-- Biding Time --

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Just a couple of crass commercial sidebars while awaiting for any solid news to come along:

Current Ivory-billed Woodpecker items for sale on eBay are here.

...and, in deference to some acquaintances involved with Scienceblogs.com (interesting site, something for EVERYbody) I'll put in a plug for the "The Open Laboratory," the first annual anthology of outstanding science blog posts, just out (likely of interest to some of you, but nothing specifically to do with Ivory-bills):

Read about it here (I have no financial interest in it):

http://tailrank.com/1093958/The-Open-Laboratory

or order it from here.

....just maybe next year's edition will include a post on Campephilus principalis!

By now Cornell's 4-man mobile search team should be on board with Dr. Hill's group at the Choctawhatchee, assisting there for a couple of weeks, after being very impressed with parts of the Apalachicola region to the east. Keep in mind that their general mission is to evaluate areas for Ivory-bill potential and later make recommendations for places most needing further study (of course they could always cross paths with IBWOs in the process).

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-- Dr. Mennill Explains Further --

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Here, Dr. Mennill of the Auburn team further explains how they manage to achieve 24-hr. turnaround time on the analysis of bioacoustic data from the Choctawhatchee search site:

http://web2.uwindsor.ca/courses/biology/dmennill/IBWO/IBWO07News.html

In the end, these techniques just may prove crucial to attaining the desired photographic evidence... or not!?
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-- On and On It Goes --

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Here is David Luneau's latest addition to his website (...just to keep 'rumor' fans with something to chew on : - ):

"Remote camera work is proceeding --- nothing exciting to report (yet). It keeps me too busy to keep this site updated as often as I would like to. I'll try to get some new pictures up soon."

Remote cameras (if enough of them are deployed) certainly represent possibly the single best source for an Ivory-bill photo. For the last 48 hrs. I've tried to track the photo rumors coming out of the Fla. Panhandle, but have found nothing substantive in that regard (lot of verbiage!). Possibly, a purported photo got turned in (as has happened repeatedly since Cornell's announcement), that is inconclusive. As for a definitive photo(s) I'm doubtful, but someone out there knows the truth, whatever it be. Or, maybe David will have some interesting "new pictures" up shortly... ; - )

And in other matters, Julie Zickefoose meets with Jerry Jackson here:

http://www.juliezickefoose.com/blog/2007/01/down-to-naples.html

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-- Rumors, Schmoomers --

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Just a little housecleaning on all the rumors business:

Back when the Tyler Hicks' sighting news broke it arrived at my computer early in the morning but 10 mins. after I had left for work. I arrived back home around 4 pm. to the news, and to a string of emails asking me why I wasn't covering the story. I'm trying to avoid that situation happening again. So...

In directing folks to monitor Dr. Hill's or any other website, it is my way of saying I expect to be away from the Net a lot, and in the event certain news should break, folks ought to monitor this-or-that-site (rather than mine).
In the latest instance, the Auburn folks are denying any photographic evidence as had been rumored, and Dr. Hill makes no mention of it in his latest post (although the rumor still has some legs). On a semantic note, whenever I refer to something as a "rumor" it is specifically because I can't find enough details, substantiation, or credibility to call it anything else. If I find (through multiple sources) some substance and credibility in it (raising it above rumor) I usually call it "information," such as 'information from a credible source', or 'information from someone close to the scene', or the like. In short, rumors are interesting, but not to be taken too seriously 'til they get to a higher level. It's a tough call between acknowledging certain rumors even cautiously, as a heads-up, on a blog (in the event they develop further), or ignoring them, knowing how they take on a life of their own once unleashed on the Web, which doesn't help matters... And the next few weeks/months could be a field day for rumors.

oooooh, gotta go, the State of the Union Address coming up... this oughta be good... for Letterman, Leno, Jon Stewart, Colbert....
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-- 'Grandeur In This View Of Life' --

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For the literary-inclined out there, this prose/poetry offering from Rice English Professor Susan Wood:

http://cat.middlebury.edu/~nereview/wood.html


... and there are always rumors wafting around; I'll be away from a computer for large chunks of time, but just maybe, might possibly be worth monitoring Dr. Hill's 'update' site closely for the next 24-48 hrs...

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-- Forget the Cake and 39 Candles --

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You all know what's coming up in a couple of weeks, right.... NOOOO!, I don't mean the friggin' Super Bowl**.... Cyberthrush's 39+++++th birthday. So YO!, Auburn, Cornell, USF&W, Mike C., Uncle Louie, Tooth Fairy, whomever --- come on y'all, you know what I waaaaant... and no gift wrapping required.

** p.s. --- GO Bears!!
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-- RTP, R.I.P. --

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The previous post was primarily light humor, but also reflects my curiosity wondering what Roger Tory Peterson, dean of modern birders, would have to say about this heated Ivory-bill debate were he alive today. Diplomat, as well as expert that he was, I've little doubt (though others will disagree) that he would be squarely planted... in the middle, with a hopeful though wait-and-see attitude. He innately understood, moreso than many today, that birds are not static objects, but dynamic individuals, giving rise to unforeseeable possibilities however improbable at first glance. One simply can't always operate off the usual assumptions, and he knew that. Here is the letter he wrote back to Steve Sheridan in the 80's regarding Steve's unorthodox report of seeing Ivory-bills in Indiana (copied from Steve's site) --- a far more improbable claim in those days than many of the current claims being made today:

" I have received your letter and am intrigued. I have received perhaps a dozen letters similar to yours. I think it would be wise to let one of the top birders in your area of (state omitted, mentioned in detail later) know about your sightings and alert them so that your record, if valid, may be confirmed. If the forest is being logged there is scarcely anything that can be done. However, ivory-bills have the potential of moving considerable distances. Because of their special needs ivory-bills seem to be great rovers and not as sedentary as the pileated woodpecker. I am forwarding your letter to the editors of American Birds who can put you in touch with their regional editors for the area."

Notice the even-handedness and open-mindedness of these words; essentials of a REAL scientific attitude, in place of the certitude posed by today's critics where no certitude exists (the Luneau video hasn't even been close to debunked despite what skeptics continue to infer --- I don't even know that anyone else has analyzed it with anything like the thousands of dollars worth of equipment that Cornell has at their disposal).

Moreover, people often seem to relish critiquing and bringing down the 'Establishment,' authorities, experts or 'topdogs.' What else accounts for the glee some have exhibited in their denigration of Cornell the institution, as well as any number of the individuals involved in current claims? Again, I don't think Roger would have any of it; he would want the evidence explored to the fullest extent possible. In diplomacy they say "trust, but verify," and Roger would relate to that. In this debate the issue started off as one of defining what constituted that sufficient verification, but now in some quarters has moved on to sheer distrust, of the competency, motives, and honesty of those involved. This isn't the birding community Roger played such a major role in building.
RTP, R.I.P... maybe it is for the best that you aren't witnessing the current sound and fury.

And on a slightly related note, the April ABA Convention in La. will include a talk by David Sibley entitled "The Psychology of Bird identification" described as follows:

"Bird identification is the central challenge of birding, and we all strive to improve our skills and to identify more birds, more quickly and more accurately. Countless references and tools suggest that the birder who wants to avoid misidentifications should learn more about the fine points of plumage, molt, variation and subspecies, etc. But the fact is that most mistakes involve glitches in perception. No amount of preparation can prevent us from blurting out “Snowy Owl!” when the time is right and we see a white milk jug on the salt-marsh. Our brains, and the very short-cuts that we use successfully (most of the time) to identify birds, are also the source of most misidentifications. This workshop will focus on the psychological aspects of bird identification --- how we subconsciously use pattern-recognition, expectations, suggestion, and other clues -- and how those methods can lead us to misidentify birds with complete confidence. "

Now whadd'ya s'pose brought that on?

(...I'm not saying it isn't a worthwhile topic or that David won't give a good presentation, but just that, depending on the state of the IBWO search at that point, it seems custom-made to fan the flames of debate; might've been nice to have it countered with a talk on the psychology of gestalt perception, and the uncanny ability, overall predominance, and remarkably high accuracy, among experienced birders, of "GISS," in bird identification.)
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