Year ends at 715 - Dream Yr update
GREGORY.B.MILLER@bge.com
Mon, 4 Jan 1999 14:28:06 -0500
Howdy All!
It's 1999 and yes, I'm feeling just a little empty. The Big
Year is over, but the memories still linger. I finished the year
with 715 and regrettably, did not get Snowy Owl. Amazing. I
simply could not bring myself to buy a ticket to Nova Scotia or
Vancouver for a Snowy Owl, although I would have had a remote
chance to get Dovekie in Nova Scotia. Although I know of several
places that "always" get the owls, I was unsure in this
warmer-than-normal year and heard no reports of birds seen more
than a single day or two.
It was a year full of surprises, hardships, thrills,
heartaches, lots of learning, meeting great people, and traveling
to fun places. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I went home after work on Wednesday, Dec 23 and checked the
internet for Snowy Owls, weather, and flights to Cleveland. I
wanted to be home for Christmas at least. There were no Snowies,
but a big front was gonna hit Maryland in the evening and drop
snow and/or freezing rain. Not wanting to deal with these
weather complications even though I was exhausted, I checked on
flights for that evening. Only two left, one at 8:00 pm and one
at 10:00 pm. It was already 6:30 pm and I'd never make the 8
o'clock flight, so I booked the 10 o'clock flight from Baltimore
to Cleveland. Half an hour later, my bags were packed as I
walked through newly falling snow to my truck. The front was
here. I hoped I could make it time for my flight. It was the
last flight out to Cleveland. If it was canceled, I'd be stuck
in Baltimore for the night. Oh, well. Worse has happened
before.
Thanks to the wonders of holiday travel coupled with nasty
weather conditions, I finally arrived in Cleveland at 3:00 am.
My patient brother, Ned, had been waiting at the Cleveland
airport since 11:00 pm. We piled into his pickup and drove back
to his house, arriving at 4:30 am totally wiped out.
My father and I drove to Mt. Hope, Ohio in the afternoon to
meet my uncle Jim Miller and his son Kent. We struck out on
getting the Northern Shrike which had been regular for the last
few days. It would have been a new county bird for me. We then
drove over to a feeder frequented by a Harris' Sparrow. Here, we
had much better luck. This large, handsome sparrow sported a
black crown, a black throat and upper chest, and white face and
underparts with a brown streaked back. It was a gorgeous bird
and also a county first for me.
My head was full, I had a nagging cough, and a sore throat.
I didn't think much of it. It hadn't stopped me before.
Christmas was a pleasant and relaxing day with my parents and my
brothers, but instead of getting better, my condition worsened.
I met my birding cousin Kent Miller in Hartville, Ohio about
7:15 am on Saturday morning. My throat was raspy and I was
tired, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary to me. We loaded
up Kent's car and he drove up to Lake Erie. Our first stop was
Headland's Beach State Park, northeast of Cleveland. It was a
warmer than normal day, but still blustery nonetheless. We
bundled up and headed out to the breakwall. There were thousands
of gulls present. Most were Ring-billed and Herring close by
with a few Great Black-backs. Out further was a stream of
smaller gulls with striking white wing patches, Bonaparte's
Gulls, that extended farther than the eye could see. All three
species of Mergansers were present. I finally found a second
winter plumaged Lesser Black-backed Gull. It seemed like a lot
of work for such a little return. On the other side of the
breakwall, however, was the bird du jour--three Purple
Sandpipers. These medium-sized, purplish gray sandpipers of the
North Atlantic are unusual visitors to the Great Lakes. This was
a new state bird for me.
We continued in a westerly direction, stopping at East 72nd
street. The road was closed and the fierce, greenish-gray waves
of the Lake came crashing into the breakwall and the spray was
freezing over everything. I finally got to meet Nick Barbour, a
16-year-old with a nationwide reputation already. It is always
inspiring to see such youthful enthusiasm and energy focused on
something as wonderful as birding. We found nothing new and
slipped and slid across the ice-covered ground back to our
vehicles.
Kent pulled over several times as we scanned the grounds at
Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland. This is where I saw my
life Snowy Owl nearly 20 years ago. Alas, there were no owls
today. Good numbers of ducks remained on the open water.
We continued on to Lorain, west of Cleveland. This is the
location with far and away the greatest number of gulls. Tens of
thousands of gulls were present. An immature Little Gull had
been reported previously, but we found none today. Kent finally
picked out a first year Thayer's Gull. It was a consolation
prize, though. Back in the 80's, with this many gulls, we might
have turned up several Littles and Lesser Black-backeds,
Glaucous, and Thayer's.
We headed down to Akron to a location where Merlins roosted.
We arrived at 5:00 pm in the general area. At the second street
we passed, I found one perched in a tree right beside the road.
Wow. What a treat! Rather than stick around though, we headed
home. Both of us were tired and cold from being up on the Lake.
On the drive home, I couldn't get warm enough. I felt chilled to
the bone.
I woke up Sunday morning with almost no voice and searing
pain in my throat. My ears were so clogged that I felt like I
was in a pine forest with snow on the ground and all the sound is
muffled and faint. I had all the energy of a limp noodle. I
rested most of the day, wondering what I should do. I was so
tired that I couldn't make up my mind. Finally, in the evening I
called the airlines and arranged to fly back to Baltimore on the
morning of the 4th instead of the 28th. I didn't feel like
birding, let alone working. I called in sick Monday and went to
see a doctor in Ohio on Tuesday as I wasn't seeing any
improvement. I was worried I wouldn't be able to go after any
more birds for the year without risking paying physically in
January for being stupid in December.
I got a good report from the doctor, along with some much
needed antibiotics. I had a sinus infection with inflamed throat
and ears. My sister and brother-in-law and my three nephews
arrived Sunday evening for our family Christmas. We all had a
great time. I found out that the nephews were hacking and
coughing, too. We shared coughing fits. What comraderie. Yeah.
Right.
I rested all week and recuperated slowly while watching the
internet sporadically from Jack Siler's web page. On the morning
of the 31st, I found a message on MDOsprey: Attention Greg -
Black-tailed Gull back at CBBT in Virginia. Yowwww! I looked at
the time. 9:00 am. I was sans vehicle. It would take at least
half an hour to get picked up, another hour and a half or two to
get to the airport... By my calculations I would be racing
darkness by the time I got to location for Black-tailed Gull. I
just didn't have it in me. I was still too "sloogey".
I talked to birding friend, Bruce Glick, at 9:00 pm that
evening. He reminded me that I only had 3 hours left to tick any
more birds. Sigh. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. We
made plans to meet early in the morning of the 1st. Time to
start a new year.
I picked up two birders, Ed Schlabach and Jonathan Kline on
Friday morning. We drove over to Mt. Hope to the Harris' Sparrow
haunts. By 8:00 am, there were maybe 40 other birders there,
anxious to start their new year list with Harris' Sparrow.
Eastern Bluebirds visited the feeder as did a beautiful male
Purple Finch. The dazzling rasberry colored bird stole the show.
By 10:00 am and still without the sparrow, our group of 14 left
and headed over to the other side of town to try for the Northern
Shrike. We whiffed on that, too, but did find a Rough-legged
Hawk and a Red-headed Woodpecker. It was extremely cold, with
temps in the single digits, but fortunately, there was not much
wind.
We headed north to Wooster and stopped at the Research
Center where I picked up a Black-capped Chickadee, a bird not
found in Southern Maryland. Also of note was a partially albino
robin that made my heart skip a beat. The albino coloration was
on the eyebrow and crown. The eyebrow was so striking that it
made me think for a second of a couple good Attu birds <grin>.
We headed up to Lorain to scan the gulls. Again, there were tens
of thousands of gulls. I found a single third winter Lesser
Black-backed Gull. Unfortunately, it was the only gull of note
there. East to Avon Lake, we hiked out to the fence. It had
gotten noticeably colder and the wind blew through our clothes.
My toes were starting to feel numb. But here, Kent Miller found
the first Glaucous Gull (first winter) and Bruce Glick found a
second one (also first year). Ed Schlabach's sharp eyes picked
out a single Purple Sandpiper on the breakwall. It was a delight
to all of us.
On January 2, we had a significant winter storm hit Ohio. I
got snowed/iced in at my parents house and ended up sleeping on
the floor (it sure beat being stuck in near blizzard conditions).
I checked the weather. More snow was predicted for Sunday night
and Monday. I decided to change my flight plans again from
Monday morning to Sunday evening. Thanks again to holiday travel
and nasty weather, I got home at 1:30 am. I had 400 email
messages waiting for me. By 3:00 am, my lightning fast mind
realized that the Dream Year was over and I didn't *HAVE* to sift
through all my messages this morning. I happily fell in to bed,
deliriously tired, and happy to be home...finally.
I thought to myself what a "normal" schedule might be like.
That thought was interrupted by memories of my Attu trip dancing
before my eyes, and Gambell, Alaska, North Dakota, Yellowstone
National Park, and Arizona "Sky Islands", and South Texas
specialties, and Pacific seabirding, and the Florida Everglades,
whew! zzzzzzzzzz (this is a whole lot more rewarding than
counting sheep <grin>)
-Greg Miller
Lusby, Maryland