"Economy in Shambles...

Patriots, raptor lovers hardest hit."

What's the old WaPo joke? Or NYTimes is it? About the end of the world and headlines in the newspapers.

Unfortunately there will be no Bald Eagle Connecticut River festival this year:

"The 2009 Connecticut Audubon Society Eagle Festival® Is Cancelled

On Nov. 13, 2008 Connecticut Audubon Society announced that it had decided to suspend its annual festival for the coming year. The 2009 Connecticut Audubon Society Eagle Festival® was originally scheduled for Feb. 14-15, 2009 in Essex, CT. “This year, the national economic downturn has prohibited the depth and breadth of support that we usually enjoy from our corporate sponsors,” said Robert Martinez, Connecticut Audubon Society’s President. “This corporate support is what allows Connecticut Audubon Society to offer festival visitors the opportunity to see Bald Eagles in the wild, enjoy live birds of prey demonstrations and attend environmental lectures from noted experts -- all free-of-charge to the public. We are grateful for the enthusiasm that all of our constituents feel for this, the largest birding festival in North America, and we look forward to continuing and revitalizing this popular event the moment the economy allows.
Click here to read the full press release."

I was looking into the matter as I had missed them in the past and would have enjoyed it, I have no doubt.

Maybe Paddy will let me borrow his camera and I can go look on my own...

I'm sure Mr. Jellineck and Phil Donohue are also disappointed.

Co-chair Phil Donahue met "Tad" (actor Paul Dinello)
of "The Colbert Report." Photo by Bird Chick.

See Tad here, the embed is failing.

Good for Phil for supporting an American symbol. He must experience some painful cognitive dissonance if he pauses to realize those awesome animals are symbols of the United States.

I hadn't realized Phil was blackballed from the Pequot club:

"...the Pequot Yacht Club, which has occupied two brick buildings on the harbor since the 1920's. To outsiders, the private club is known chiefly for blackballing the talk-show host Phil Donahue..."

but I did fight a beautiful Bluey in the kayak in that harbor this past summer. The blue herons and egrets seemed to be impressed. I have a slew of photos from that harbor I should add them to this post.