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Posted on 04/10/2007 7:18:32 AM PDT by Dacb
A small band of searchers rousts itself each morning from a secret camp deep in the woods of a forgotten northwest Florida swamp.
They have endured freezing nights, foul drinking water, long stints without showers and an outhouse with only one wall, all in a search for a ghostly creature that may not even exist. They are on a quest to find and photograph an ivory-billed woodpecker to show the world the bird is not extinct.
They have invited me along for a two-day glimpse into a mission that is as inspiring as it is mundane.
In the past few years, bird experts in the Southeastern United States have collected sightings, recordings and fuzzy video images. The latest evidence comes from Florida along the Choctawhatchee River. But no one has the ultimate proof: a clear photo.
No doubt such a find would bring fame to this assembly of highly trained birding experts mostly from universities. But more thrilling is the chance of discovering one of the nation's most majestic birds was not wiped out by logging and suburban sprawl. They are now in the fourth month of a second fall-through-spring season.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
Thanks - that helps a lot! lol
I can’t believe they’ve spent $30 million looking for this thing. I heard the pecking of a pileated woodpecker here in Tampa a few weeks ago, and in the woods you can hear a bird like this literally a mile away.
Why do I think most of that $30 million was spent behind desks and leaning against water coolers?
“foul drinking water”
Good old sulfur water!
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