Progressive Wednesday

Welcome back large-billed reed-warbler. We missed ye.

Let’s rack this one up as “Pretty Cool Nature News”:

A bird whose discovery in India in 1867 was also the last recorded sighting of the species has been found again in Thailand, a conservation group said Tuesday.

The large-billed reed-warbler was found anew at a wastewater treatment plant on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand.

I gotta say, I think it’s kind of appropriate that the bird no one thought existed was discovered anew at a place where water goes, not to die, but to, well, to live again. (To see a photo of the bird, click this sentence.)

According to Stuart Butchart of Birdlife International:

Almost nothing is known about this mysterious bird. The Indian specimen has short, round wings and we speculated it is resident or short-distance migrant, so its appearance in Thailand is very surprising. A priority now is to find out where the Large-billed Reed-warbler's main population lives, whether it is threatened, and if so, how these threats can be addressed.

To that, we say “Here, here!” and a hearty “Huzzah!” The natural world is endlessly surprising, fascinating, glorious to a fault. We are, at our best, true stewards of the environment, intellectually curious and emotionally committed to protection. Being aware of good stuff like this and passing the word along are a one-two punch of the best things we, as environmental laypeople, can do.

On a somewhat unrelated note, check out this video of a bird (in its natural environment) moonwalking. I kid you not.