Hopefully the link will work for those interested...you may need to copy and paste if the whole link doesn't show as a hyperlink. A story about the plan to spend $27M on an Ivory-billed Woodpecker recovery plan, which makes NBC's Fleecing of America series: http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&brand=msnbc&tab=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/&fg=&from=00&vid=3780f924-ff4f-4df8-9e2c-d2c7d8a192e9&playlist=videoByTag:mk:us:vs:0:tag:News_Editors%20Picks:ns:MSNVideo_Top_Cat:ps:10:sd:-1:ind:1:ff:8A Patrick Comins, Meriden

This story is such a shame. Whether or not the birds till exists this fast disappearing habitat is worth saving. I believe that one hour of this war costs more than the price of preserving the habitat. Kathy Van Der Aue, Southport, CT kvda@optonline.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "COMINS, Patrick" <PCOMINS@audubon.org> To: "Chris Elphick" <elphick@sbcglobal.net>; <ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org> Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 8:21 AM Subject: [CT Birds] Ivory-billed Woodpecker makes NBC Fleece list > Hopefully the link will work for those interested...you may need to copy > and paste if the whole link doesn't show as a hyperlink. A story about > the plan to spend $27M on an Ivory-billed Woodpecker recovery plan, which > makes NBC's Fleecing of America series: > > http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&brand=msnbc&tab=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/&fg=&from=00&vid=3780f924-ff4f-4df8-9e2c-d2c7d8a192e9&playlist=videoByTag:mk:us:vs:0:tag:News_Editors%20Picks:ns:MSNVideo_Top_Cat:ps:10:sd:-1:ind:1:ff:8A > > > Patrick Comins, Meriden > > _______________________________________________ > This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) > for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. > For subscription information visit > http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org

As a response to an old post of mine, I was forwarded the following link related to hummingbirds in New England. The site is very interesting and has detailed reports of records for non-ruby-throated hummers from the last 3 years and ID tips for picking out vagrants...although one ID tip is to look carefully at any hummingbird you see as we move later into the fall: http://www.nehummers.com/ Patrick Comins

As an IBWO volunteer, I found this story misleading and one-sided, even though the question still remains in my mind about the lack of unequivocal evidence. The story itself failed to present both sides and seemed intended to rouse viewers to pass judgement on the project before knowing all of the facts. The vast majority of the $27 million is money that has always been allocated toward habitat conservation. The IBWO has brought a boom to many of the small towns in the area like Brinkley, as birder traffic and tourism has increased dramatically. Whole businesses have sprouted up around the IBWO, and motels in the area promote themselves as accommadations for IBWO searchers/birdwatchers now. The sheer amount of good that conserving this habitat (over 450,000 acres) is money well spent for conservation through agencies like FWS, regardless of whether or not the bird still persists. Much effort has been done by the private sector as well, not just the Federal Government. The sound-bite tidbits of the story the editors selected totally ignored the large body of accoustic evidence and cavities found the area. And as depressed as much of the region is, tourism through hunting and wildlife watching is still the mainstay, second only to agriculture perhaps, of the White and Cache river basins. None of this would be possible without the Refuges and the habitat. Tens of millions of dollars a year are pumped into the region every winter from these resources. Thanks to whomever brought attention to this story, as I caught the email literally 5 minutes before it aired! Ross Kathy Van Der Aue <kvda@optonline.net> wrote: This story is such a shame. Whether or not the birds till exists this fast disappearing habitat is worth saving. I believe that one hour of this war costs more than the price of preserving the habitat. Kathy Van Der Aue, Southport, CT kvda@optonline.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "COMINS, Patrick" To: "Chris Elphick" ; Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 8:21 AM Subject: [CT Birds] Ivory-billed Woodpecker makes NBC Fleece list > Hopefully the link will work for those interested...you may need to copy > and paste if the whole link doesn't show as a hyperlink. A story about > the plan to spend $27M on an Ivory-billed Woodpecker recovery plan, which > makes NBC's Fleecing of America series: > > http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&brand=msnbc&tab=m5&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/&fg=&from=00&vid=3780f924-ff4f-4df8-9e2c-d2c7d8a192e9&playlist=videoByTag:mk:us:vs:0:tag:News_Editors%20Picks:ns:MSNVideo_Top_Cat:ps:10:sd:-1:ind:1:ff:8A > > > Patrick Comins, Meriden > > _______________________________________________ > This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) > for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. > For subscription information visit > http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org _______________________________________________ This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org Ross Geredien Good Migrations Photography www.goodmigrationsphoto.com 1-610-850-5035 --------------------------------- Yahoo! oneSearch: Finally, mobile search that gives answers, not web links.