3 Quarks Daily points to a wonderful NY Times magazine article on birding, stories, and the now legendary ivory-billed woodpecker.
But this is not one of those crummy stories that ends with some annoying riff about “ambiguity.” Birding is not philosophy. Birding is storytelling, and ivory-bill birding is the most exquisitely nuanced yarn of them all. It requires that you consider the different facets of the ivory-billed woodpecker from every angle. (My experience with Bill Tippit and this philosophical mumbo jumbo are but two.) There are, with some editing, 13 ways of looking at the ivory-billed woodpecker, and there is an answer to the burning question Did I see the damn bird or not? Here’s the thing — I’m not able to give the answer. It’s a birding story. Only you can.
It’s a wonderful story, and not just because of it’s focus on birding. Its about the power of faith and wanting to believe, and how this can influence even the most dedicated observationist and critical thinker.
Wonderful. I must plan a trip to Arkansas. Soon.
Sweet-and-Sour Bovine Penis Braised, With Testicular Partners…
