-- In The Popular Press Again --

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Yesterday's USA Today contained a somewhat textbook-like article on the Ivory-bill :

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2005-11-09-ivory-billed-woodpecker_x.htm
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-- Another Look Back: John Dennis --

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...some more ivory-bill history to re-live: Ornithologist and writer John Dennis's reports of Ivory-bills in the Big Thicket area of Texas gained him notoriety and then discredit back in the 1960's. Below is part of the memorable account he wrote for Audubon Magazine in Dec. 1967. Others discounted his claims (which were never corroborated) and later he himself admitted to being overly-optimistic in his estimates of Ivory-bill numbers in Texas though he still believed they were present... as many others still do :

"... toward dusk I heard the tin trumpet-like sound that could only come from one source. I had last heard these notes in the swamps of the Chipola River in northwestern Florida in 1951...
Rain and impassable roads delayed my return to the locale until December 8th, when I made another discovery. Not far from where I had heard the call notes I found a living overcup oak with two fresh, squarish holes -- each about four inches in diameter -- penetrating a hollow trunk. Since the pileated woodpecker does not normally make square roost or nest holes or use living oak trees, I had good reason to believe that this was the work of an ivory-bill.
But when I returned two days later my crest of optimism was diminished. I could not even find the oak with the two squarish holes. All morning I took one compass bearing after another near the spot where I thought the roost tree should be. Then toward noon I wandered along the edge of a cypress-filled bayou. I had walked only a few yards when I was almost paralyzed with excitement by a sight that few have seen.
The bird had apparently been feeding near the ground. Effortlessly and almost gliding, it seemed, it rose from its feeding place, disappeared behind some trees, then reappeared for an instant on the trunk of a big dead cypress tree standing in the nearby bayou. Then before I could fully comprehend what I had seen, the bird vanished in the forest.
The wide white border at the rear edge of the upper wing convinced me beyond doubt that this was an ivory-billed woodpecker. A half-hour later I spotted the bird again. This time I saw what looked like a giant red-headed woodpecker perched on a stump, wings outspread in an attitude that suggested a threat display...
...on February 19th I was able to show Armand Yramategui an ivory-bill at almost the same spot. He saw the same features I did -- the the upper wing pattern, the long pointed tail, and the straight rather than undulating flight. He thought his bird had a black crest.
As I continued my search in this area through early winter, I found evidence of only one bird and this, in all probablility, was a female. My early elation gave way to apprehension. Was this the last ivory-bill in Texas? The last one anywhere?...
... looking back on the history of the ivory-bills’ tenuous survival through this century, I was comforted by the fact that the bird has always reappeared after long absences....

As I searched the Neches River valley during the winter of 1967, evidence began to point to a sizable ivory-bill population. Talking with hunters, fishermen, cattle raisers, lumbermen and oil company workers I found a few persons who had unquestionably seen ivory-bills. The details they gave me could not have come from any book. I also talked to the few hardy birdwatchers who, braving the mosquitoes, water moccasins and difficult terrain, had penetrated the swamps...
In February I found evidence of ivory-bills at still a third location. From a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plane, not only did I spot what was almost certainly an ivory-bill in flight, but the very location had been pinpointed by a woodsman as the place where he had seen one of the birds.
In April, May, and early June, I was again in Texas, this time under the auspices of the Endangered Species Research Station of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. Again my assignment was to search for ivory-bills, to interview people -- and to try to determine just how many birds there were and to locate their territories....
By the end of May, taking into account my own observations and the most trustworthy of those made by others, I made a rough estimate of the ivory-bill population in the Neches Valley. Instead of one forlorn bird, I could speak confidently of between five and ten pairs. This was most encouraging. But uppermost was the question of what could be done at this late date not only to save the ivory-bill from extinction, but to bring its numbers back to a safer level.
The situation is not at all hopeless. I am encouraged, first of all, by the birds’ ability to remain out of sight -- even to the extent of having “disappeared” in Texas for 62 years..."

-- John Dennis, R.I.P. (1916 - 2002)

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-- Ivory-bill Habitat Potential --

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In another new BirdForum note, "fangsheath" reported the following:

"Those with an interest in ivory-bills may find this paper of value. It describes forest changes in the Mississippi alluvial valley from the 1930's to the 1990's. Notice that in the early 1930's, when only about 1 million acres of uncut bottomland forest remained, much of it (though certainly not all) in NE La., there were about 13 million acres of regenerating second-growth. By this time many areas that had been clearcut were probably already 30+ years old. Many areas judged to be old-growth in the 1990's remained in private hands." http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/gtr...042-rudis01.pdf --- Many of us have never bought the notion that Ivory-bill habitat simply disappeared completely in the 40's (and when necessary, birds can linger in forest 'patches' surprisingly well, if left undisturbed), nor that the birds couldn't easily adapt to second-growth forest. Ivory-bill habitat afterall was home to 100s of avian species (not just the Ivory-bill), almost all of whom are still with us today. ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ivory-bill vs. Pileated Groove Size Study

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This quite fascinating post from Steve Holzman appeared today on BirdForum. Steve and Paul Sykes (I assume this is the rather long-time IBWO skeptic 'Paul Sykes'?) have been conducting a study of any perceivable, measureable differences in Pileated and Ivory-bill bark scaling signs (I've always been a bit skeptical of these possible differences, but this certainly sounds intriguing/hopeful) :

"We presented a poster at the Large Woodpecker Symposium in Brinkley, AR last week. I think after we do the statistics we'll put a paper together. For those unfamilar with the project, we found some grooves on bark-scaled trees in Arkansas that were above 3.8 mm in width. After looking throughout many southeastern states we found similar sign (likely Pileated Woodpecker (PIWO) work) and measured those grooves. We then measured hundreds of bills of both Ivory-billed (IBWO) and PIWO in museum collections. The grooves outside of AR coincided nicely with PIWO bills and the AR grooves coincided nicely with IBWO bills. While you couldn't say a particular tree was scaled by Pileated or IBWO just by looking at it, there does seem to be a groove width difference. Preliminary work suggests that Pileated's can't make a groove larger than 3.5 (and more are below 3.1 mm). This is a work in progress, but it does show some promise in identifying woodpecker species by examination of foraging sign. We also were able to measure the grooves on the inside of IBWO cavities in museum collections (only 4 cavities are in existence as far as we know). These also coincided with the AR grooves."

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-- A Little More History... --

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While awaiting for something historical to happen in AR. (or elsewhere) it may be of value to review past historical IBWO information. I particularly like reading Arthur Bent's old accounts of various bird species, and here's just a little of what he had to write about the Ivory-bill back around 1940:

"The large size and striking color pattern, the mystery of its habitat, and the tragedy of its possible extinction combine to make the ivory-billed woodpecker one of peculiar interest to all Americans who have any pride in the natural resources of their country...
The ivorybill is primarily a bird of the great moss-hung southern swamps, where mature timber with its dying branches provides a bounteous food supply of wood-boring larvae, but its habits apparently vary in different parts of its range, for the birds I observed in Florida, although nesting in cypress swamp, did most of their feeding along its borders on recently killed young pines that were infested with beetle larvae. They even got down on the ground like flickers to feed among palmetto roots on a recent burn. In Louisiana, on the other hand, the nesting birds observed confined their activities to a mature forest of oak, sweetgum, and hackberry, and paid little attention to the cypress trees along the lagoons.
At what time the winter groups of ivorybills break up and spring activities commence is rather difficult to state, for there seems to be considerable irregularity to the breeding season. Judged from published records of its nests, the period of greatest activity would seem to be late March and early April... there are a few records of February nesting...
...once a pair has established a territory it seems to cling to that area winter and summer... These territories are doubtless several miles in diameter, but the tendency was for the birds to build up small communities in certain areas until in former years, when their distribution was normal, they were reported as fairly common by observers who happened upon one of these communities. On the other hand, there were perhaps always large areas of similar timber uninhabited by them, so that with equal truth by equally competent observers they were called extremely rare. How much farther they range during the winter than during the nesting season has not yet been worked out, but doubtless the area covered at times is considerably larger, and this accounts for sporadic records of birds in nonbreeding seasons in areas where no nests have been located and where no one has been able to find the birds subsequently.
The family groups apparently keep together until the following nesting season, and Mr. Kuhn has reported seeing groups of from three to five birds even as late as early March. Hoyt (1905) states that 'after the young leave the nest in April they and the parents remain together until the mating season in December.' " (from Life Histories of North American Woodpeckers by Arthur C. Bent)

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-- News Forthcoming or Blackout? --

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Ivory-bill enthusiasts have all looked forward to the current resumption of the Cornell search in hopes of more news coming forth. Possibly though we should be prepared for the exact opposite effect: with so many of those most interested in the IBWO likely involved in the search and thus under the auspices of Cornell, they will have much LESS freedom to report information or even speculation than previously (I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing but just a fact of the situation). It's conceivable the next few months could be even slower for public news than the last couple months. David Luneau has previously written that he, and possibly others, plan to post updates on the search at The Nature Conservancy site:
http://nature.org/ivorybill
It will be interesting to see just how frequent and informative any such reports are.

Otherwise, there are still many more talks/presentations on the Ivory-bill scheduled around the country so it is worth checking here from time to time for any coming to your area:
http://nature.org/ivorybill/current/art16528.html
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-- Cornell Presentations Available --

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Four presentations from Cornell Ivory-bill researchers given at this year's American Ornithologists' Union's annual conference are available for video download at:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/multimedia/videos/aoupresentation.htm

(need a broadband connection)
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-- The Imperial Woodpecker --

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In a prior "comment" Patrick Coin has referred folks to the following sites regarding the possible survival of the Imperial Woodpecker (the IBWO's Mexican cousin), and of course by googling "Imperial Woodpecker" you can discover still more:

http://birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=44627
http://www.birdersworld.com/brd/default.aspx?c=a&id=540

This all reminded me that when D. Kulivan claimed to spot 2 Ivory-bills in Pearl River, La. in April, 1999, I heard at least one individual speculate that maybe it was a case of mistaken identity and he actually saw Imperials -- apparently not realizing that this would be an even more incredible sighting (though Imperials had been observed more recently than Ivorybills, La. was totally outside their historical range).
Imperials are similar to Ivory-bills but significantly larger (by ~20%), and with a slightly different white pattern (possibly less dorsal and facial white, with possibly more white on the wings). But as one who doesn't like to summarily dismiss any possibility, consider this: the Ivory-bill is about 2-3 inches larger than a PIWO; I happen to think this is a significant amount and would be discernible in a quick glance by someone accustomed to seeing Pileateds, but others have argued that, at a distance, and with a brief look, that size differential could not be confidently registered. Yet, several of Cornell's sighters noted the sheer size of the bird they witnessed as being among the first fieldmarks that immediately jumped out at them, even with brief looks -- Is it possible that in the last half-century Imperials have moved slowly northward to escape the massive habitat destruction of their home range? Could remnants have dispersed into the American Southeast? -- no, I don't really believe that, but again I won't dismiss out-of-hand any possibility. Indeed, one of the things most troubling to me about the Luneau video is that to my eye the bird in question has always seemed TOO large and bearing TOO much wing-white even for an IBWO!

Addendum 11/7/05: here's yet another sighting of the Imperial reported to "Mexbirds" listserv from John Spencer in part as follows:

"Ron and Sarojam Makau are... avid bird watchers, who live near Cabo Pulmo, BCS. They are both professors at UC Riverside in the Biology Dept. They just got back from the Copper Canyon trip. They had some fantastic news … they are sure, absolutely sure, that the saw an Imperial Woodpecker (!) near Divisadero on the north rim of Copper Canyon. I questioned them closely, but they were sure, based on the description in Peterson...

They swear that they saw the female that has a very unusal reverse crest. They both are experienced birders and are biology professors at UC Riverside. They have birded all over the world and are really good birders. I believe their sighting.

They saw the bird about 30 ft up a pine tree, clinging to the trunk. They were about 50 to 60 feet away, with good light. They observed the bird for about 2 minutes, during that time the bird turned her head and the crest was seen at several angles, definitely matched the drawing in Peterson for the female. The bird flew off with slow heavy wingbeats. No sounds were heard. The sighting was about 0700 on the trail near the big hotel on the canyon rim.

I know that this is an unconfirmed and second-hand report, but I personally know the reporters and believe their sighting."

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-- Latest Audubon Magazine Article --

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The latest (Nov.) issue of Audubon Magazine includes an article discussing why the Pileated Woodpecker still thrives today while the Ivory-billed almost died out. It employs the same arguments used in the past (adaptability, diet, habitat needs) based, as all the literature is, on Tanner's work which, as I've argued before, could simply be wrong in some of its details, especially as applied to individual surviving birds instead of to the species as a whole.
The article does note that Pileateds too became rare during the 19th century but by the 1940s was making a comeback just as the Ivory-bill was being written off. The sheer original population of Pileateds, ranging over the entire east half of the US rather than just the Southeast, may have been 100X greater than that of Ivory-bills, and easily account for its widespread survival today without resorting to any other differences. If say, 15,000 Ivory-bills were killed by hunters/collectors through the 19th century (that's just 3/week for the entire southeast) it may have decimated an already thin IBWO population, while the loss of 15,000 Pileateds may have been negligible long-term for that species.
Both the PIWO and IBWO resided in a forest plush with food -- to simply posit that the IBWO had specialized unmet dietary needs accounting for its downfall, while the PIWO (and ALL other birds of the forest) lacked such specialization is little more than a circular argument unless one can demonstrate actual physiological differences between the two species that account for such differences (some have tried to argue previously that bill size/shape differences resulted in differing needs, but this is not altogether convincing). Again, as written here previously, observations of IBWO behavior from the past can only indicate 'preferences' of those birds witnessed, and can not be assumed to be an accurate reflection of the biological survival 'needs' of the species which could be far more minimal -- I for one consume pizza and salad every week, yet in spite of any Tannerian-like conclusions one might reach, could still survive quite nicely if those choices were stripped away forever... and I don't even have wings to carry me far-and-wide in search of food.
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-- Georgia Ivory-bill History --

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One Sheila Willis has posted a very nice and interesting history of Ivory-bill sightings in the Okefenokee area of Georgia on the Ga. birding listserv available here:

http://www.surfbirds.com/phorum/read.php?f=26&i=9844&t=9844#reply_9844

Worth a read...
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-- In Need of a Laugh? --

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If you're in need of a couple of chuckles and a guffaw check out this hot-off-the-blog-press report from a "Cornell Ivory-bill searcher":

http://birdingisnotacrime.blogspot.com/2005/10/binac-world-exclusive-first-report.html
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-- Tree Scaling/Furrowing Study --

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Paul Sykes and Steve Holzman are investigating tree scaling/furrowing as a sign of Ivory-bill presence and would like any assistance in studying such signs as described at:

http://www.coastalgeorgiabirding.org/misc/furrows.htm

Should you have any such data/info to share with Paul/Steve, I'm sure the folks at Cornell Lab would also be interested copies of the same.
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- Picture It In Your Mind's Eye -

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In about a week Cornell's winter search effort in the Arkansas Big Woods commences, focusing initially on a 20-kilometer radius around the locale of most prior sightings (Cache River NWR), and expanding outward along the Cache and White Rivers. Close to 20 full-time paid searchers are involved along with about 100 experienced volunteers who have signed on for two-week stints. Remote audio and video units will also be deployed in the most promising areas, and GPS units and aerial photography will help keep track of exactly what areas have been surveyed; all as part of the most systematic IBWO search ever conducted (and to run through next April 30). Still, a VERY large, dense, inhospitable habitat is involved, looking for a creature that, though big, can easily fly out-of-view or simply duck inside a tree-hole to become invisible. Were it the case that Cache River held the last 1-2 Ivory-bills on Earth it would not surprise me at all for them to escape further detection; but my view is that multiple IBWOs exist there (and in other areas as well), greatly increasing the likelihood of encounter, though not necessarily the chance of a definitive photo.

Though many of us KNOW better, among the most hardened skeptics, Donald Eckelberry's 1944 sighting of a lone female Ivory-bill in Louisiana's Singer Tract is still cited as the last authenticated sighting of an IBWO (Eckelberry, by the way, had NO photos, NO video, NO audio recording, and no other credible adult witnesses, but his tale is easily accepted). Here is his wonderful description of that 1944 experience: (Picture it in your own mind's eye...)

"She came trumpeting in to the roost, her big wings cleaving the air in strong, direct flight, and she alighted with one magnificent upward swoop. Looking about wildly with her hysterical pale eyes, tossing her head from side to side, her black crest erect to the point of leaning forward, she hitched up the tree at a gallop, trumpeting all the way. Near the top she became suddenly quiet and began preening herself. With a few disordered feathers properly and vigorously rearranged, she gave her distinctive double rap, the second blow following so closely the first that it was almost like an echo -- an astonishingly loud, hollow, drumlike Bam-bam! Then she hitched down the tree and sidled around to the roost hole, looked in, looked around, hitched down beneath the entrance, double-rapped, and went in."

....may the upcoming search efforts produce many more such descriptions! Godspeed to all participants...
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-- ... just a few good quotes --

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“The ivorybill was an extravagant creature, by all accounts, a vision in ebony and white... We cut its habitat right out from under it, and we continue to cut it. We’ve sent out countless messages with our saws and our columns of smoke. Leave or die out. Find somewhere else to live. This land is our land, now. And it just doesn’t listen to us; it goes on, somewhere, I have to believe it; not dead, but missing in action; alive, definitely, desperately, joyously, alive. No one can tell me I’m wrong, and, it seems, no one can tell me I’m right. There are those of us who cannot let it go.” -- Julie Zickefoose, 1999

"I was in a magical place. Deep and magical, with trees that were very old. I had just set my paddle down, thinking how lucky I was to be in such a place, and that's when the bird flew in. It gave me a long straight view as it flew toward me." -- Gene Sparling describing his encounter with an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the Cache River NWR

"Since the first sighting of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, this has consumed us. We have dedicated our time and our dreams to protecting and conserving this area. These woods are my church." -- John Fitzpatrick Director, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

"I was, frankly, shocked by the force of my reaction to this bird... To be shaking, on the verge of tears -- this startled me. After all, I'm a scientist.... In some way, the lives of those of us who have been touched briefly by the Ivory-billed Woodpecker will never be the same again." -- Melanie Driscoll (one of Cornell's original 7 sighters of the IBWO)

"The odds against your stumbling upon the last Ivory-billed Woodpecker are astronomical. It's much more likely that this bird is part of a population, however small. This bird had parents. Where are they? Where did they come from?" -- John Fitzpatrick

"... if you make the sighting known, you doom the bird. So far we've shown as a species that we're incapable of doing the right thing." -- Mary Scott (IBWO searcher and internet site developer)

...and finally,

“...for now, we can savor the satisfaction of this joyous discovery, a validation of two undeniable truths. The first, of course, is that where there is life, there's hope. The second, no less profound, is that we have no earthly idea what goes on in the backwoods of Arkansas.” -- Mike, an internet blogger, 4/28/05
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-- The AR. Story, Again --

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Here's yet another nice retelling of the AR. Ivory-bill search from a college alumni magazine:

http://www.colby.edu/colby.mag/issues/current/features.php?issueid=32&articleid=359
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- And More on Cornell Contract -

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The following post from Laura Erickson appeared on her blog Sun. (10/23):

"A couple of weeks ago, I got a letter from Cornell inviting me to be on their Ivory-bill search team. What a thrill! But I would have to sign an agreement that all of my photos, videos, sound recordings, and field notes would BELONG 100% to Cornell. They would have to give me special permission for each and every photo and word I put on my blog--even just to highlight the beauty and diversity of the habitat! I can understand why this is the case, and would feel a little better about it if this stuff was going to belong to the Lab of Ornithology, but there's a whole additional layer of bureaucracy with the university. So I've decided to go on my own. I'll be spending most or all of January down there, searching on my own, after consulting with everyone I can find to ensure that I'm not going to cause any possible disruption of any birds that may be present. I'm not expecting to see an Ivory-bill (though if I did!!!! Imagine that!) but I do want to immerse myself in the habitat and take bazillions of photos so people can clearly see why ivory-bills notwithstanding, the habitat is deserving of protection on its own merits. Thank goodness Binoculars.com is funding this search! What fun it's going to be."

No doubt such regimentation/subordination will dissuade other potential searchers as well from participating with the Cornell team, choosing like Laura, to go their own way. While most of us probably understand to some degree the 'necessity' or expectation for this kind of control over the Arkansas search situation, it is none-the-less an unfortunate state of affairs that such tight control holds sway these days as standard American business practice (and science and educational institutions are just further forms of business). Capitalism ain't what it used to be!
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-- AR. IBWO Search Contract --

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On her birding blog, "BirdChick" has posted part of the contract she's been given as a chosen member of the winter (early December) Cornell search team in AR. Nothing too out-of-the-ordinary here from what one might expect, but still somewhat interesting reading to get a feel for the outing:

"There are two different search crews and these are the highlights of the contract and volunteer information for the crew I will be working on:

TRAVEL
You are responsible for your own travel to and from Arkansas, including transportation from the airport if you are flying. We recommend flying into Memphis, TN or Little Rock, AR. These locations are both approximately 1.5-2.5 hours from our field stations. Travel to and from search areas and field sites will be provided by Cornell.

HOUSING
Group housing will be provided and is available from the Sunday night before your scheduled start date through the Saturday night before your scheduled departure on a Sunday. Please plan to arrive at your designated field station on Sunday, as your training will begin at 8:00am on Monday.

(Your) crew will stay at a USFWS-owned research station on the levee road, south of St. Charles. This is a rustic, remote location with a bunkhouse and small house trailer, both with a kitchen and bath. There are 5 bedrooms between the two. It’s definitely not the Hilton, but we hope you’ll be comfortable there. The phone line is poor and Internet access will likely not be available at this site. Cell phones should work on the levee wall, which is a short walk from the bunkhouse. People on this crew should plan to stay at the research station, as there are no hotels within commuting distance of the study site. Helena is the closest town with amenities, approximately an hour away.

FOOD
You are responsible for your own food during your stay in Arkansas. (Your) crew will need to purchase food for at least a week on their drive from the airport. If driving from Memphis, I’d recommend shopping at the Super Walmart in Forrest City. Helena is the closest town with some amenities. Stuttgart and De Witt both have grocery stores as well on the west side of the river.

We recommend bringing:
1) binoculars – hopefully waterproof
2) chest waders-Women: Hodgman women's wadelight breathable stockingfoot chest waders
Cabela's women's G-II boot-foot chest wader
3) field clothing – lots of warm layers
4) warm socks – again use layers
5) warm gloves/mittens
6) warm hat – preferably a dark color or camo
7) foot and hand chemical heat packs – slip in your boots and gloves
8) watch
9) compass
10) camouflage outer layer (required) – a camo mesh bug suit works well. You can wear it over shorts and t-shirt or over a bunch of warm layers. It’s also reasonable for keeping bugs at bay, so it’s pretty multi-purpose
11) thermos
12) water bottles
13) knee high rubber boots – are pretty handy and available at local Walmarts
14) head lamp or flashlight
15) bedding – most beds are twins
16) sleeping bag – instead of bedding is fine
17) pillow
18) towel
19) personal audio, video, and camera equipment
20) cell phone

What we’ll provide:
1) canoes
2) paddles
3) pfds
4) GPS unit
5) video camera
6) training manual
7) field notebooks and dataforms

Again, not a relaxing vacation. Did I include in the above that the field work consists of 10 to 12 hour days, mostly in blinds? However, this will be the chance of a lifetime."

Let's wish her (...and everyone involved) much luck and success....
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-- Harrison Video --

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Since many readers don't peruse the "comments" to previous posts I'll highlight this one that came in from Patrick Coin for the wider audience:

"Birder's World Forum, in this thread is reporting that Bobby Harrison is going to release a video of an IBWO from 2004 that has not been made public previously. It is supposed to happen at a conference on November 4 in Boston, Massachusetts. Harrison had mentioned this video in an article in the September, 2005 issue of Natural History, but I had not seen it mentioned in any other source."

cautionary note: while every new bit of evidence will of course be highly anticipated and poured over it will be surprising if this video piece adds much to the discussion or changes any minds. There had been rumors of this clip being released for quite awhile; the fact that it has taken this long, is even briefer/poorer than the controversial Luneau footage, and was never used by Cornell as part of their original published evidence, indicates how weak and inconclusive it must be (I'm not even clear if Harrison is releasing this on his own or has the full backing of Cornell in presenting it as evidence???). If by any chance video enhancing techniques have actually resulted in recognizable/suggestive film frames, then I suppose those techniques themselves will be called into question... At any rate, thanks Patrick for the heads-up notice.
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add-on: please see Patrick's further note below for link to and quote from Harrison's Natural History article -- I'll simply reiterate though that I chose not to cite this information back in Sept. because of doubts that the clip could carry any weight in the ongoing debate. We can all look forward to seeing (or hearing about) the film once released, just don't raise your expectations too high. It certainly won't satisfy those clamoring for a 'conclusive' photo/video.