Re: Ricochet Birding - Dream Yr Update (part 2)

Rob Hilton (robert@csa.com)
Wed, 16 Dec 1998 15:17:51 -0500 

HI Greg, have you sent Part 1 yet?

At 02:28 PM 12/16/98 -0500, you wrote:
>
>     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
>
>
>
>