Expedition Reports

New Chinese Bird Species Discovered

The Chinese news source Xinhua is announcing on Thursday, June 19, 2008, the confirmed discovery of a new species of bird, the Nonggang babbler or Stachyris nonggangensis. It has a white crescent-shaped patch behind the ear and some grayish-brown spots on the white throat. Apart from that, it’s dark brown all over. It prefers to walk, flying only when frightened. It often feeds on worms and insects in the gaps between rocks. Meet the new species of bird discovered by Chinese ornithologists on a small patch of limestone rainforest on the Sino-Vietnamese border. No ornithologist had sighted the myna-sized bird [...]

More on Caatinga Woodpecker

The following is the uncropped version of the photograph, via the BBC: A lost bird returns. The Caatinga Woodpecker (Celeus obrieni) had not been seen since its discovery in 1926 when Advaldo do Prado came across this one in eastern central Brazil. The country has more globally threatened species than any other. (Image: Guilherme R C Silva/BirdLife) Let us hope for as clear new evidence of the ivory-billed woodpecker will be developed soon. My thanks to Arthur Masloski. +++ Update from Mount Desert Islander. I found an article in Portugese with two nice pictures at this web site. From the [...]

Found After 80 Years: Caatinga Woodpecker

Caatinga Woodpecker, Celeus obrieni , the first sighting since 1926. Photo by Guilherme R C Silva. One of Brazil’s long lost birds, known only from a single specimen collected in 1926, has been rediscovered after an absence of 80 years. The rediscovery of the Caatinga Woodpecker (Celeus obrieni) has delighted conservationists worldwide and gives hope for other “lost” birds feared extinct. The single specimen has been considered a subspecies of Rufous-headed Woodpecker also known from South America. However, recently a recent review by ornithologists involved with the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithologists’ Union concluded that dramatic differences [...]

Seeking Searle: Nessie Hunter

Frank Searle and Lieve Peten For years I searched for Frank Searle, the Loch Ness Monster hunter. Finally, I found him, but it was too late, and instead, had to write an obituary, noting “Nessie Seeker Frank Searle (1921-2005) Dies.” Recently, repeats of a documentary The Man Who Captured Nessie, directed by Andrew Tullis and released on December 29, 2005, have been broadcast on Scottish television. While trying to relocate my obituary on Frank Searle, I have discovered it has disappeared from the Internet. So here, to revisit the legacy of this man, I republish my look at Searle, who [...]

Call For Cryptozoology Papers

The Association Belge d’Etude et de Protection des Animaux Rares (ABEPAR) asbl have organized its 8th Symposium at Engreux, to be held in The Ardenne, south of Belgium, on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th September 2008. The thema is “Mysterious Animals from Waters and Woods.” They have opened, for consideration, a call for papers of fifty-minute long presentations (maximum lecture + questions/answers) in English, but best in French if possible. (They will not be paying for your travel expenses, even for accepted speakers. You must find your way to Belgium. I would love to give a formal analysis of Bigfoot [...]

Davies Replies to Selma Film Critics

Adam Davies (above) in Mongolia. The following is the video of the “Seljord Serpent” or Selma, which was taken at Lake Seljord, Norway, credited to Adam Davies and Andrew Sanderson. (Please click on image directly above for a larger sized version.) Extreme Expeditions’ Adam Davies replies to the comments, questions, and criticisms: Thank you to everyone who has commented on the Seljord Serpent footage so far. To answer a few basic questions: 1/ The footage is shaky because Andy was stood up in a boat when he took it. It’s shot on a hand held camera. We had hardly any [...]

CFZ Almasty Expedition

A group of scientists from the UK based Centre for Fortean Zoology are set to travel to the Caucasus Mountains of the Southwest Russian republic of Karbadino Balkaria in search of what they are saying may be “mankind’s closest living relative ~ a hominid known as the almasty.” The three-week expedition is being filmed by October Films for UK Channel 4 television, and by the team themselves for a feature length documentary to be broadcast, for free, on their CFZtv multimedia website. Ukrainian biologist Grigory Panchenko, who has been on the track of the ape-like man for over 14 years, [...]

The Secret Selma Footage

Extreme Expeditions author Adam Davies’ just-released footage of the “Seljord Serpent” or Selma is actually secret footage that has never been released before. (See my previous blog on this sterling example of blobdracontology, here.) Jan-Ove Sundberg of the Swedish group GUST writes: The Selma video you now write about at Cryptomundo was taken on our expedition to Lake Seljordsvattnet in 1999. That Adam & Co. took it has been kept a secret by them until now, but GUST have published many articles about the video. See this feature [which is in Swedish] published in 2005 (I have taken no less [...]