George, The search for them in Arkansas has pretty much dried up, but the search is still running luke-warm in the pan-handle of Florida:
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/science_math/cosam/departments/biology/faculty/webpages/hill/ivorybill/index.html Sorry, it's a long link, cut and paste if necessary... I am always confused why the searchers in both locales, knowing that the sightings typically are brief with birds flying away quickly, and knowing that firm evidence is needed, typically try to view them with binoculars instead of taking a quick picture. Even with a good digital camera, a poor, distant picture would be better than none when trying to confirm the existence of the bird, if they really are seeing them. Paul J. ---- George Fieo <[email protected]> wrote: ============= ENTS, In April of 1981 my family and I vacationed in St. Mary's, Georgia to visit with family on my mothers side. St. Mary's is on the Georgia, Florida border which is divided by the St. Mary's River along the Atlantic Coast. I was at my uncles house, which sits on the St. Mary's River, and was sitting in a lounge chair out by the pool when I heard a bird calling. It was loud and making a ruckus. I looked up and saw the bird land on the trunk of a tall skinny tree in my uncles back yard only 20 or 30 yards from where I sat. It was and is the largest woodpecker I have ever seen. It reminded me of a pterodactyl. It was an Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. It was black and white with a red crest and an ivory bill. I watched it there for 20 seconds or so before it flew away. I was 10 years old at that time and the image of what I saw that day has not faded. A few years ago while at the doctors office I read an article about the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker and only then learned that the species was declared to be extinct. While browsing through the ENTS website I was reminded again of the memory of this woodpecker. Today I googled St. Mary's for an aerial view to see if there was an habitat to support the woodpecker and I think there may be. Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is approximately 25 miles west of St. Mary's. It is a vast refuge with almost 402,000 acres of longleaf pine and cypress forest, marsh, lakes, and islands. This is the first time I have spoke of this to anyone outside of my family and feel it should be known, even if it was 25+ years ago. I'm glad to share this with ENTS. George --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org You are subscribed to the Google Groups "ENTSTrees" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
