The southern Bahamian island of Great Inagua is known for two things -- its old salt plant and a 60,000-strong flamingo flock. Now some Bahamians wonder if they might end up losing both after Hurricane Ike ripped across the island last week causing millions of dollars in damage.
Most of the flamingos, which attract bird-watchers from all over the world, took off before Ike arrived and have not been seen since, according to officials in charge of the islands' National Parks.....
Meanwhile, bird watchers in the southern U.S. states have reported unprecedented flamingo sightings, like the one spotted in the beach town of Destin in the Panhandle.
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"His feathers are beat up and he looks like he has been through a hurricane," said Donald Ware, bird count coordinator of the Choctawhatchee Audubon in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
Wild flamingos are occasionally sighted in Florida's southern tip but that was the group's first recorded sighting in Okaloosa County in the northern part of the state.
