Re[2]: name-a-bird experience

GREGORY.B.MILLER@bge.com
Mon, 16 Nov 1998 15:24:41 -0500


Chris & Leslie,

Yup.  I've had several name-a-bird experiences, but this one tops
my list of good ones.  About 20 years ago, I was birding with my
father, my uncle (father's brother), and my cousin (uncle's
son)--you see, I've got birding genes--all of us grew up birding.

So we'r
e
traipsing along a trail at Ottawa NWR near Toledo, Ohio in late D
ecember.  None of us has ever been there.  Not one of us knew what
 exactly to expect.  We passed a wide open expanse of grass, sh
rubs, and marsh and came near a grove of short, gnarly, hawthorn
trees with big thorns on them.

I remar
ke
d outloud, "This looks like shrike territory."  <insert a five se
cond lapse in time here>...and voila!  A Northern Shrike flies acr
oss the road in front of us.  We are all speechless for a moment.
  Finally, my uncle breaks the silence with a twinkle in his eye,
"Way to go birdnose!"  We all broke into a good, hearty laugh.

-Greg Miller
Lusby, MD