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Recently, an unusual number of hits to the blog have come from folks who've googled "imperial woodpecker" and been directed to my site (because of past posts on the Imperial here). Also, a couple of emailers have made inquiries to me about the Imperial. Don't know for sure why the subject is suddenly arising, though it may be in part due to a recent post (8-3-08) by Mike Collins which ran as follows:
"There exists footage of an Imperial Woodpecker, and the bird is in flight according to what I have heard. Why haven't the details been made public? The flap rate, flight speed, and flap style might shed light on the ivorybill."
I've occasionally heard/seen very loose vague glimmers about a possible Imperial sighting months ago, but nothing substantive or that I give any credence to at this point. I think Mike's reference may actually be to a supposed brief film of an Imperial in flight from the 1950's, which I believe is in the possession of Cornell. Whether they have utilized it in any way, or have any reason not to release it, I don't know.
May be worth pointing out that the Imperial Woodpecker was MUCH larger than the Ivory-billed. So even though the two species are from the same genus, the IBWO is probably actually closer to the Pileated in both size and mass (i.e. not sure if analysis of Imperial flight pattern would be all that helpful in drawing conclusions about IBWO flight pattern or not --- not to mention that it's difficult to generalize from a single short flight clip of any bird; but still, I understand Mike's interest in the clip if it exists).
Anyway, that's as much (next to nothing) as I know, so no need to inquire further here. If someone does know more about such putative ;-) Imperial footage and wants to pass info along for posting here to enlighten others, feel free.
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As many know by now there was a major problem accessing this and LOTS of other blogs over the weekend due to problems with Microsoft's Internet Explorer (surprise, surprise); actually, the problem related back to changes at "Sitemeter," a blog traffic tabulator, but seemed to only affect IE, and should now be remedied.
At any rate if you are STILL using IE as your main web browser, please get with the program and switch over to Firefox (or almost anything other than the Microsoft product).
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'nother tidbit (see prior posts for July 8 and 11) on Cornell's computer creation of a 'virtual' Ivory-bill here:
http://spie.org/x26125.xml
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For them there who never tire of such things, another Pileated Woodpecker (chased by a blackbird) video here:
( http://birdcinema.com/view_video.php?viewkey=95af115de1c414a1849c )
....And for those who never tire of such other things more old Steve Martin comedy here.
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Some bedtime reading perhaps: if you've never read them before here is the famous account of Agey and Heinzmann reporting Ivory-bills in central Florida back in the 1960s:
http://www.coastalgeorgiabirding.org/misc/agey_heinzmann1.pdf
http://www.coastalgeorgiabirding.org/misc/agey_heinzmann2.pdf
http://www.coastalgeorgiabirding.org/misc/agey_heinzmann3.pdf
Good news (for a change) for N. American birds here, about preserving Canada's boreal forest. Scott Weidensaul calls this "One of the biggest conservation stories ever" though it "received relatively little press here in the States." Scott notes the boreal forest is "the great bird factory of North America, producing billions of migratory songbirds, waterfowl, shorebirds and raptors; this is arguably the single biggest win in history for bird conservation." He recommends sending "a note of thank you to Premier McGuinty via BSI's website, http://www.borealbirds.org/ -- something every American birder who reaps the benefits of the boreal forest should take a moment to do."
In the 'Not-exactly-the-bluebird-of-happiness' Dept., this bit of bird humor from the press:
http://tinyurl.com/5mnsvt
Finally, this coming Monday marks the anniversary of Roger Tory Peterson's death. Twelve years ago upon that occasion the inimitable Pete Dunne wrote a wonderful tribute to Roger for "Birding Magazine." Below, the last paragraph from that eulogy:
"Roger was fond of saying that God, in all his wisdom, had crafted but two creatures with feathers: birds and angels. God, in his wisdom, gave us Roger Tory Peterson to interpret and instruct us. And although I do not wish to presume, and I cannot possibly be certain, I have a hunch that by the time I reach the hereafter, there will be a "Field Guide to the Angels" waiting for me. With luck, it might even be in its second or third edition."
--- at which point Pete can commence to writing a short text on how to pish for angels ;-)
(And here's another look at the newly-revised Peterson Field Guide to be released next month.)
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No Ivory-bill schtuff; just books, ducks, condors, storklets, and.... west coast news:
Another stop in a bookstore yesterday, and another wonderful find: Artist Charley Harper's "Birds and Words" (originally published in the 1970's) has been re-issued, full of Charley's uniquely minimalist and delightful bird art and short incisive verbal blurbs on each depicted bird. This book will bring a smile to most any birder, but also makes a fine introduction to birds for youngsters who can take delight in the artwork as well, while parents read and explain the wonderful short commentaries.
And for all the duck lovers out there, I have to pass this one along for heart-tugging enjoyment:
http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2008/07/duck-darwin-awa.html
Hasn't been a lot of good news of late for endangered species, but somewhat positive outcome for the California Condor recovery efforts here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25724478/
To my surprise, stork youngsters are still hanging out in the nest here (German webcam), but probably not for much longer :
http://www.stadtpark-mannheim.de/webcam/cam33.htm
And finally, here's some satire(?) I could endorse:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/17/BA7A11QU1S.DTL
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For poetry aficionadoes:
An acquaintance recently sent me a poem by David Wagoner she found in the Jan. 1983 edition of "The Atlantic Monthly" which recounts, of all things, Alexander Wilson's famous encounter, 200 years ago, with an Ivory-billed Woodpecker near Wilmington, NC. The poem is available on the Web in a few places, including here.
Another blogger who posted the poem several years ago followed it with this sentiment, that I sorta like:
"... The poem deals with the impossibility of a mutual understanding between man and nature argues Czeslaw Milosz in his introduction. I think that's wrong. I think the poem shows what happens when man tries to learn too much, tries to compartmentalize and categorize nature in ways that nature shouldn't be confined. "
....but enough culture already; for humor today, and on behalf of all the 'believers' out there who feel they don't get any respect, here be the late Rodney Dangerfield:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FPv2toi5og&feature=related
Ohhhh, and p.s., in case you've recently had any inclination to contact "The New Yorker Magazine" for any particular reason, contact info is here.
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A bit more info about the Ivory-bill computer graphic simulation carried out by Cornell which I referenced a few days ago (July 8 post). This work was done in part as the master's thesis of Cornell grad student Jeffrey Wang under the guidance of Dr. Don Greenberg, and is available here in pdf form (~200 pgs.):
http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/pubs/2007/Wan07.pdf
Jeff's academic home page, BTW, is here:
http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~jwang/
I'm slowly reading through the dissertation (and for a technical Master's Thesis it's a fairly lively read), but since computer graphics aren't "my thing" don't know how much I'll glean from it --- I assume some of my readers though will find it informative. And I presume a more formal journal publication is in the works.
....for another comedy moment, one of my favorite old posts from "Cute Overload" blog (be sure to read the 'comments' section below picture):
http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2007/11/this-just-in--1.html
ADDENDUM --- just a few things I'll note, having now scanned Wang's thesis more:
In addition to flight mechanics and computer graphics, the paper is VERY HEAVY, for obvious reasons, on underlying bird anatomy. We live in an age of academic specialization, and clearly Wang's thesis delves into highly specialized areas (as a sidenote, found it interesting that out of the 100's of Ivory-bill specimens residing in museums, it turns out there is ONLY ONE 'pickled' in fluid, and thus well-preserved for detailed anatomical studies, at the Smithsonian Museum --- Cornell was able to obtain that single specimen on loan for these specific studies --- fascinating... where pursuit of the Luneau video leads us!).
Anyway, Wang's paper (submitted in Jan. 2007), ends prior to actual testing of the computer-generated Ivory-bill against the bird captured in the Luneau clip, which has since been done; i.e. the thesis describes in great detail the creation of a 'virtual' (computer-graphic) Ivory-bill (and seems very convincing), but not the actual running of that bird in a flight path and environment matching the Luneau bird --- and there's the rub! No matter how precise and accurate a created 'virtual' Ivory-bill is, the real crux of the matter comes when applying the flight mechanics and lighting (and the MULTITUDE of variables that arise therein) to the specifics of the Luneau bird's context, and gauging whether the result better matches a PIWO or IBWO (just using a Pileated as a flying 'surrogate' for an IBWO is grist for debate all by itself, but there are likely a myriad more issues skeptics may raise as well). It will be interesting to see how Cornell explicates all of this in a final paper, and I'll also be interested to see who the co-authors (and those cited for assistance/input) are on any such final paper. I hope such a paper is at least as persuasive as Wang's work is... but one suspects the debate is destined to continue.
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