Feathered Ghosts

Our season is over

2007-06-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

I didn't find the bird!

Here's a link to the season's end report from my team leader, Dr. Hill, of Auburn University.

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/science_math/cosam/departments/biology/faculty/webpages/hill/ivorybill/Updates.html

I'm busy reacclimating myself to life in the world outside the swamp, so may not be able to deliver on my own report promised some time back on this blog. I still may try to post some of my thoughts on the search and the status of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker before too long. If anyone has any questions, they are welcome to post them to this thread.

The best way to see an Ivory-billed Woodpecker these days?

2007-05-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

Here?

These cute toys make great gifts for bird lovers and for practical jokers like me.

Not over yet!

2007-05-20T16:00:00.000-07:00

Some of the best detections over the past couple of years occurred in May. We still have some crew members posted to some of the hot spots in the river system, so hopefully we'll come up with something over the next week. I'm more hopeful than optimistic, but still have no difficulty finding motivation to get up and out into that beautiful river valley.

I will be posting at a later date on some possible hypotheses as to why we weren't able to come up with definitive proof of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker's existence here.

Season wrapping up

2007-05-20T15:16:00.001-07:00

I'll be leaving in 10 days. Most of my colleagues have already left, and all but two will be gone by the time I fly out of Pensacola on May 30th. I'll still be posting to the blog, though, so please continue to visit. If anybody has any questions about the results of our search, I advise they visit the Auburn University site I link to on the home page of this blog.

Here's a photo of our remaining crew of 10, the toughest holdovers from a high of close to the 30 at the apex of our search:

{Photo by Wally Rendell - click to enlarge}

Front (l. to r.) Brian Rolek, Mark VanderVen, Lizzie Goodrick, Wally Rendell, Karan Odom

Back (l. to r.) John Diener, Justyn Stahl, Lawson Yow, Jean Olbert, Grover P. Gordish (missing : John McNeely)

Birds of the Choctawhatchee

2007-05-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

If I weren't for a certain phantom bird, we wouldn't be here. Though he/she has proven to be a bit evasive, I probably ought share some of the other less cagey feathered critters we've been seeing.

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron

Green Heron
Eastern Kingbird

Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Belted Kingfisher
Little Blue Heron

Great Egret
White Ibis
Great Egret

Northern Parula
Pileated Woodpecker

Swallow-tailed Kite
Louisiana Waterthrush

Prothonotary Warbler

The dynamic Choctawhatchee

2007-04-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

Heavy rains north of us in Alabama can render an abrupt temporary change in the morphology of the swamp. Levels fluctuate by several feet. Here are before and after photos of the same blazed tree. I prefer higher water levels, as I can kayak everywhere without getting stuck on logs, cypress knees, or in shallow water.

Herps of the Choctawhatchee (deux)

2007-04-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

This young gator thought it was eluding detection.

We have a gator pond right next to camp. Hunters have no compunction about taking potshots at them, so they've become quite wary in our area.

A Brown Water Snake languishing while digesting large prey.

This Rough Green Snake always hangs out by the cut-through to our camp.

Brown Water Snakes are some of the most common herps in the river system. Sadly, this harmless non-venomous species is often slaughtered unnecessarily by persons who mistake them for Water Moccasins. Even Water Moccasins (aka Florida Cottonmouths) are needless victims of pre-emptive murder; they, too, are generally not threatening in spite of their venom and their reluctance to budge in the presence of humans.

A gorgeous Gray Rat Snake.

Herps of the Choctawhatchee

2007-04-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been using a camera better designed to take videos than stills. But I'd still like to share some images of reptiles and amphibians I've seen out here. Remember to click on the image to enlarge it! And don't be bashful about correcting me if I've made an identification blunder.

A type of map turtle. According to range maps, we are just west of the range of the endemic (to Apalachicola) Barbour's Map Turtle, and just east of the range of the more widespread Alabama Map Turtle. Apparently we have both in here. Anyone wanna help ID this critter?

I caught this Green Tree Frog napping on a lazy southern afternoon.

This is, best as I can tell, a Gulf Coast Spiny Softshell Turtle.

Though I generally eschew "disturbing the wildlife" I couldn't resist the opportunity to pick up this silver-dollar-pancake-sized young Yellow-bellied Slider. Cute li'l devil!

A charismatic and cooperative River Frog.

I think that this grumpy-looking animal is a Loggerhead Musk Turtle.

Green Anoles are masters of camouflage. They appear to be bright green against leafier backdrops.

One more month in the swamp

2007-04-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

We're entering the home stretch of this year's search.

Five months is a long time to spend in such a remote wilderness setting! I'm of mixed minds about my imminent departure from the swamp. On one hand, it will be difficult to leave the lush eden that the Choctawhatchee River system has become. Ivory-billed Woodpecker or no, the area is a treasure and preserves a vestige of a southern hardwood bottomlands ecosystem that few get to see. I'll miss the critters and the trees, the human camaraderie, and the general dynamism of the swamp. On another hand, I'll be ready to move on to a new adventure. While I don't miss the world of walls and wires, my impatient side is starting to get curious about what's happening away from the Florida panhandle.

Still alive on the Choctawhatchee!

2007-04-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not having posted for several months! My routine hasn't really changed since February, though the dynamic forest around me has in spectacular fashion. I'll be posting some photos and updates over the next couple of days. Just now, though, I've got to shower and shave. It's nice to be out for a couple of days!

And we are still looking for the woodpecker!

2007-04-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

I have tons of photos and a few good stories, and hope I can get them up before too long.

I haven't had anything that might constitute a personal "detection" since my last posts, though some of my teammates have reported some interesting sounds.

I've become rather curious about the whole drama surrounding the search for this bird. There are multiple searches underway in several states. I'm aware of at least two documentaries (one by a Hollywood filmmaker) about the Ivory-billed that are works-in-progress that should be out before too long. Books come out from time to time, including one by Dr. Geoff Hill of Auburn, the top dawg on my project. No matter where you stand on whether or not this elusive critter still exists, you will find "The Ivorybill Hunters" to be a very readable and informative book.

The controversy over whether or not the Ivory-billed Woodpecker exists draws out some interesting behavior from the fringes. I feel insulated from the controversy because the company that keeps me is a team of pragmatic biologists. But I'm fascinated by the Internet reports and blogs I read when I come out of the swamp. On one hand, you have people who claim to have seen the bird in three states (!!!) now. On the other, you have people who advocate using McCarthyist tactics to discredit any biologist who dares associate himself or herself with an Ivory-billed Woodpecker search!

My opinions on whether the bird still exists vary from hour to hour. Some moments I truly expect to round the bend of the river in my kayak and see one gliding over. Generally, though, I feel that, while the bird still *could* be out there, perhaps even in the area where I'm searching, it is also very possible that we haven't shared our planet with this creature for 50 plus years. My enthusiasm for searching for the bird hasn't waned, and I look forward to hitting some under-explored areas of the river system in my last month here. Yet in some ways, I've become much more interested in what is perceptibly and tangibly in the river system NOW. The Ivory-billed Woodpecker may or may not be gone, yet the dazzling array of flora and fauna that currently make the Choctawhatchee Valley home perhaps ought to be the real issue.

More Choctawhatchee birds (as always, click to enlarge)

2007-02-04T09:56:00.000-08:00

Finally, a diagnostic photograph of a Pileated Woodpecker! I've probably seen PIWOs 150 times now in the Choctawhatchee River system, and have heard them countless other times. If the IBWO truly is extinct, then this is the largest woodpecker species in the US. It bears a few superficial similarities to IBWOs, though a trained eye should be able to sort out even the most cursory glimpse of a large woodpecker in a few seconds. Nonetheless, trying to get a snap of a PIWO provides excellent practice for that moment if/when the IBWO does come visiting, and also serves to illustrate how difficult it will be to get that sharp, irrefutable IBWO photo. After all, if I can only get one set of diagnostic PIWO photos per 150 sightings....

Another shot of the same, beautiful, red-crested Pileated Woodpecker.

A Barred Owl. We hear 'em all the time, but see them less often.

Another Barred Owl.

Click and you shall see a rusty-tailed Hermit Thrush.

Eastern Phoebe. These cute tail-waggers are ubiquitous on the Choc.

A camp visitor....

2007-02-04T08:58:00.000-08:00

This opossum came into camp one night to gnaw on some discarded catfish bones. Cute l'il feller, ain't he?

Another Choctawhatchee update

2007-02-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

Hello!

I'm sorry for not updating this more frequently. I think I've explained in previous posts that I am in the woods without Internet access for 6 to 7 days at a time, and then rotate out for two. When I cycle out, my first priorities are shaving, showering (usually multiple times!), getting a good meal (though we do eat well in camp), laundering my clothes, shopping for the next rotation in, checking my email, and opening letters, packages, and bills. You get the picture.

It was another week without any suggestive "detections," though I did find some interesting bark scaling on a Tupelo tree close to camp. A couple of parties in my study area heard and recorded some kent notes that resemble the vocalizations of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, though without a corroborative sighting or photo we can't be sure what the sources of the noises were. One set in particular, however, sounded really interesting, and for the next few days may have tilted me a millimeter or so towards the believing side of the fence of IBWO agnosticism.

It has been cold and wet out there. Temperatures sometimes dip to the low 20s at night. Nonetheless, we're plugging away, covering a lot of ground in our efforts to find promising nesting/roosting cavities and foraging signs.

I'm enjoying other aspects of life out there. I've kayaked through some beautiful wooded areas and waded through some dark, impressive cypress swamps. Plus, the camaraderie is excellent. The Cornell University mobile swat team has been stationed in our camp, and I've picked their brains for nuggets of expertise on large woodpecker behavior.

Interesting birds are plentiful. I've seen a few Yellow-throated Warblers, and their more abundant cousins the Yellow-rumped Warblers have been engaging in frenetic courtship behavior in the forest. It's been too cold, though, for reptile sightings. I'll put up a wildlife photo post momentarily.

Sorry for not updating

2007-01-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

I had too many errands to run this time, and haven't been able to update the blog. I will rotate out again in one week, and promise lots of photos.

I haven't encountered any suggestive evidence recently. It's been bitterly cold and often rainy to boot out there. Some colleagues in another camp report some possible sightings, though nothing diagnostic has been observed. To exist or not exist, that is the question....

Back in from another week in the swamp

2007-01-18T20:41:00.000-08:00

I'm tired and will post more over the next couple of days.

It was another interesting and productive week. I did some transects in some very promising areas, but didn't have any detections. Hopefully some of the cavities and feeding signs that I and my teammates are finding will help the project locate an IBWO or two. I'll elaborate at greater length in subsequent posts.

Good night!

If IBWOs do exist back there, they have plenty of woodpecking company

2007-01-12T06:32:00.000-08:00

(Click on all images to enlarge!)

A beautiful adult Red-headed Woodpecker. Red-headed Woodpeckers have similar wing patterns to IBWOs in flight, though I doubt too many would mistake one for the other.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers may be the most common woodpeckers here. Their arhythmic soft taps and meowing calls are some of the most frequently heard sounds in the Choctawhatchee Valley.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers are also common.

Another sapsucker

Another Red-headed Woodpecker

Images from the Choctawhatchee

2007-01-12T05:43:00.000-08:00

It has a red crest. It must be an Iv.... No, wait! (photo taken in town)

The beautiful Choctawhatchee.

Paddles down the river require constant vigilance for snags like these.

Palmettos abound in the undergrowth.

This American Bird Grasshopper is a far more effective user of camouflage than I am. (click on image for closer view)

This out-of-focus poison ivy plant has leafed out already. I likely contracted my case from one of the ubiquitous leafles vines in the forest.

This Cow Killer, or Red Velvet Ant (Dasymutilla occidentalis) is actually a type of wingless wasp. I was so enamored of its beauty that I handled it. Big mistake! It delivered an excruciating sting to my thumb. But then, I suppose I'd bite your thumb if you tried to pick me up.

Northern Cardinal.

A oft-occurring perspective of the wet, woody forest.

Gulf Coast Box Turtle

Note the girth of the Bald Cypress behind me. Note the girth of the belly of the Bald Eagle in front of the Bald Cypress!

Some reptilians I've befriended....

2007-01-11T21:37:00.000-08:00

....include this Brown-headed Skink, Gulf Coast Box Turtle, and Water Moccasin

New link added

2007-01-11T21:33:00.000-08:00

Check out Cyberthrush's http://ivorybills.blogspot.com/ for loads of information on the search for the IBWO.

Hello from Florida!

2007-01-11T06:30:00.000-08:00

Greetings from the Florida panhandle. I just rotated out of the flooded Choctawhatchee River forest after 7 nights in, and am getting a little R-and-R and running some errands in our cosmopolitan little town before I cycle back in tomorrow.

The past week has been surreal, and I don't quite know where to start. I'll be updating this periodically over the course of the day, so stay tuned. Hopefully I can get some photos posted.

In the meantime, I'll direct you to the links on the blog, and give you a few bullet-pointed highlights from my first week in.

-On my first day I heard suggestive "double-knocks" deep in the forest, which may well have come from an Ivory-billed Woodpecker (henceforth known by its banding code "IBWO." I'm still on the fence as to whether the bird exists at all, though slowly coming around to believing that it does. I'm quite familiar with all of the other woodpeckers in these forests, and have never heard anything quite like this.

-I really enjoy my teammates. It is a diverse bunch that includes a mid-50s veteran of the Cuban search for the bird in the '90s, a lovely veterinarian couple from North Carolina who are graciously volunteering three months of their time from their sabbatical, and some 20 somethings who are, with the exception of my students (:-), some of the sharpest, wittiest, most competent young folks I've ever met. I also have a fantastic field boss.

-In the middle of my stint deep in the wet woods, my team was interviewed by a documentary crew making a movie about the IBWO and those personalities involved in the search for it. How bizarre! One moment I'm kilometers from any other person, stuck in a back channel with soaking feet and face-to-face with a venomous water moccasin (aka cottonmouth). Three hours later I'm back in camp hobknobbing with George Butler, the director of the film "Pumping Iron," the vehicle that carried Governator Schwarzenegger to fame.

-I've spent hours kayaking.

-Discomforts and threats I'm coping with are: heavy, heavy rains (I left the Northwest for this?!), poison ivy that has left me Ichiro and Scrachiro all over, the aforementioned water moccasin (no gators yet), dangerous snags in the river, freezing mornings, and other sundry irritants one typically encounters while roughing it.

But I'm loving it out there.

More later!