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Jen
Expedition Leader
1384 Posts
Jennifer
Calico Rock
AR
USA
1384 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 01 2007 : 12:46:25 PM
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You've probably heard about the 2004 sighting of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (commonly called the "Lord God Bird"), which was thought to be extinct. Since then, biologists and eager volunteers have been voraciously trying to document the bird's existence in a righteous effort to secure funding for habitat preservation (as well as a less righteous effort to secure 15 minutes of fame, I suspect).
I've got to admit that I'm appalled at the current "hard-target" searches to find this rare creature. Droves of people are slogging through swamplands that were pretty darned quiet prior to the 2004 sighting, and many have claimed to see specimens flying away. Big surprise! They are disrupting the habitat & making the woodpecker's efforts to survive even harder. It seems no one considered quiet, camouflaged observations, preferably from boats designed to hide waterfowl hunters. And, if they have tried this approach, they've surely been thwarted by the flood of flailing do-gooders on parade. Am I venting? Yes I am 
Anyway, here's a good site on the Ivory-billed hoopla (from a pro-hoopla perspective):
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/
The View From My Boots: www.bovesboots.blogspot.com
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Lord God Bird
