Tonight we went to see a wonderful documentary Ghost Bird about the ivory-billed woodpecker with our friend A. There’s controversy over whether the ivory-billed woodpecker is extinct–the movie makes it seem extinct. I like the people in the movie and the story of it. The director was there, and afterward he answered questions.
The strangest scene in the movie is some hunters setting up decoys in a field and then lying down on their backs, fluttering white fake wings, and then shooting the birds that pass high overhead. It’s kind of surreal.
Erik reminds me that hunters are responsible for preservation of wilderness because they want wild places to hunt. That’s a good point, but when we saw a hit bird plummeting earthward, it was very sad for me.
Oh, and there’s a guy in the movie Sibley who is a nature artist–he makes field guides–and he is possibly the most likable person in the movie: brilliant, sensitive, articulate, persuasive. Erik and I want to be his friend.
2 replies on “Ghost Bird”
"hunters are responsible for preservation of wilderness because they want wild places to hunt"
Yeah, I remember the documentary mentioning this too, but I cannot but note the irony in it! Sad!
Yes, it is sad and ironic.