1960's New Jersey Birders see Ivory-billed Woodpecker in South Carolina and Texas

Congaree River, South Carolina 

3/31/21  0200  New discoveries of ghost birds and past New Jersey birders are intriguing. 

While researching roost data on woodpeckers a once restricted access, 55 year old letter from ornithologist/botanist John V. Dennis to the USFWS was uncovered. He may have been the most active and successful field researcher for Ivory-bills in the last century.  

John Dennis detailed that two diligent birders from NJ, and others, had seen and reported an Ivory-billed Woodpecker from 1959 to 1963 on several occasions in coastal South Carolina (SC). This area of the lower Santee River has a long history of sightings for this species. 

  

One of the Jersey birders saw a different Ivory-billed in appropriate habitat from a small plane in Texas in those same years.

P. William Smith Jr. of  Matawan, NJ and J. Lee Edwards of  Montclair, NJ and several others saw the SC bird(s) on 4 separate dates with the events detailed in the Dennis letter, linked here and below.

Dennis' Letter SC IBWO sightings by NJ birders

Singer Tract LA, male 

Large Bald Cypress Congaree NP, notice our researcher standing farther away and in depression. 2nd tallest in world at 141 feet.

Singer Tract, male female

Involved with these sighting and reports are some luminaires of Ivory-billed and conservation history; some modern NJ birders comment on these assumed departed birders below.

The circumstances illustrate how various government agencies receive and collect via their offices, employees, contractors, citizens and volunteers, reports on rare animals. The trivial to important information from the public may remain hidden for decades. History like some species can go extinct. More on this tangent in a future article. 

Smith Jr. encountered the Ivory-billed twice that April 1959 day with 1 or 2 other people; during the first encounter Davis Crompton heard the bird with Smith. Crompton was one of the handful of people on Earth with extensive Ivory-billed field experience.  

Davis Crompton was with Dennis when they surprised the ornithological world at the time by "rediscovering" and photographing Ivory-bills in east Cuba (1948) after one of the many decades long gaps in pictorial evidence for these two species.  

This scientist and avid birder are credited with taking the last known unequivocal pictures of  Ivory-bills in a mountain range of Moa (see below, but also see Lamb picture). 

They may be the only two people who ever saw and will ever see both species (American and Cuban Ivory-billed).  

Cuban IBWO, Dennis and Compton

Almost certainly Cuban Ivory-billed, 1956 Lambs. Picture only discovered recently.   

Dr. J. Lee Edwards of  Montclair, NJ saw the Ivory-billed in the same SC area as Smith of Matawan in 1963.  Richard Pough wrote Dennis with praise for Edward's field birding acumen. Pough knew Edwards who told him he had also seen an Ivory-billed in Texas from a survey plane. Pough had encouraged Edwards to look for the Ivory-billed; Richard was with National Audubon and the founder of The Nature Conservancy.  

Various NJ Birders have commented on these two birders with little on Edwards:

"Hello Fred,

I knew Bill Smith very well and birded with him on numerous occasions from 1974 to 1984, when he moved briefly to Massachusetts (where we had a Garganey in February 1985).  He then moved to xxxxxxxx, Florida, where I stayed with him and xxxxxxxxxx, several times. 

 

The last time I saw him was in 1994, when I stayed there. Somewhere around 2000, they moved to xxxxx, Washington, but I lost contact with him. I was told by a mutual friend, now deceased, that Bill has lost his enthusiasm for birding and sold his bird books. 

Our mutual friend, who passed away in 2016, told me that Bill had died, but I don’t know what year.

Bill was an excellent and very knowledgeable birder and wrote a number of site guides for Records of NJ Birds as well as being a Regional Editor before he moved away. 

I don’t recall any mention of Ivory-billed, but I do know that he traveled to South Carolina around 1960 to look for (and see) the Bachmann’s Warbler that was present for several years. My memory fails me on any more details and, unfortunately, the one person who could have helped is our mutual friend, Ken.

Lee Edwards was very active in the Urner Club before I came to NJ in 1973, but I never met him."

And:

"I spent a couple of weeks on Gambell with P. William (Smith) in the 1990's. He lived in south Florida for many years after leaving NJ.

In October 1999 George Wenzelburger, Jim Zamos and I chased a Eurasian Dotterel in Ocean Shores, Washington. P. William was living there at the time."

 And:

"P. William Smith was a former editor for Region 5 of Records of NJ Birds. He moved to Florida in the mid to late 80s."

 

As a subtheme P. William Smith Jr. of  Matawan, is likely the last NJ birder to have seen both the Bachman's Warbler and the "Kint".

If anyone has any information on these NJ birders, questions or additions please contact me ( avtrader @comcast.net ) .  

The Dennis letter confirms that some of the SC sight reports, referenced in the official Draft Recovery Plan for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker are from these NJ birders (see green bordered line right below). The USFWS has files and numerous reports on the IBWO that remain shelved, vague or private unless various actions occur to sunlight these "buried" reports. 

Despite there being a substantial number of publicly known Ivory-billed sightings post Singer Tract (after 1940) the USFWS and predecessors seemed to be unaware that sitting on reports could  make them susceptible to claims that they were moth balling reports or hesitant to do much conservation centric work.  Ivory-billed reports by citizens were treated like the treasure in the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. 

The Dennis' letter sheds light on several topics including the globally consistent bureaucratic habit of storing valuable information and artefacts in dark files. A follow up article may examine some of these tangents.

The decades overdue Species Recovery Plan (Draft) has vague sighting details from the USFWS compared to what Dennis originally gave to the same USFWS. No one knows how many direct, in-person reports, phone calls, letters and associated details throughout the Ivory-bills range have been ignored, lost or are still filed away next to similar collections on Eskimo Curlews, Bog Turtles, etc.   

Evidently there were repeated reports from the same area until 1967 in just this small area of SC that borders the 220,000 acres of Francis Marion National Forest. 

These reports however at best only represent a few birds.

Even with the notable Ivory-billed events of 1999 (Kulivan, observes at length a pair, LA; this centuries scores of sightings of a few birds) the USFWS kept pertinent content details of specific sightings to themselves. They mustered only 8 words for more than 10 subject sightings focused on by Dennis and perhaps others. 

From Draft IBWO Recovery Plan --Some  SC Sightings, Green Boxes, Unknown Observer = NJ Birder Names Detailed Here  

The actions or inaction by government entities together with my hope, without guarantee, to  complete the attraction studies we were doing on Ivory-bills in 4 states compels me to say a bit more about our own past official projects. We were testing under permit various acoustical attraction methods as a precursor to a hypothetical netting attempt.

Several years ago birders and scientists, including some from NJ staffed four formal woodpecker  studies in SC; we were fortunate to experience the greatest US virgin forest left east of the Mississippi River. During these confidential studies I spent collectively over 30 days in South Carolina with ~ 27 days of wilderness camping (see pictures). 

Like the USFWS, the National Park Service (NPS) requires various confidentiality and other agreements to enter restricted wilderness areas, broadcast calls and remain camping in restricted, no camping areas for ~ 4 weeks to do acoustical and attraction research for Ivory-bills. 

Yearly Final Reports were filed and are password protected. The results could be collated by the lead researcher (myself) and published. However there is some desire to adjust methodologies to finally determine if an IB can be attracted towards a net array.  

Study Applications in South Carolina, 4 years, NBP

It was a tough but unique and unforgettable experience as we dodged thousands of large orb weavers, cottonmouths, feral hogs, mosquitoes, mud, rain, the hard ground and hunger. Many species of animals and several hundred woodpeckers were recorded. Three of us, the whole team that year, had a definite acoustical encounter with our main quarry.

That week I also had a sighting of a large mostly white-winged woodpecker followed soon after by a clear double knock heard by the team. There were also other acoustical IB detections during the studies and some probable IB detections.   

In 2009 a pair was seen well by another zoologist not far from where we also detected an Ivory-bill in SC. About the same time a park employee, a die hard skeptic was convinced by a sighting in the same area. More on all this in the future.

Thanks for the comments on the subject birders in order of receipt from NJ birders Bob Dodelson, Tom Bailey and Bill Boyle.  

If anyone has any information on the subject NJ birders, questions or additions please contact me ( avtrader @comcast.net ) .  

   

SC IBWO sightings by NJ birders

www.nationalbiodiversityparks.org

Historic ranges and 22 reported sightings of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers since 1944 - BirdWatching (birdwatchingdaily.com)

Southern France----Research Trip 2018, for Ecoutourism Project Part 1 of 3

Southern France is a beautiful area with ample culture and biodiversity. Adventurers with specific or  broad interests will have plenty of activities to choose from and enjoy.

In this 3 part post you will find a Preliminary Report that invites potential partners to explore and operate a first tour to Southern France and form an ecotourism company. There will be various pictures of the proposed tour area and just a small sample of the sites and animals. NOTE ONLY ONE POST IS UP NOW...but it has the pivotal report. 

INITIAL BRIEF REPORT: ECOTOURISM RESEARCH TRIP TO S FRANCE and TOUR COMPANY PROPOSAL

Introduction: Here we present a proposal seeking stakeholders/partners to explore an ecotourism trip and the related start up and growth of a new ecotour firm.

The ecotourism business model is only four decades old; the growth in gross revenue and offerings has been substantial.  Global growth in ecotourism, assuming a broad definition, has been over 10% YOY for decades. Protection of some open space, forests and biodiversity hotspots has occurred globally due to the potential and realization of ecotourism. The necessity of supporting infrastructure for the model has resulted in significant local community benefits including the start of many ecolodges etc.     

Southern France has scores of premier attractions, both natural and cultural, making it marketable to a broad segment of the travelling NJ/Metro/USA demographic.  In the past NBPs/RRWA’s zoologist has gone into detail about the tangible strengths of a first trip for a new company exploring S France; the points will not be repeated in length here. The Mediterranean with its varied attractions can appeal to couples, families or group of friends that may have only one serious naturalist, photographer or birder since the other participants will have many possible activities and sites that excite them.  

In April 2018, after receiving favorable comments on the eventual sponsoring of an ecotourism trip by various NGOs and individuals, our zoologist visited, researched and birded the area. He personally funded  the ~ 11 day trip; the time invested in the trip and business concept has been substantial.

His opinion that this is a “good starter trip” for several reasons has been strengthened by this recent visit.  It may be a good trip to offer for a new tourism entity that will likely expand its trip offerings in a measured way.

Scope and Purpose of this Brief Report : This report will only have superficial information since some concepts, ideas, marketing strategies, research results, etc. have proprietary or confidential implications and final partner(s) and exact optimal, corporate structure has not been discussed.  Likewise a detailed demonstration here by any of the partners’ ideas, knowledge and skills sets related to business operation and marketing an ecotourism effort is premature.  Detailed ideas should only be fully shared in less public forums with the final set of partners.    

Investment or start-up funds to organize and run a company needs to be established. It also may be pertinent and necessary to have a company separate from the non-profits for efficiency; the non-profit structure and entities may better serve an ecotourism startup by marketing the trips in return, for example, stakeholder building, fulfillment of their mission, membership dues, exciting publicity and eventual donations.

This report’s purpose is to start some serious formal discussions on the various subjects and steps discussed.

Goals and Time Table: Once the various parameters have been agreed upon resulting in a more formal agreement on company structure, a more detailed business plan (BP) would be helpful and necessary. While the BP is being worked on concurrently a first trip itinerary would be formalized and local guide (in France) relationships promulgated. Again this report is a preliminary step in the hopes of a trip being offered and a more robust business model being produced that will detail how to obtain an acceptable and sustainable cash flow within 5 years.  The trip offering can occur before the final BP is complete; the company and first trip would be governed and guided by some interim guiding BP or agreements.

Readers must take this report’s “initial trip” scope in the context that it is an early step of a business effort that will gradually add more trip offerings to various desirable places. Every long trip starts with one step.  Growth is expected to be measured, incremental and strategic to assure a high quality experience for both partners and the public. Our zoologist has been to hundreds of international tourism locations and “biodiversity hotspots”; he was purposefully assessing ecotourism potential.  This will reduce the new firm’s research costs for trip offerings by tapping into direct experience with potential destinations and pre existing ground truthing, tapping into global business relations already established and more.  

After basic business structure, budgets, costs and responsibilities are agreed upon the next short term goal is to market, book and successfully complete the inaugural trip. This trip could only be in 4-6/19 if the partners worked daily towards that goal. More likely is a fall 2019 or late spring 2020 trip to S France.

Trip offerings would be added each year as possible based on our zoologist’s and partners’ advice, further research and agreement.  A medium term goal, 5 years or less, would be to offer one trip per month; this would smooth out workload and cashflow. The rate of growth of trips offered, and the correlates of gross and net revenue is often dependent on work ethic, business and management skills and the amount of capital investment in the business especially marketing and advertising capabilities.

A small subset of ecotour companies eventually establish a complimentary lodge where they run the tour business out of. The pros and cons of owning and operating a lodge are many; a lodge can be expensive and time consuming; there are geopolitical and economic risks.  Regardless a lodge can be a potential goal for the new firm.      

Note that NBP has a global mission scope reflected by its website and Journal “The Biodiversity River”. These media resources will be important to reduce the costs of marketing the trips.  The Journal is in the process of being viewable on NBP’s developing website.

Trip Results, S France:    S France has an eclectic mixture of scenery, castles, ruins, museums, cloisters, architecture, history, cultures, art, fairs, food, eateries, outdoor markets, stores, vineyards, farms, beaches, marshes, wetlands, parks, forests, plains, mountains, lakes, rivers, a sea, animals and more.  There are many small towns and two larger cities like Marseille near the best area for tours in S France.

I visited approximately 3 wildlife areas including some mid- altitude slopes of the Alps as I traveled slowly for ~ 5 hours from the border of Italy west to Arles, France;  this medium-sized town could be a hub for most of the activities in the adjacent large Camargue Nature Park ecosystem. The s is silent in Arles. These initial 3 wildlife areas in SE France are less important to a first trip since they may not be needed due to more proximal airports and sites around Arles.

Arles is the gateway to the large Camargue ecosystem which is hundreds of thousands of acres of mostly wetlands, with some uplands; the area has many ownership jurisdictions but are mostly accessible. The town with a population of ~ 50,000 sits on the Rhone River; it is compact and walkable with museums, galleries and the famous St. Trophime Church and Cloister. It has two ancient Roman Amphitheaters to explore and Van Gogh lived and painted hundreds of canvases in this area for 2.5 years.  There are pedestrian promenades, small shops, restaurants and scenic squares.

The Camargue ecosystem is in part the Rhone River delta which is famous for marshes and the more African centric bird, the Greater Flamingo.  Thousands of striking flamingos breed in the Camargue along with many other bird species, resident and migratory.

The birds and animals were relatively approachable and photographic in the area likely due to the lands recent history of passive ecotourism.  Our researcher in general rates the area very good for bird photography, scenery and pleasantness. Attached you will see a small sample of what he was able to capture in a single, relatively short trip  The area is good for biodiversity but certainly it does not approach any tropical area and is closer in biotic value to a temperate latitude as one would expect. The biodiversity scale is of course influenced by excellent areas of Africa, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, etc. which are not a fair comparison to any temperate area.

Our zoologist visited almost every notable park and birding location in the Camargue with notes, business cards, maps and pictures; this was ~ 60 stops in ~ 25 locations.  All of these stops are within 15 minutes to 3 hours from Arles. He would be able to comment on any itinerary to this area in detail.

There are at least 3 other smaller towns and a larger, famous city  in the potential tour area that are important to the contemplated itinerary. These towns may be important as staging/overnight areas to visit several other biodiversity/birding and cultural highlights.  It is beyond the scope of this report to list all likely areas to visit and their individual highlights although planning media to partners and premarketing material and itineraries to paid clients will go into greater detail.

Only 20 minutes NE of Arles is the storybook-like medieval village of Les Baux-de-Provence which meets our needs.  This town has some spectacular sights and views with ruins and areas to see wildlife; this town with Arles have several UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Additional important parks/areas to be visited on this tour will likely include The Natural Reserve of Crau and Alpilles Natural Park.  Our zoologist visited these areas in the subject trip.  Birding highlights include Eagle Owl, Stone Curlew, Little Bustard, Calandra Lark and many more species.   

Local Guide:    Our zoologist had multiple preliminary meetings while in France with a potential local guide, who speaks excellent English, with years of field experience in France garnered by successfully completing hundreds of tours.  Our zoologist was also in the field with this guide and found him to fit our basic requirements.    

Conclusion: This is a very good area for an initial ecotourism trip; this could be an annual offering for a successfully run ecotourism firm.   Short term goals would be to form a corporate partnership and successfully complete the "inaugural" trip in 2019 or more likely 2020. A longer term, important goal would be to offer 12 ecotourism trips a year within 5 years.