Lazarus the Woodpecker
John Hatpin
woodpecker isn't extinct as was previously thought.
"Just to think this bird made it into the 21st century gives me
chills. It's like a funeral shroud has been pulled back, giving us a
glimpse of a living bird, rising Lazarus-like from the grave."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,13369,1472752,00.html?gusrc=rss
or: http://tinyurl.com/c89yz
Grand stuff.
--
John Hatpin
Sano
There were sightings a couple of years ago in remote parts of Louisiana,
and perhaps Eastern Florida woods.
In the early 80's, I'm sure I spotted one in the Cuyahoga Valley National
Park. NE Ohio. It was similar to the brief bit of video that was taken in
Arkansas, but I saw it's full back. I was driving up a steep back road,
since closed, and had a good view down into the woods.
They have very distinctive markings, much like an American Indian
thunderbird, sharp black + white markings. And they are large, with
something like three-foot of wingspan. It is very good news in any event.
Charles Bishop
There is a way in which this could be considered to be bad news: Now that
the bird is known to still exist, this could lead to hunters killing the
last remaining few. Before when it was just rumors and stories, they may
not have made the effort.
I wonder how many are needed to keep the species alive for all this time,
with only a few sightings?
--
charles, imagine having this on your life list
Blinky the Shark
> They have very distinctive markings, much like an American Indian
> thunderbird, sharp black + white markings. And they are large, with
> something like three-foot of wingspan. It is very good news in any
> event.
That's a big 'pecker. Are there other woodpeckers that large?
--
Blinky Linux Registered User 297263
Killing all Usenet posts from Google Groups
Info: http://blinkynet.net/comp/uip5.html
Boron Elgar
wrote:
NPR had a bit on it this morning. It was also called the "Lord God"
bird as those who saw it whooshing through the forest were so
impressed they would come out with "Lord God, what a bird!)
Boron
Sano
> Sano wrote:
>
>> They have very distinctive markings, much like an American Indian
>> thunderbird, sharp black + white markings. And they are large, with
>> something like three-foot of wingspan. It is very good news in any
>> event.
>
> That's a big 'pecker. Are there other woodpeckers that large?
AFAIK that's as big as they get in the Americas.
Folks also speculated that the ones seen in Louisiana and east, towards
Florida, a couple of years back may have been from unknown populations in
northern Mexico.
Boron Elgar
I'm not sure its habitat was ever that far north. That might have made
it a really unusual sighting.
For the story of the search with some video try:
http://birds.cornell.edu/ivory/
Boron
Estron
> "Just to think this bird made it into the 21st century gives me
> chills. It's like a funeral shroud has been pulled back, giving us a
> glimpse of a living bird, rising Lazarus-like from the grave."
But since the bird is still so rare, your wife and kids inside watching TV
will know of its re-emergence before you will.
--
Any opinions expressed above are only that, and are my own.
Pax vobiscum.
est...@tfs.net
Sugar Creek, Missouri
Sano
Nice site, thanks.
I can't find my original birdbook, something like a Golden Library
paperback. All artist depictions. It was listed as very rare, close to
extinct, and I'm guessing the range was appropriate. The range listed on
the Cornell site probably reflects current conditions.
The Cuyahoga Valley park is sparsely populated, never had any big
commercial activity. And it conforms to damp woodlands as the birds
preferred habitat. But I was never active in any birder groups.
The Audubon field guide doesn't list it. My sister has my 3 or 4 volume,
bound desk set.
Boron Elgar
It has been a long time since I was in that park...I grew up in
Michigan. I like visiting old canals, like the Ohio & Erie. I have the
remnants of the Morris just a few miles form my house and I an not too
long an drive from the Raritan. I have had some good birding on
towpaths.
>
>The Audubon field guide doesn't list it. My sister has my 3 or 4 volume,
>bound desk set.
I do not have one that large, either here or loaned out, but the
online sources all say the south. A couple mention them or sub-species
in Cuba & Mexico. If they were ever up north, I cannot find mention.
If you can, I'd appreciate it if you call your sister & check, as
you've piqued my interest, and maybe my chance of seeing one.
Boron
sarah bennett
i heard about this like 6 times on NPR this morning while i was at work.
i think im gonna just have to switch over to the chuckleheads on the
rawk station here after 730 or so, because the repeating news stories
get, well, repetitive. :>
--
saerah
"I think there's a clause in the Shaman's and Jujumen's Local #57 Union
contract that they have to have reciprocity for each other's shop rules."
-König Prüß
Sano
> It has been a long time since I was in that park...I grew up in
> Michigan. I like visiting old canals, like the Ohio & Erie. I have the
> remnants of the Morris just a few miles form my house and I an not too
> long an drive from the Raritan. I have had some good birding on
> towpaths.
>>
>>The Audubon field guide doesn't list it. My sister has my 3 or 4 volume,
>>bound desk set.
>
> I do not have one that large, either here or loaned out, but the
> online sources all say the south. A couple mention them or sub-species
> in Cuba & Mexico. If they were ever up north, I cannot find mention.
> If you can, I'd appreciate it if you call your sister & check, as
> you've piqued my interest, and maybe my chance of seeing one.
(ah) My sis and her husband are out of town till sometime Sunday.
AFA towpaths, I agree. Although I pretty much just walk anymore.
Late-summer or early Fall days I've seen one certain kind of warbler
passing through. And a day later, not a one.
A couple of days later, a different bunch. <g>
Around here (summer) I always seem to see at least one Indigo Bunting
(male) every year, and always look for Cedar Waxwings.
Boron Elgar
We always have binocs in the car just in case something flies by we
see a interesting "flicker" in the trees.
Speaking of flickers (*or their cousins), we have our favorite
red-bellied woodpecker waking us up each morning drumming our gutters
this time of year.. Like clockwork. I love it.
We feed some who return year after year to a kitchen window feeder.
It is great to watch them from a distance of inches.
Boron
Dilbert Firestorm
this basically confirms a louisiana man's claim of finding the long
thought extinct wood pecker.
http://www.nola.com/search/index.ssf?/base/library-76/111475612618920.xml?nola
interesting thing about this bird is its foraging range of 300 miles.
its quite a large area to be searching for dead trees for food.
and apparently it is also very wary of humans. I think it may have been
victimized by hunters & collectors more so than loggers.
Bill Kinkaid
wrote:
>Sano wrote:
>
>> They have very distinctive markings, much like an American Indian
>> thunderbird, sharp black + white markings. And they are large, with
>> something like three-foot of wingspan. It is very good news in any
>> event.
>
>That's a big 'pecker. Are there other woodpeckers that large?
That's about as big as they get; it's about 1/3 again the size of a
Pileated Woodpecker, which is generally described as "crow-sized".
But supposedly the guy from Cornell who found it is now going to go
search for a bigger one in Mexico. I think he should go to Michigan
instead and look for Bachman's Warbler.
Bill in Vancouver
"We are running twenty-first century software
on hardware last upgraded 50,000 years ago or more.
This may explain a lot of what we see in the news."
- Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress
Les Albert
wrote:
>On 29 Apr 2005 18:05:15 GMT, Blinky the Shark <no....@box.invalid>
>wrote:
>>Sano wrote:
>>
>>> They have very distinctive markings, much like an American Indian
>>> thunderbird, sharp black + white markings. And they are large, with
>>> something like three-foot of wingspan. It is very good news in any
>>> event.
>>That's a big 'pecker. Are there other woodpeckers that large?
>That's about as big as they get; it's about 1/3 again the size of a
>Pileated Woodpecker, which is generally described as "crow-sized".
>But supposedly the guy from Cornell who found it is now going to go
>search for a bigger one in Mexico. I think he should go to Michigan
>instead and look for Bachman's Warbler.
Bachman lost his warbler?
Les
groo
news:q8jc71195vkgfuuk5...@4ax.com:
Maybe Turner has it.
--
"There are situations in which it's just time for a change of
buffoonery." - Kevin O'Neill
Boron Elgar
Perhaps some one drove over it.
Boron
Les Albert
>Maybe Turner has it.
I think Mrs. Moreau is a more likely suspect.
Les
Bill Kinkaid
Not sure if I ever heard Turner sing (was that him in (Blue Collar"?)
but Bachman certainly never warbled. Not that Burton Cummings ever did
either.
Greg Goss
Too much time in overdrive?
--
Tomorrow is today already.
Greg Goss, 1989-01-27
Sano
> On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 21:35:35 -0400, Sano <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 18:50:20 -0400, Boron Elgar wrote:
>>
>>> It has been a long time since I was in that park...I grew up in
>>> Michigan. I like visiting old canals, like the Ohio & Erie. I have the
>>> remnants of the Morris just a few miles form my house and I an not too
>>> long an drive from the Raritan. I have had some good birding on
>>> towpaths.
>>>>
>>>>The Audubon field guide doesn't list it. My sister has my 3 or 4 volume,
>>>>bound desk set.
>>>
>>> I do not have one that large, either here or loaned out, but the
>>> online sources all say the south. A couple mention them or sub-species
>>> in Cuba & Mexico. If they were ever up north, I cannot find mention.
>>> If you can, I'd appreciate it if you call your sister & check, as
>>> you've piqued my interest, and maybe my chance of seeing one.
This set is copyright 1983. Audubon Society- Master Guide to Birding
They state the ivory is on the brink of extinction in eastern Cuba, so it's
presumed exstinct in the US. With some sightings that aren't substantiated.
"Formerly an inhabitant of North American forested swamps, this bird
probably lived in and along the edges of pine forests."
Range:
Formerly resident from Missouri, southern Illinois, and North Carolina
south to eastern Texas, Gulf Coast, southern Florida.
I sorta recall that the range listed in the older book (prob dated around
late 60's) was consistant with NE Ohio.
I suppose a little luck is in order. I've heard several Pileateds already,
but haven't seen them.
Blinky the Shark
> Les Albert <lalb...@aol.com> wrote:
>>On Mon, 02 May 2005 15:42:33 GMT, Bill Kinkaid <billk...@telus.net>
>>wrote:
>>>That's about as big as they get; it's about 1/3 again the size of a
>>>Pileated Woodpecker, which is generally described as "crow-sized".
>>>But supposedly the guy from Cornell who found it is now going to go
>>>search for a bigger one in Mexico. I think he should go to Michigan
>>>instead and look for Bachman's Warbler.
>>Bachman lost his warbler?
> Too much time in overdrive?
That's *his* business.
Greg Goss
>Greg Goss wrote:
>
>> Les Albert <lalb...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>>>On Mon, 02 May 2005 15:42:33 GMT, Bill Kinkaid <billk...@telus.net>
>>>wrote:
>
>>>>That's about as big as they get; it's about 1/3 again the size of a
>>>>Pileated Woodpecker, which is generally described as "crow-sized".
>>>>But supposedly the guy from Cornell who found it is now going to go
>>>>search for a bigger one in Mexico. I think he should go to Michigan
>>>>instead and look for Bachman's Warbler.
>
>>>Bachman lost his warbler?
>
>> Too much time in overdrive?
>
>That's *his* business.
I hope he took care of it properly.
Blinky the Shark
>>Greg Goss wrote:
>>> Les Albert <lalb...@aol.com> wrote:
>>>>Bachman lost his warbler?
>>That's *his* business.
Every day.
Boron Elgar
Sounds like you were, indeed, fortunate. Critters wander out of their
common habitats all the time, I reckon. That is what can make birding
so much fun.
To show it happens across classes, we had a beluga whale wandering up
the Delaware River a couple of weeks ago.
Boron
Jerry Bauer
(in article <W5mdnTXysYG...@giganews.com>):
>
> I suppose a little luck is in order.
"What would you say to a little luck?"
"I would say, 'Hello, little luck.'"
Sano
Ah. That's nice.
I was looking over some notes and found that in '87 I spotted a male
black-headed oriole. I think there were some pretty good storms that year
and it got blown up here from Texas.
Les Albert
> ... To show it happens across classes, we had a beluga whale wandering up
>the Delaware River a couple of weeks ago.
I'll have some of those eggs on a bagel, please.
Les
K_S_O...@yahoo.com
>I suppose a little luck is in order. I've heard several Pileateds already,
>but haven't seen them.
I'm no sort of birder at all, but I live on the Texas coast wherein we
seem to get lots of weird-ass feathered stuff, and not looking at it
would take actual effort. My first week here I saw a big, naked
headed vulture of some sort eating some kind of road kill, with the
kites at a respectful distance, and some kind of young eagle by the
side of the path doing in a squirrel a few weeks later, and waterbirds
beyond comprehension. My walk around the track behind the school goes
right by a pileated's nest, I think. At least s/he's always about, I
see it almost every day. That's a pretty big woodpecker, if the Ivory
Billed is really twice as big I'd like to see one.
Not becoming a birder. Not. Not, dammit.
Kevin
S. Checker
> Sounds like you were, indeed, fortunate. Critters wander out of their
> common habitats all the time, I reckon. That is what can make birding
> so much fun.
>
> To show it happens across classes, we had a beluga whale wandering up
> the Delaware River a couple of weeks ago.
>
Delaware River that there were laws concerning it around colonial times.
So although overfishing and pollution kept them away for a while the
beluga was merely moving back into a range.
I'd love to see them become common.
--
When one wants to get rid of an unsupportable pressure, one needs
hashish.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
Les Albert
No, of course you're not becoming a birder. Here is a good web site
that will tell you how to select binoculars, and other tips for
birding:
http://www.birdwatching.com/optics.html
Les
Charles Wm. Dimmick
> It has been a long time since I was in that park...I grew up in
> Michigan. I like visiting old canals, like the Ohio & Erie. I have the
> remnants of the Morris just a few miles form my house
Back in the 1890s, when he was just a teenager, my
grandfather used to trap muskrat along the Morris Canal.
There was more of it back in those days.
Charles
Mark Steese
Whale eggs? Sure you wouldn't like a sturgeon?
--
Mark Steese
===========
The first signs of the death of the boom came in the summer,
early, and everything went like snow in the sun.
Out of their office windows. There was miasma,
a weight beyond enduring, the city reeked of failure.
Les Albert
>Les Albert <lalb...@aol.com> wrote in
>news:d4ph7158fs2jtkr9i...@4ax.com:
>
>> On Wed, 04 May 2005 07:26:49 -0400, Boron Elgar
>> <boron...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> ... To show it happens across classes, we had a beluga whale
>>> wandering up
>>>the Delaware River a couple of weeks ago.
>> I'll have some of those eggs on a bagel, please.
>Whale eggs? Sure you wouldn't like a sturgeon?
Why do you think I asked for it on a bagel?
Les
Boron Elgar
wrote:
Good luck in the harvest.
Boron
Boron Elgar
wrote:
>Boron Elgar <boron...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Sounds like you were, indeed, fortunate. Critters wander out of their
>> common habitats all the time, I reckon. That is what can make birding
>> so much fun.
>>
>> To show it happens across classes, we had a beluga whale wandering up
>> the Delaware River a couple of weeks ago.
>>
>Someone pointed out that it was common enough to see whales in the
>Delaware River that there were laws concerning it around colonial times.
>So although overfishing and pollution kept them away for a while the
>beluga was merely moving back into a range.
>
>I'd love to see them become common.
Maybe in the lower Delaware, but this one went up as far as Trenton.
That's a long, sweet water journey.
Boron
Boron Elgar
Bill Van
wrote:
As I post this, it or another one just like it is pitching a shutout
against the Blue Jays. Top of the fifth.
bill
Joseph Michael Bay
You might want to check out the D&R (Delaware and Raritan)
Canal, then, as they've got some locks for that bagel.
--
Chimes peal joy. Bah. Joseph Michael Bay
Icy colon barge Cancer Biology
Frosty divine Saturn Stanford University
By reading this line you agree to mow my lawn. NO GIVEBACKS.
groo
news:iiai71h1o5m7eg5f5...@4ax.com:
> On Wed, 04 May 2005 08:06:54 -0700, Les Albert <lalb...@aol.com>
> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 04 May 2005 07:26:49 -0400, Boron Elgar
>><boron...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> ... To show it happens across classes, we had a beluga whale
>>> wandering up
>>>the Delaware River a couple of weeks ago.
>>
>>I'll have some of those eggs on a bagel, please.
>>
>
> Good luck in the harvest.
>
Do you have to lift up the whale tail to get at the eggs while they are
brooding are their nests?
Rick B.
> On Wed, 04 May 2005 08:06:54 -0700, Les Albert <lalb...@aol.com>
> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 04 May 2005 07:26:49 -0400, Boron Elgar
>><boron...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> ... To show it happens across classes, we had a beluga whale
>>> wandering up
>>>the Delaware River a couple of weeks ago.
>>
>>I'll have some of those eggs on a bagel, please.
> Good luck in the harvest.
Especially (as if we needed an especially) since it's believed to be a
male whale. (The Canadians say it's one they tagged up around the St.
Lawrence; they think they recognize a scar that probably came from a
boat propeller.)
sarah bennett
"Ah ... ! What's happening? it thought.
Er, excuse me, who am I?
Hello?
Why am I here? What's my purpose in life?
What do I mean by who am I?
Calm down, get a grip now ... oh! this is an interesting sensation, what
is it? It's a sort of ... yawning, tingling sensation in my ... my ...
well I suppose I'd better start finding names for things if I want to
make any headway in what for the sake of what I shall call an argument I
shall call the world, so let's call it my stomach.
Good. Ooooh, it's getting quite strong. And hey, what's about this
whistling roaring sound going past what I'm suddenly going to call my
head? Perhaps I can call that ... wind! Is that a good name? It'll do
... perhaps I can find a better name for it later when I've found out
what it's for. It must be something very important because there
certainly seems to be a hell of a lot of it. Hey! What's this thing?
This ... let's call it a tail - yeah, tail. Hey! I can can really thrash
it about pretty good can't I? Wow! Wow! That feels great! Doesn't seem
to achieve very much but I'll probably find out what it's for later on.
Now - have I built up any coherent picture of things yet?
No.
Never mind, hey, this is really exciting, so much to find out about, so
much to look forward to, I'm quite dizzy with anticipation ...
Or is it the wind?
There really is a lot of that now isn't it?
And wow! Hey! What's this thing suddenly coming towards me very fast?
Very very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding
name like ... ow ... ound ... round ... ground! That's it! That's a good
name - ground!
I wonder if it will be friends with me?"
i think i should go see a movie this weekend.
--
saerah
"I think there's a clause in the Shaman's and Jujumen's Local #57 Union
contract that they have to have reciprocity for each other's shop rules."
-König Prüß
Sano
<lowering head, and slowly wagging it side to side> ;)
Sano
> On Tue, 3 May 2005 22:23:41 -0400, Sano <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>
>>I suppose a little luck is in order. I've heard several Pileateds already,
>>but haven't seen them.
>
> I'm no sort of birder at all, but I live on the Texas coast wherein we
> seem to get lots of weird-ass feathered stuff, and not looking at it
> would take actual effort. My first week here I saw a big, naked
> headed vulture of some sort eating some kind of road kill,
Big ass Turkey Vulture.
For all the snow this year, they were rather late in showing up. Last year
they were here the second week in January.
>with the
> kites at a respectful distance, and some kind of young eagle by the
> side of the path doing in a squirrel a few weeks later, and waterbirds
> beyond comprehension. My walk around the track behind the school goes
> right by a pileated's nest, I think. At least s/he's always about, I
> see it almost every day. That's a pretty big woodpecker, if the Ivory
> Billed is really twice as big I'd like to see one.
>
> Not becoming a birder. Not. Not, dammit.
Heh heh heh. Mid-Feb or so, the local park pulls in it's bird feeders, all
day, for a couple of Saturdays.
You get a small handfull of sunflowers seeds and stand outside. Black
capped Chickadees, fearless little suckers, eventually perch, and take the
seed out of your hand.
Boron Elgar
Rick B.
I just couldn't bear the thought of what might happen to a perfectly
good bagel.
Blinky the Shark
>>>> Boron
>>> Ah. That's nice.
<being reminded of the scene in Bull Durham where Nuke shakes off
Crash's sign once too often and Crash tells the batter what the pitch
is going to be>
Charles Bishop
Look everyone, it's a low-headed side waggler. You rarely see them in May.
--
cahrles
K_S_O...@yahoo.com
wrote:
>On Wed, 04 May 2005 15:16:32 GMT, K_S_O...@yahoo.com wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 3 May 2005 22:23:41 -0400, Sano <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I suppose a little luck is in order. I've heard several Pileateds already,
>>>but haven't seen them.
>>
>>I'm no sort of birder at all, but I live on the Texas coast wherein we
>>seem to get lots of weird-ass feathered stuff, and not looking at it
>>would take actual effort. My first week here I saw a big, naked
>>headed vulture of some sort eating some kind of road kill, with the
>>kites at a respectful distance, and some kind of young eagle by the
>>side of the path doing in a squirrel a few weeks later, and waterbirds
>>beyond comprehension. My walk around the track behind the school goes
>>right by a pileated's nest, I think. At least s/he's always about, I
>>see it almost every day. That's a pretty big woodpecker, if the Ivory
>>Billed is really twice as big I'd like to see one.
>>Not becoming a birder. Not. Not, dammit.
>
>No, of course you're not becoming a birder.
Thank you.
>Here is a good web site
>that will tell you how to select binoculars, and other tips for
>birding:
>
>http://www.birdwatching.com/optics.html
I have these, which suit me very well:
Kevin
Greg Goss
Sweetwater isn't a problem.
http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/beluga.html
"They are also found in large rivers such as the Amur and the Yukon
rivers. "
--
Tomorrow is today already.
Greg Goss, 1989-01-27
Boron Elgar
Greg Goss
>On Fri, 06 May 2005 10:18:11 -0700, Greg Goss <go...@gossg.org> wrote:
[stuff]
Please try again. Your reply was cut off except for the quote.
Boron Elgar
>Boron Elgar <boron...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 04 May 2005 11:33:57 -0400, spa...@gmail.com (S. Checker)
>>wrote:
>>
>>>Boron Elgar <boron...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Sounds like you were, indeed, fortunate. Critters wander out of their
>>>> common habitats all the time, I reckon. That is what can make birding
>>>> so much fun.
>>>>
>>>> To show it happens across classes, we had a beluga whale wandering up
>>>> the Delaware River a couple of weeks ago.
>>>>
>>>Someone pointed out that it was common enough to see whales in the
>>>Delaware River that there were laws concerning it around colonial times.
>>>So although overfishing and pollution kept them away for a while the
>>>beluga was merely moving back into a range.
>>>
>>>I'd love to see them become common.
>>
>>Maybe in the lower Delaware, but this one went up as far as Trenton.
>>That's a long, sweet water journey.
>
>Sweetwater isn't a problem.
>http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/beluga.html
>"They are also found in large rivers such as the Amur and the Yukon
>rivers. "
True, but this one seemed to be causing concern due to its unusual
and unaccompanied appearance and the length of time it was in the
Delaware.
Keep in mind that the Amur & Yukon rivers are much colder than the
Delaware, too. A perfectly healthy beluga would probably find its way
out of the Delaware if the water or temp got to it, but they did were
not sure of the condition of the critter.
Boron
Boron Elgar
>Boron Elgar <boron...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 06 May 2005 10:18:11 -0700, Greg Goss <go...@gossg.org> wrote:
>
>[stuff]
>
>Please try again. Your reply was cut off except for the quote.
whoopsie..check down the line...