The Last of His Kind

I've done posts regarding Orange Band before. He was the last Dusky Seaside Sparrow who died at the now defunct Discovery Island in Disney World.

That bird was wiped out by man's impact on the environment.  By the time we realized what we had done, it was too late.

I was recently reminded of this story in a powerful and disturbing way.

I was recently asked to review a book from National Geographic entitled "The Photo Ark Vanishing: The World's Most Vulnerable Animals"

My heart jumped in my throat when I hit a page 43.  There was Orange Band.

I apologize if the following photo disturbs anyone, but for most of us, this is the only way we can see Orange Band.

Discovery Island Today

Discovery Island was a nice bird and animal attraction in the middle of Bay Lake.  Until Animal Kingdom opened you could take a boat to this somewhat unknown location and spend a nice relaxed afternoon.

I did this every time we went down to Disney when I was a kid.  The elevated walkways took you by a number of different exhibits and displays.  Some of these can still be found in Disney World.  For example the Flamingos in Animal Kingdom are a feature that could be found at Discovery Island for years.  Also the live surgeries at Animal Kingdom are also throwback to the old island.

Sure there is a "Discovery Island" today in the Animal Kingdom but it's nowhere near the atmosphere of the old one.   You just can't recreate the old one in a theme park.

So what happened to the island itself? Nature has taken over.


This is the old boat that use to ironically make up the ship wreck.  Now it is a ship wreck and the are around it is now totally over grown.  It's hard to imagine this area right here fairly clear.

This was one of the open buildings. You use to be able to see out around Bay Lake from here.  It's so over grown now you wouldn't be able to see anything from here.

Amazingly this net, once used to keep birds in a set area, is still up. I would have thought it would have been destroyed a long time ago.  They should make everything in Disney out of this material.

Here was the old entrance to Discovery Island.  There use to be a pier here.  The storage hut still looks like it's in good shape.  I wonder if Disney still uses it for something. 

Photo of the Week - Discovery Island

Before animal Kingdom there was Discover Island. You could spend a half day on the island. There were a number of different animals that could catch your attention but none more than the flamingos.