"...the ornithologists still had serious doubts. Sutton finally put it directly: 'Mr. Spencer, you're sure the bird you're telling us about isn't the big pileated woodpecker?'

"Spencer exploded. 'Man alive! These birds I'm tellin' you all about is kints!' he shouted in their faces. 'Why, the pileated woodpecker's just a little bird about as big as that.' He held his fingers a few inches apart. 'A kint's as big as that!' he said, holding his arms wide... 'Why, man, I've known kints all my life. My pappy showed 'em to me when I was just a kid. I see 'em every fall when I go deer huntin' down aroun' my place on the Tinsaw. They're big birds, I tell you, big and black and white; and they fly through the woods like pintail ducks!'

"After Spencer's outburst, the members of the team were all believers -- not just because of his vehemence, but because his description was so accurate. Ivory-bills do not have the typical bounding flight of the pileated woodpecker. They generally fly away high and straight, with stiff flight feathers, looking very much like a pintail, and their call is a distinctive nasal kent, kent, kent -- very similar to the local name Spencer used, kint. Sutton and the others couldn't wait to get to the bayou and start searching.

"As it turned out, that was not an easy proposition..." --Gallagher, Tim. The Grail Bird: Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, pp. 10-11: "Of People and Peckerwoods."

Friday, March 29, 2019

In Dreams: 23 March 2019

Fulfilling a promise to our friend Dean Hurliman, my brother Brian and I took our Hurliman Ivorybills out for some sunlight and fresh Spring air.  In case you missed it, these simply astonishing works of art were gifted to us by artist Dean Hurliman of Iowa.  The big male is mine; Brian was gifted the other two, slightly smaller male and female.  We are still deeply, deeply humbled by the generosity of this kindred spirit.

It was a perfect Spring day in Elephant Man Swamp, in the far southern end of the Stronghold.  Red, white, glossy black, and antique white shone above the dark waters.  For a few magical moments, we allowed ourselves to believe.  And it was marvellous.












 (Photos:  Brian Carlisle)

Earlier, we hiked through swarms of mosquitoes to visit the Ancient of Days, waking up from his long sleep, drinking deep of waters from the overflow of the Pascagoula.


(Photos:  Brian Carlisle)
The white flowers belong to a Styrax americanus, or American snowbell, a species we have not (knowingly) encountered before.  This one grows along the overgrown trail, within a hundred yards or so of the Ancient of Days.

Thank you for visiting our blog.  We will continue to post accounts of our search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the Pascagoula River Basin.
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4 comments:

  1. Christopher CarlisleMarch 31, 2019 at 10:53 AM

    Thanks for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete
  2. wildchoughApril 7, 2019 at 10:11 PM

    Love the carving photos guys! Bob Russell

    ReplyDelete
  3. Christopher CarlisleApril 12, 2019 at 8:06 PM

    Thank you, Bob!

    ReplyDelete
  4. TerryApril 25, 2019 at 3:09 PM

    Love it...

    I too was gifted a piece from Dean...such a unique item and it hangs proudly in my office. In the sciences where I deal with groups like Audubon and others, it's not only a great conversation piece, but something that helps spark interest in the (ongoing?) plight of the Ivory-billed.

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