Friday, February 5, 2010

Ivory-billed Woodpecker Search - Project Coyote Update

Originally posted 3/18/11 - backdated to organize posts by topic.
 
In February, I spent just over a week in east-central Louisiana with a couple of good friends in our ongoing search effort (dubbed Project Coyote) for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.  Our trip report includes several images of trees of interest and habitat, and a sound file of two possible double knocks that I heard in the field, but which are rather soft in volume on the recording.

Follow this link to find the update posted on March 17, 2011:  Project Coyote Updates

Photo taken in Singer Tract, Louisiana by Arthur A. Allen (April 1935).

Visiting Louisiana in the wintertime usually gives this New Yorker a welcomed break from the cold!  This time, the first half of the trip was frigid, with overnight temperatures in the 20s before it warmed up considerably for the rest of our days there.  I enjoyed meeting a few fellow searchers for the first time over dinner.  Of course, I always feel fortunate to spend time exploring and enjoying the wildlife and scenery of the Louisiana forests.  

On this trip, I saw dozens of armadillos roaming around the forest, rifling through the leaf litter with their long snouts looking for bugs and worms.  They got me curious, and upon returning home, I was surprised to learn that there are around 20 species of armadillos in the Americas!  The Nine-banded Armadillo you see here is the sole species that inhabits the USA.


Nine-banded Armadillo originally uploaded by billy3001

0 comments: