Ricochet Birding - Dream Yr Update (part 2)

GREGORY.B.MILLER@bge.com
Wed, 16 Dec 1998 14:28:05 -0500 

     I made the trek back to the Phoenix airport, found terminal
#4, had to say good-bye to my Jeep, and caught the non-stop
flight back to Baltimore.  I spent a solid hour napping in the
"comfort" of my airplane seat.  The remaining hours I used to
update my journal and read the latest issue of Birding Magazine,
the periodical of the American Birding Association.  I took the
magazine out of its wrapper and looked at the cover dumbfounded.
Wasn't that a Black-tailed Gull on the cover?  Coincidence?  I
studied the pictures, notes, and text with enjoyment.  I hadn't
expected to even have a shot at a *second* addition to the year
list.  Additionally, I enjoyed reading the answers to the photo
quiz by Maryland birder and photographer, George Jett.  The
articles, the pictures, and the thoughts of more birding made the
4 1/2 hour flight seem a little less monotonous.
     I spent about an hour driving around Cape May.  Many of the
Victorian houses along its streets were decorated beautifully.
Many of the hotels were closed, though.  The ones that were open
looked expensive and I didn't want to stay in a B&B tonight.
Exhausting my possibilities, I worked my way North, ending up
finally, in Rio Grande at the Shelton Inn.  This place, however,
was nothing to write home about.  I paid my cheap fare, got my
room, and turned on the TV.  Rain was predicted.  The phone
didn't work so I walked across the street to the pay phone.  The
New Jersey Rare Bird Alert had not been updated since Thursday
night.  I was here.  I would take my chances on the gull anyway.
     Monday morning's weather was dreary, wet, and gray.  A
steady rain was falling.  It took all the energy I could muster
to head on down to the 2nd Avenue Jetty to look for the
Black-tailed Gull.  I joined several birders already at the small
shelter.  No one had seen the gull since Thursday.  It had shown
up originally on the previous Thursday.  I asked if I should
return *next* Thursday.  <laughter>
     On Thursday, there had been thousands of gulls.  Today
[Monday] I never counted more than 36 at one time.  As I
maintained a vigil, looking for the bird there, I chatted with
birders as they came and went.  There were no reports.  It was
still raining steadily.  I listened to it as it pelted the roof
of the shelter.  I realized how tired I was...again.  I made the
four and half hour trip home, happy to have added yet another
bird to the year list.  I got all excited again on the drive home
as I conjured up the images of the birding experiences of the
weekend.  It was one to remember again and again.

-----
     Tomorrow morning, December 17, I'll be searching for the
camouflaged, all white, White-tailed Ptarmigan at Guanella Pass
and Brown-capped Rosy-Finches at the feeders in Georgetown, both
locations close to Denver, Colorado.  I'm excited about the trip!

Greg Miller
Lusby, Maryland
home) gregorym@erols.com
work) gregory.b.miller@bge.com
www) http://www.erols.com/gregorym