DE trip cut short :-(
Gregory B Miller (gregorym@erols.com)
Sat, 18 Jul 1998 18:53:49 -0400
Howdy all!
A beautiful day out (Saturday 7/18) and lots of birds. Zippo on my
targets though (Curlew Sandpiper and White-winged Tern). Ha! They
*are* rarities. Oh, well. I found the imm. White Ibis quite easily
across from Shearness Pool--a bird that's always a treat for me here in
the mid Atlantic. I also saw a couple of Wilson's Phalaropes at the far
(as you drive on the one-way) end of Raymond Pool. I also found a
single Dunlin at the near end of Raymond in molt. There were fair
numbers of Stilt Sandpipers (most still in alternate plumage). One was
a partial albino with large white blotches on it's upper back. I heard
a single Black-bellied Plover, but did not find the bird. I did not
hear any Long-billed Dowitchers and I didn't spend any time sorting
through the thousands of birds to find one either <grin>. I was
impressed again with the numbers of Avocets. They appear to me to
increasing in numbers with each year. Other shorebirds include Pectoral
Sandpipers, both Yellowlegs, Semipalmated, Western, and Least
Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilts and
Sanderlings (Pt Mahon).
Unfortunately, my efforts today were seriously hampered by debilitating
lower back pain and frequent spasms. I felt quite embarrassed as I am
not able to stand erect. Ahh. The *Quasimodo* of birding <blush>.
There's nothing quite like feeling deformed. Not only is it
embarrassing, it's extremely inconvenient, too! Anyway, I had to quit
early as the pain was bad enough it was causing verbal outbursts at
random. This is also inconvenient while birding. Loud groaning
AAAAAAARGH's and OOOWWWWWWWW's are not especially conducive to getting
close views of skittish shorebirds...not to mention the annoyance to
other birders... I left at 2pm and got to sit and wait for 45 min
crossing the Bay Bridge. Yahoo. Yippee. Thrill. Everyone was
enjoying the good weather *on* the Bay Bridge...
Well, time to fix up the war scars for this weekend. Flat on my back,
feet in the air. I'm sure something good will now show up tomorrow in
Delaware <sigh>. Well. That's birding. Gotta get better for the next
trip.
Greg *Quasimodo* Miller,
Lusby, MD