DC area birders: This is further to this morning's post.  Getting up at 4:30 on an August morning, I'd be inclined to drive to Bombay Hook.  I'll email him my recommendations for self-guided birding.

Mike Milton
mike.milton @ verizon.net
Buena Vista, CO/ Washington, DC

Hi Mike

Thanks for your help.  If appropriate, will you post this follow-up to Maryland Birds?

Thanks

Terry

I will have a car. I live in California and am not afraid to drive. I have no qualms about arising at 4:30 a.m. to be somewhere at 7 (or earlier!) I fly in at 10 pm Sat night, will be asleep by midnight, and can get up as early as 4 and be on the road by 4:30 if need be. Life is too short to let the mornings slip by. Birds are out there...

I'm in a hotel Reston near Dulles but that is moot. I am excellent with directions and maps and can get to where I need to meet someone. I can and will do all the driving if that's desired. I will go north, south, east, west. I regularly drive to the desert from my home in San Diego (a 2 hour drive). The mountains are 90 minutes away. My birding friends and I think nothing of it. I bird every Sat and Sun from dawn until 2 or 3 or 4. I live to bird on the weekends. 

I can pick someone up or meet at a refuge. I can (and will) be happy to pay for the privilege of a good birder spending the morning with me. I can bird for 4 hours or for 6 hours or longer. I am flexible. I just want to bird. 

I am not birding to "list" in the D.C. area. I am birding to see birds and have fun. If I don't get a lifer, but have fun and see birds and learn new and refined ID strategies for hard-to-ID birds, I am happy. I understand that early August is not a prime season as migration is just barely beginning. No matter, I will go anywhere. 

I am in excellent health, am happy to hike and equally happy to bird from a car by stopping by the road. I am into honing skills, not creating a big list. I am a Sierra Club outing leader, a hike leader for the Palomar Audubon Society and a trail guide for the San Diego Natural History Museum. 

I just love to bird, and am looking for someone to show me a few good spots and perhaps aid in ID of a few that I'm not familiar with. I am still a beginner, and am looking to hone my ID strategies and knowledge of GIZZ and habits. I'm 52, and have a lot of catching up to do with guys out here who have been birding for 30 and 40 years. I am determined to catch them. Early retirement is a goal, in the meantime, I'll take my work travel and use it as an opportunity to learn more. 

So, what and where matter not -- so long as birds are involved. It can be the mountains, the sea shore, the rivers or the tangle of bays you all have out there. To summarize, it's mostly about honing my skills and having FUN!!!

Again, let me say THANKS for all your help.

Best, 

Terry 

Terry Hunefeld, CRS, CRB
President, CEO
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