I'd be interested in what people think of stills from the video. It does seem to be a very large woodpecker with a white hindwing. However, my laptop is small and cheap..
Those who say it should be a no brainer with modern cameras to capture an IBW should perhaps Google Pileated Woodpecker in flight. Pileated Woodpecker in flight
A quite common bird in woodlands around here. I see them in my backyard on occasion though I’ve never got a photo of one, identifiable or otherwise and believe me I’ve tried.
The inflight images of birds with a clear blue background are plentiful. How many images are there of birds flying in front of a background of trees? Very, very few. Some of those look as they they were of a perched bird taking off so the lens should be pretty much pre focused.
Even the very latest camera equipment will struggle at times to get a focus lock on a bird against a background of trees.
I’m mostly indifferent to wether it is extinct or not and have not entered into any of the previous thread on the subject. On the subject of photographs I do have an interest, but what do I know? I’m just a troll according to some. 🤣
I certainly endorse Mike’s comments regarding the degree of difficulty in getting a “lock” on a bird flying fast against a line of trees.
If you then put that tree line in a reduced lighting area of a “million acres” of shadowy bottom land swamp forest, stand up the erstwhile hunter in a “rocking” canoe, with gaitor’s cruising by waiting for him to fall in, and mozzies sucking the life’s blood out of his eye lids…he’d have as much chance of getting a “good shot”……as finding an IBW! 🤣
Thank you Mike, I was not aware of this article. JohnThe comments from the usual know-it-alls reveal that they have never stepped foot into the habitats of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and have no idea what it's like to search for this bird. It's ignorant to suggest that those who have reported these birds and/or obtained evidence have engaged in fraud or have any motive other than trying to help document a critically endangered (and remarkably elusive) species in the interest of conservation. Anyone with a brain would realize that esteemed ornithologists such as John Fitzpatrick and Geoff Hill (both recipients of the highest honor in the field of ornithology) would never participate in such nonsense. For those who are interested in the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and its conservation and are capable of thinking independently, a paper describing the five most compelling events that have been captured on video and other issues relevant to the conservation of this bird are described this paper that recently came out.
An article that he wrote himself! This is not someone else's paper he's linking to.Thank you Mike, I was not aware of this article. John
Bobby would be interested in any work you offer on this video, including mentioning interesting frames. Not sure about the bill, but if I had to choose between the words "absorbant" and "reflective" for this part, involving light on it, I would choose "absorbant." If you look at a specimen's bill, it is rough. The feathers of this species, on the other hand, are noted to be iridescent.I work on the recovery project of a bird that was formally declared extinct so I've got a bit of a professional interest in this & I've been trying to keep up to date since the recent crop of sightings started about 20 years ago. Most of its been, is nonsense too harsh a word?, but this is definitely worth a look before dismissing it.
Its an interesting video, its very long & pretty repetitive but I can see why people think it's an Ivory-billed Woodpecker. I don't know what it is & I definitely don't think the video is good enough to identify the bird, especially not something as important as an Ivory-bill but I'm happy to keep an open mind about it until someone can come up with a better explanation.
Some of the video analysis is nonsense, claiming to be able to see a crest & white line down the neck from the chosen frames is just wishful thinking & I'm not convinced the parts of the wing I'm being told I'm seeing are even the right surface of the wing sometimes. I'd like to look at it all again, I'm pretty sure there is a frame that shows at least the front part of the bird much better than the two he's chosen to analyse, maybe there's a reason for that. But plumage wise, its at least pretty close to an Ivory-bill & appears to be wrong for a Pileated Woodpecker, its just a shame its such poor quality. The biggest thing I'm struggling to understand, if it is an Ivory-bill, is why can't you see the big ivory bill?
I think there's been many things to be critical about over the years but claiming the fella should have got definitive photos from this sighting seems harsh - he would have definitely missed the first, closer pass & would have maybe got a distant shot of it disappearing, but more likely just a blurry photo of trees so I think he did exactly the right thing.
What species do you work with?To be fair, he had just spent 3 days waiting at some trees where there was the scaling they consider sign of IBW so he wasn't just paddling around & he then obviously went searching where the bird was headed & found more trees with scaling so I think he is trying to get better pictures - he also says the scaling is too high up for a trailcamera to pick anything up, so again they are trying different methods. Why all these methods haven't resulted in proof or repeated sightings in the same area is a different question, & I think we probably agree what that reason is likely to be.
Personally, I think these people genuinely think the bird is still around & they're getting enough dodgy photos to keep their dream alive. Like I said, I work with a bird considered extinct for years, despite locals saying they were still around, and it took 10 years of extensive searching by a similar group of enthusiasts, & 10 years of being dismissed by everyone else, before they got definitive proof so I do have a bit of sympathy for the searchers
What species do you work with?
The Chatham Island Taiko - I don't want to hijack this thread so I'll just say despite much bigger odds of being able to rediscover the bird & without any modern technology to help it only took 10 years to get definitive proof, which is what I really struggle to understand if the Ivory-bill is still out there. But I do sympathise with the people out lookingWhat species do you work with?
What is the habitat and the density of birds within? Both probably made the rediscovery easier than the IB's.The Chatham Island Taiko - I don't want to hijack this thread so I'll just say despite much bigger odds of being able to rediscover the bird & without any modern technology to help it only took 10 years to get definitive proof, which is what I really struggle to understand if the Ivory-bill is still out there. But I do sympathise with the people out looking
I would just contact him, and maybe post your ideas on the three Facebook Ivorybill pages (that can be quite professional).Hi John,
Are you still interested in the head-mounted camera rig?
I proceeded a bit beyond my design shown here ...
Improved video cam setup for Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
Hi John, I hope to be able to come up with a rig that allows reliable aiming, in which case the 40 mm will give much better image quality. A shorter lens will obviously be less sensitive against aiming a bit off, so without an aiming aid, a case for a wider angle can probably be made. I...www.birdforum.net
... but I believe for this to make sense one needs the 4K camera with the long lens, and the small field-of-view associated with that version requires a genuine red-dot sight instead of the hardware crosshairs I was envisisioning , which probably brings the rig out of the budget range you have available.
Do you think Harrison would be interested in the binocular-mounted version?
Improved video cam setup for Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
Hi John, I hope to be able to come up with a rig that allows reliable aiming, in which case the 40 mm will give much better image quality. A shorter lens will obviously be less sensitive against aiming a bit off, so without an aiming aid, a case for a wider angle can probably be made. I...www.birdforum.net
I know you thought it was not a good solution overall, but I'd argue that at least in Harrison's actual encounter, with the bird flying more or less straight away from him for about five seconds, this would have been just perfect.
Regards,
Henning
That's the issue... people want it to be not extinct and therefore believe in every piece of 'evidence' that people come out with.The Truth is Out There.............I want to Believe................etc............etc
Lost your sense of humor?That's the issue... people want it to be not extinct and therefore believe in every piece of 'evidence' that people come out with.