Tuesday, May 27, 2008

A Woodpecker Reflection

I saw my first Red-cockaded Woodpeckers (RCWs) in the 1970s, in the newly organized Felsenthal NWR. Based upon what I saw there, and what I could learn from reading, I felt RCWs were heading down the same road as Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. In my early 30s, and fresh on the ecology scene, I was drawn by the drama of the bird's decline and the interesting mature pine habitat in which it lived.