I found Kenn Kaufman's posting to Ohio-birds interesting, but inscrutable. 
What does he mean by "Now, about these freakishly elusive, supernaturally 
un-photographable birds
in Arkansas... Once you look at the only 'proof,' the famous four-second
video, and realize that it actually shows a Pileated Woodpecker, you have to
wonder: What's really going on there?"

I don't know. What *is* going on? Is this a rhetorical question, a la Marvin 
Gaye; or is it a loaded question, pointing to some sort of mischief? Beats 
me.

The debate over the debates on this Ivory-billed issue is becoming very 
strange, I think. It makes one feel a bit like Batman in the classic campy 
'60s T.V. series as he and Robin The Boy Wonder are slowly overcome by some 
strange gaseous substance delivered by the Joker: "Must . . . stay . . . 
conscious . . ."

Only when it comes to this issue, more and more, I'm willing to be 
blissfully *un*conscious. Meanwhile, my understanding is that large stands 
of the bottomland forests in the Arkansas-Louisiana area are potentially 
under the gavel or likely to come up for sale soon, as paper companies 
unload their holdings in the region. Is there still interest in conserving 
these lands? Will it be possible if the Ivory-billed's resurrection turns 
out to be a myth? Will anyone care?

"What's going on?" indeed!

Take care,
---Mike Busam
West Chester, OH