Flown by helicopter to a mountain preserve virtually untouched
by humans, the scientists found more than 40 species new to
science. They also spotted the legendary six-wired bird of
paradise, a species with distinctive wiry head plumes that was
first described in 1897 but that has proved elusive ever since.
Team leaders on Tuesday described how they spent two weeks in
December, butterfly nets and binoculars at the ready, traversing
the foggy slopes of the Foja Mountains in Papua province. Among
trees encrusted with moss and draped with huge ferns, they
marveled as birds and animals approached with no fear. "It has a
fairyland quality," said Bruce Beehler, an ornithologist with
Conservation International in Washington and the expedition's
co-leader. "It's a spectacularly beautiful Garden of Eden." AND:
Be sure to click on the slideshow at the link.