Another Ivory-bill video?

[semillama]

I only came across this by accident, I was reading through the Cornell search team log and found this link:
http://www.fishcrow.com/winter06.html

It purports to be video of a perched IBWO that subsequently takes flight.

I'd never heard of any other possible video, nor have I heard of this fellow before (Seems pretty passionate and committed to the search - comes off pretty cranky regarding IBWO naysayers). Like the Luneau video, it's pretty crappy and indistinct and not smoking gun evidence; however, this guy claims to have had multiple sightings on the Pearl River in the area of the film and is pretty intimate with the area.

You really can't make out field marks in the videos on the site, so don't try. His argument really comes down to posture and flight style. If he's right about PIWO never adopting an IBWO stance, he may have something.

[Maestro]

1. While there is a good amount of what looks like quality

information there, the last three photos are photoshopped. They are not real. Anyone else want to comment on that? There is something that does not look right in the last three supposed photos.

[cinclodes]

2. As indicated in the text...

...those are recreations by an artist. There are four of them, not just three.

[semillama]

3. yes, recreations of the website authors sitings

Not sure how they aid anymore weight to his points, though.

still want to know if this dude is for real - seems like a pretty smart guy, pissed off at getting the brush from professional ornithologists. I'm kinda rooting for him to be the one to get the definitive photo, actually. It'd be sort of funny.

[cinclodes]

4. re: yes, recreations of the website authors sitings

The artwork isn't intended to add more weight to the data. It's merely to give other birders an idea what the sightings were like. The dude is indeed for real. And, yes, the dude is indeed pissed off at ornithologists for the inept job they have done in conserving this species for many decades.

[semillama]

5. cool.

It was my impression from his website that there were two possible options:

A. He's a total crackpot liar.

B. He's seen an IBWO.

I'm leaning to B. I'm not convinced by his perched bird video, at least the version on the net. I saw a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker in what I though could have been a similar angle to the bird in the video, but I could have been wrong. The problem of course is that the video by itself is wildly inconclusive taken on its own - we just have this guy's word it's an IBWO he filmed.

more luck to him!

[semillama]

6. welcome to DU, cinclodes!

good luck in your search.

One of my birding buddies is certain he saw an IBWO fly over the road while driving through the big woods back in the 80s. I trust him when he said he saw it. If you saw it like the artistic reproductions show, then I don't doubt you either.


I hope you luck out big time!

[cinclodes]

7. Re: welcome to DU, cinclodes!

>good luck in your search.

Thanks! I've already had more luck than I deserve, but I will keep trying to get better data. The artistic reproductions are an excellent representation of what I saw.

[semillama]

8. I just checked out your paddle cam

what a great idea.

Don't let the naysayers get you down.

And when you get that clear, unequivocal video, you will of course let us know!

[cinclodes]

9. Re: I just checked out your paddle cam

>And when you get that clear, unequivocal video, you will of course let us know!

Somehow, I have a feeling that you won't miss the news if someone gets a clear image. I'll get one sooner or later. If someone beats me to it, that won't bother me one bit because, quite frankly, I'm getting exhausted after spending all these months in the swamp. I was really excited about the paddle-cam. I would have gotten several killer videos if I had thought of it last year. Unfortunately, I haven't had any sightings this year while running the paddle-cam (with the exception of a pair in the Choctawhatchee that I briefly glimpsed in the canopy). It didn't help that I lost a lot of time in the field this year due to a broken wrist.