Bermudian filmmaker Lucinda Spurling is documenting the life cycle of the Cahow ? one of Bermuda?s endangered species.

She and her film crew have spent the better part of the last year capturing the Cahow in its natural habitat and during its mating rituals.

In this feature length film she is capturing the people ? like David Wingate and Louis Mowbray III ? who have made a difference in bringing the unique bird back from the brink of extinction. The Cahow was thought, for 300 years, to be extinct.

Ms Spurling, who is working with the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, is looking for funding so that she and her international production team can complete the filming and editing process for the film.

?We are working on a feature length, big budget, big division of labour crew,? she said.

?We started in January with a grant from the Bank of Bermuda Foundation and we did our first shoot in May.

?And we did all the main interviews with Jeremy Maderios, David Wingate and Nick Carlisle, who was here from Australlia.

?We were there for the first trans-location, of 14 Cahow chicks, to Nonsuch Island. They brought a whole new generation of chicks over to Nonsuch, which is a safer island, as it is higher and it protects them from hurricanes, which can wipe out the whole population.

?It is pioneering and it has never been done in the Western Hemisphere. It is the first time in 400 years since they have been back in their native habitat, which are soil burrows.?

As the rare species has been nursed away from the edge, the birds have been living on rocky outcrops where conservationists made them reinforced shelters but Nonsuch is a much better long-term home for the birds.

?The idea is that the chicks will fledge from there and have an imprint of Nonsuch and start a new colony,? Ms Spurling said.

The crew recently did an interview with Jennifer Gray, who rears the chicks who are abandoned by their parents and they also interviewed Louis Mowbray, who is the son of Louis Mowbray II, who was on the expedition with David Wingate when the Cahow was rediscovered in 1951.

She said:?We are going to do some re-creations of the discovery with actors, black and white without sound and quite abstract.

?We?ll see how that works.?

Other than that, the main thing they want to get footage of is the Cahow at sea during November when the birds come back to court.

?They have been out at sea since June and they come back to meet up with a mate,? Ms Spurling said.

?And they have these spectacular November courtships over on the island at night, where they swoop over the island and call out to each other, before mating in the burrows. It is one of the only times you get to see them in action because they are such a nocturnal bird.

?They leave again over the Christmas period as a reprieve and they build up their resources eating squid and stuff like that.

?Then they return in January and lay their eggs, incubate them and they hatch in May or June. Then the parents and the chicks depart.?

She said the Cahow?s rediscovery and the work that is being done to bring it back makes an incredible story.

?It is an amazing story because who?s ever heard of a bird that was thought to be extinct for 300 years and rediscovered ? that is just unbelievable,? she said.

?And that is just the beginning of the story. The bird now faces the challenges of global warming and increased storm activity as a whole.

?I think it brings it home for anyone who works with the Cahow that it is a serious problem.?

Because of the Cahow doesn?t breed until it is about five years old, the results of the trans-location to Nonsuch will not be see for about that length of time.

?Hopefully we will have finished our film by then and will be ready to do a follow up,? she said. ?I got involved because my dad was involved with the Bio Station (BBSR) and I had tours on Nonsuch with David Wingate like most school children.

?I can?t think of a better story that needs to be documented both for Bermuda and the bird. I think it should reach an international audience, which we plan to do when we finish at film festivals and on American TV.?

The cameraman, James Leigh, does a lot of work for the Discovery Channel, and Robert Zuill, who is doing sound and camera work, runs the video company Land and Sea Video.

Mr. Leigh said he has been all over the world working for the Discovery Channel and his latest project is a film on snakes for them.

?We were also in Namibia filming the elephants, which was great, until we got charged by them, which wasn?t so great,? he said.

?I was at university with Lucinda and we worked on a documentary film, which was called ?The Light that Followed?.

?I got a call from Lucinda asking if I fancied coming out to Bermuda. It has been a good project.?

The fundraiser for the documentary will take place at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club on December 7, between 6 and 8 p.m. Please RSVP on 297-1953 or via email on spurlingibl.bm.

To learn more about Bermuda?s Cahows see RG Magazine in today?s paper.