The latest from Leslie the Alien follows Gary A. Griffith (BrdNSum@dpnet.net) The Hummingbird Society (www.hummingbird.org) Elkton, Maryland (302) 369-3699 Society (410) 392-4491 Home ---------- > Date: Saturday, March 28, 1998 07:49:18 > From: Harry Fisher > To: brdnsum@dpnet.net > Subject: Gary- will u post for me - Day of the Dog > > Todays trip to Ocean City will be forever remembered by myself, my > husband and friend Marcia as the Day of the Dog. We had a little > company when we left Cecil Co. this morning, a stray dog,that we fully > intended to drop off @ the Chesapeake City SPCA. Unfortunately, the > folks @ the SPCA were less than pleased to see us banging on the glass > doors before the official opening hours of 10:00. We were met with > hostility, and a barrage of BS - before hours, I`ll lose my job, we`re > under TVsurveillance cameras etc. etc. So there we were, standing on > the front step of the SPCA, the three of us and a dog, and a sense of > urgency to get down the road to find birds. Have you guessed yet, we > spent 13 hrs today dragging a totally bewildered stray dog up and down > the coast!! He was a great sport tho`, a perfectly behaved fellow. > Guess we`ll try to find him a home. Anyone want a swell dog. ( We > already have 3). > > Anyways, on to the birds. This story could also be called day of the > Gannets. We had hoped for one, but 5!!!! Beyond our wildest dreams. > The first was @ S Indian River, followed by 3 more on the North side of > the Inlet. Wow, these are some really huge birds and we watched in awe > as they wheeled and hunted above the waves. At Cape Henlopen we were > treated to one more @ the fishing pier. We did well with target birds > today, Purple Sandpiper, King Eider and Harlequin Duck @ Ocean City > Inlet, and the afore mentioned Gannets. The West Pond yielded G & L > Scaup, Canvasback, Ruddy Duck, Bufflehead & Shoveller. 4th St. flats > had Oystercatchers, RB Mergs and Common & Red Throated Loons. Brant on > Golf Course Rd. > > Dusk saw us cruising Port Mahon Rd trying for our last wish list of the > day, a Short Ear Owl, but it was not to be. A momentary surge of > adrenalin when a Harrier rose from the marsh, but it turned into a > Harrier!! The day was marred by kamikaze rabbit that ran under the > wheels of our car, with poor results. After some moments of sadness for > having taken a life, our good birding instincts took over,and we > suggested that we should park and wait for an Owl to come feed on it. > So ended the day. By the way, has anyone ever had the Indian food @ El > Sombrero in Dover? Quite excellent if you`ve never been. > > Gary, I promise I will not harass you on a regular basis to post to > Osprey for me. Hopefully this posting problem will get sorted out. > Les. PS. Harry really likes the dog.