Looking at the situation from far away, and claiming no expertise or intimate knowledge at all, I'm surprised by the skepticism that centers around that terrible few seconds of out-of-focus film. Everyone seems to have forgotten that when Tim Gallagher and Bobby Harrison first went into the area a couple of years ago, they saw a woodpecker fly directly in front of them, and then they sat down and independently sketched what they had seen, without consulting each other; and the result was two clear (amateurish) drawings of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker. I think it was Harrison who then cried with the emotion of the event, and Gallagher said something like, "I don't know about you, but that's a life bird for me!" We're talking about two highly competent, respected observers; Gallagher is a professional ornithologist, if I'm not mistaken. Those observations ought to outweigh the film.

Burt Guttman
The Evergreen State College
Olympia, WA 98505 guttmanb at evergreen.edu
Home: 7334 Holmes Island Road S. E., Olympia, 98503