Heard about it this AM on NPR. Isn't it wonderful! Hopefully more will be spotted. Thank goodness for conservation efforts...

You can all thank me for this.
I have recently discovered that I possess incredible powers well beyond the limits of my own comprehension. What would you like me to wish for next?

Oh wouldn't it be nice! Sadly, I'm just another run-of-the-mill nature nut, but this sure is a weird coincidence.
Read my Blue Grosbeak post...it's down the list a little ways.

You are so psychic its almost scary!

I watched the video of the ivory-bill. It does show alot of white, i hope they find more of the birds.

The video reduced me to tears & sobs. This is truly amazing news. It is like a dream. I can only imagine being one of the birders to see one for himself in modern day, 6 decades after the last known US sighting. It would blow my mind.

I truly hope this will continue to be a great success story and that it will make more people realize/understand/appreciate the importance of this astounding discovery.

As Scott Weidensaul wrote today, "The ivorybill lives. It makes the sunshine just a little sweeter, doesn't it?"

Amy,
Yep, I was this close to bawling myself. Can only imagine the feeling--no, I probably can't come close to it. We only just had pileated wps show up here in our area about four years ago...nobody had even heard of them locally, much less seen them. When I first came busting into the house to tell my husband what just flew through our woods he didn't believe me, but pretended to be just as excited. For two full years I never knew this until the day one landed in a tree close to the house. He saw it and went completely berserk...endzone dance, you name it. Then he confessed that all that time he was so sure I had seen something else but didn't want to ruin my news. It took seeing one himself to believe me.
I wonder how frustrating the first isolated sightings must have been to the people who experienced them.

Now I only hope that like all good things that we discover in this world, we don't overlove it to death. Surely the right people are in control of this situation and there will be a way to allow only a select number of people in there to learn what they can.

That's exactly what I'm afraid of----crude, rude, and ignorant people turning it into a disaster. I can only pray the whole situation is handled strictly.

Here is the address for donating to the Nature Conservancy via ivorybill.org:

The Nature Conservancy
Attn: Treasury (Web/Support)
4245 N. Fairfax Drive
Suite 100
Arlington, VA 22203

(they own the millions of acres of land in the area for protection and preservation, and they plan to buy as much more land as possible)

I'm sure lots of birders have shed tears of joy over this (I'm one of them). I just saw a Pileated for the first time last year, and was in total awe when I saw it. I can't even imagine the emotions of those who have seen the Ivory-Billed! Its a wonderful day, enjoy it!

Here is a link that might be useful: NPR Report on Rediscovered Ivory-Billed Woodpecker

Not much moves my eyes to mist in this day and age...but I have to admit that when I first heard the news (from a bird sightings list I subscribe to) I believe I weeped the first tears of joy I've wept in a couple of years (if memory serves the last time was the breeding of the California Condors in Grand Canyon National Park)
I think from reading the interviews that it might be now considered reasonable to hope that the sighting three years ago in Lousiana may have been legitimate, as well. (Trust me, even common, easy to find birds can be amazingly hard to find when you're actually looking for them...especially if you're intent on showing them to someone.)
I suppose now the Sasquatch/UFO/Jim Morrison contingent will have their hopes up to. Oh well...hope is a beautiful thing wherever it is found.

CypSavant
Let's not forget dear Jimmy Hoffa

I know exactly what you mean about the hard-to-spot-birds thingy. You could have a huge flock of cedar waxwings right over your head, pick up your binocs for a closer look and *blip* they are completely off the radar.
Now if you are out in the middle of nowhere, birding or nature watching the last thing on your mind (which is not often if you are asking me), something will undoubtedly show up and be just far enough away that you can't quite get a good look at it. And again, you will have to look away while you reach for your glasses....

Terrific news! Thanks for sharing, and thanks for the donation link!

There's also really neat information from the folks at Cornell. They've been sending search expeditions out for the last few years. These web pages document scientific expeditions as far back as the '30s.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ivory-billed Woodpecker - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

at this link. it is not quite what i expected, for some reason. sounds more like a loon or goose (maybe even a child's bicycle horn *lol*).

Here is a link that might be useful: ivory-billed woodpecker audio link

Well Amy, I'm sure us rude, crude, ignorant Arkies will do our best not to mess things up. So far they are trying to keep everybody but official searchers out of the area, including folks that have fished the bayous and rivers for years. Our govenor is hoping that the sighting will bring some money into the area as it is one of the poorest in the country. I've not been in the White River area many times but have driven through it once or twice. It really is an awesome area. You can imagine what Arkansas was like when the first explorers came. The White and Cache river wildlife preserves are home to some of the last native black bears in the state plus southern puma.

I was also glad to hear the news recently that some ornithologists who were going to publish an article questioning the discovery pulled the article after they heard recordings:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/08/02/woodpecker.question.ap/index.html

and thanks for the conservancy link- I made my donation! I hope they'll use it to keep humans away from that area until there is an established population (or maybe just away from there, period- there's a reason the birds nearly got obliterated in the first place!) I love saying "nearly"!!!! I'm so thrilled about this!