Woodpecker - the Movie

Something else Pamela and I did this weekend was go to see a film at a local independant film festival called "Woodpecker." I had heard about it through the local birding list-serv, and thought it was the documentary about the search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker that I had heard about some time ago. I actually didn't read any more about it other than the time of the showing, knowing I wanted to go. We went, got good seats in the great old "Coolidge Corner Theater" and looked around. Mostly artsy types and film school kids, that kind of crowd - didn't see any birders that I recognized. I thought to myself that the fervor over the 'rediscovery' of the bird had certainly died down in the last two years without the million dollar photo that everyone had hoped for.
Eventually, a few more birder-types showed up, including David Sibley and his family. It was soon apparent that this wasn't the documentary that I thought it was going to be, but instead the story of one individual that believed he was going to be the one to get that hard evidence. If I had to liken him to any character in movie history, it would have to be Bill Murray's "Carl Spackler" - the greens keeper in Caddyshack. Thankfully, this was a scripted film - written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Alex Karpovsky - and this particular IBWO searcher is not a real individual. The story is almost a modern retelling of Don Quixote. (He even has a sidekick who has no lines, but is hilarious) It was definitely worth the time to see the film, and in fact, I would like to see it again. If you see it coming to an independent film festival near you, I would heartily recommend seeing "Woodpecker"