MAS Birder's Meeting

This year's Massachusetts Audubon Birder's Meeting will be held on Saturday, March 4th. The keynote speaker will be Tim Gallagher author of "The Grail Bird: Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker".

I would definitely recommend Tim's book if you're interested in wildlife, conservation, or just love a good mystery story. The book tells the story of how Tim and Bobby Harrison devoted a good deal of their adult lives searching for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (America's largerst woodpecker which was widely believed to be extinct). After getting a tip from an internet forum that outdoorsman Gene Sparling had reported a bird that matched the ivory bill's description, Tim and Bobby traveled to Arkansas to meet with Gene. Gene brought them to the bayou where he made his sighting and, to their disbelief, they actually saw the bird. When Tim returned to the Cornell Lab of Ornatology, he broke the news to the lab's director. The lab then started a year long secret effort to document the finding and purchase land in the area to protect the species. Finally, the news was broken to the world last April.

I must admit, the Ivory-bill's story is one of my favorites in the animal world. And, since we're in the dead of winter, I thought that I'd devote the next few posts to the subject. I hope that you enjoy them.