"The Thing with Feathers"

First off, I would like to say that these last two blog posts have got me spinning over the Ivory-billed woodpecker. Last post all hope was lost of ever seeing another ivorybill again. This post has the opposite emotions and a sense of fulfillment. This article was exciting to read because it would be thrilling if somehow the ivorybill could come back and through all odds survive. But I had my doubts starting with the source. Mr. Sparling is not a professional bird watcher and I had a hard time trusting a man who is not a professional. My opinion changed when the two Cornell professors were convinced that Sparling did indeed see an ivorybill. That made my heart jump a little and keep me wanting to read more. The hope that the ivorybill is still out there was at an all time high. But as the article went on there were only small instances where someone might have seen the bird. Sparling never saw the bird again and neither did the Cornell professors. It was cool to almost go along with the narrator as he hunts for the ivorybill. To see and even feel his excitement as he searched for the bird. At the end of the article it became clear to me that hope for the bird's survival was thinning. There could be an ivorybill out there but the likelihood is very slim. There are reasons for misinterpreting a bird for the ivorybill. But there is something soothing to think that the ivorybill is beating the odds and getting another chance at survival.

I also imagined finding the ivorybill for the first time and I have to say I would be a very happy camper. I would not be able to keep this a secret so I feel for Sparling. I am not much of a bird person but I know if I would see this bird in the flesh I would become bird crazy.