds me oddly of the story of claims that Louisianian Fielding Lewis, famous for a couple of 1971 never-authenticated photos of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the Atchafalaya, had additional photos that he never ever released -- they were looked for among his belongings upon his death and never located.... are they buried in an attic, a thrift store, a shoebox somewhere.... or, they just never existed to begin with?

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ADDENDUM 10/31:

Just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the death of Chris Feeney, at 77 (reported by Matt Courtman), a long-time Ivory-bill enthusiast and searcher. I’d communicated with Chris a bit over a dozen years ago, and then again a few months back when clarifying Paul Sykes’ current view of matters.

He often worked in conjunction with Keith Collins (another long-time searcher), who will be out there again this winter (if he isn’t already) searching in Florida (and perhaps Arkansas?).

It’s a shame that if there is ever a positive outcome to this whole saga, so many of the genuinely long-involved folks will no longer be around to experience it. :(

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…and, another ADDENDUM 11/1:

Matt Courtman announces his guest on his (free) Nov. 20 Ivory-bill evening Zoom meeting will be Martjan Lammertink one of the world’s foremost experts on the IBWO and Campephilus woodpeckers more generally:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/179784035376368/permalink/7087788361242533/?mibextid=zDhOQc

…I will try to remember to post a reminder for this closer to the date.

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ADDENDUM 11/3:

The fun never ends....

I've lost count of the number of "groups" on Facebook that tout the existence of the IBWO, but now there is also a group (for skeptics) devoted to dissing such claims, calling itself, "Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Sighting, Lies, and Fabrications" (...it's a tad reminiscent of some of the comments/discussion that prevailed over 15 years ago on some IBWO sites):

https://www.facebook.com/groups/220897210949459

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-- Washington Post +Addenda --

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Another Ivory-bill update article today, this time in the Washington Post, if you can access it (always nice to see a major publication covering the saga seriously). Nothing terribly new; does mention that USFWS is still debating its decision because of all the controversial views/data it must evaluate (in its slow, not-very-transparent way); even says at one point it’s not known when they’ll make a decision, though USFWS earlier indicated they would have a decision by the end of this year — not very far away at all, or will they again be AWOL come December 31?

I did find it interesting that in well under 24 hours the article already has over 160 comments (when I last checked -- Edit: a day later, 250 comments!)… few of which add much value to the piece at all, but still nice to see that much public interest remaining. IBWO skeptics, I suppose, will cancel their subscriptions... ;)

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ADDENDUM 10/18:

The information in the above article has by now been passed along in dozens of other press articles (including NY Times), testament to a story that will not die (anytime soon). I’m not too convinced myself of the competency of the USFWS at this point, but nonetheless have to chuckle a bit at the degree to which skeptics must be tearing their hair out by now….  ;)

Someone on Facebook did recently post a link to this lengthy skeptic-take from a year ago:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ibi.13144

It’s two main (and old) arguments are that 1) all the recent “evidence” for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers is sketchy and uncertain — this is of course a matter of some prolonged and subjective debate as to just how sketchy each piece of evidence is (though I agree it isn't conclusive), and 2) the ongoing ‘limited pie’ argument that every dollar (or even hour) spent on the IBWO is money and time that could be better spent on some other pressing conservation issue — I get a little tired of this take, since it is almost ALWAYS the case that one can find a “better” place to spend any given set of dollars, time, energy. I suspect the authors themselves have spent money on lattes, furniture, family vacations, doodads, etc. etc. that could’ve instead gone to help endangered species, starving children, earthquake victims, or whatever. Even money spent saving say the Bald Eagle, California Condor, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, etc. could also have been well-spent on other different cases (including less glamorous ones). While the ‘fixed pie’ argument can sometimes have merit, it will always be one of debatable choices between competing interests, and the relatively small amount being apportioned for the Ivory-bill makes it seem a tad disingenuous/rhetorical.

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-- PIWO In Flight --

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Couple of clips of a Pileated Woodpecker in flight posted on FB:

(there are many videos of PIWOs in flight on the Web, but these have some nice features)

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1007519790298785

[...some discussion over here:

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/179784035376368/permalink/6961828803838490/ ]

another video: https://www.facebook.com/melmore/videos/1574420766314754

...and an old clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFPEAQe0qCk

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ADDENDUM 10/2:

I hesitate to even link to it, but what the hey (will do so for those with interest in such)…. Paul Guris has a new followup post on FB including 7 brief videos of Pileateds in escape flight… a number of potential issues in the videos, and indeed I have issues with most analysis of flight style and flap rates... as well as issues with auditory evidence (kents and DKs), and potential issues with eDNA as well…. feel like a broken record, but will repeat again: IBWOs, if they exist, forage and roost…. every.… single.… day…. find a foraging site or roosthole (or nesthole), place a remote, automatic motion-activated camera on it, walk away, and let the camera do the work. Short of that, I find it difficult to imagine any sort of evidence being persuasive.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/179784035376368/permalink/6965961206758583/