If I had you leading the trip, bet I'd see it!!

Laura
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Hoffman" <>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 4:53 PM
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Keep your sprits up


> For those of you who might be waiting for the Lapwing to return, the
> attached poem I found a couple months ago will at least give you some
> solace.  In his case, it was a Smew in California.  A classic!!
> 
> Mark
> 
>  
> 
> Do you, too, rue Smew? Yes I do! Yes I do!
> 
> by Luke W. Cole
> 
> 
> One bird, two bird, red bird, blue bird...
> 
> I do not like to wait all day,
> I do not like it, yet I stay
> 
> I do not like it in the rain
> I do not like it on the plain
> 
> I do not like it by the trees
> I do not like it while I freeze
> 
> I do not like on a log
> I do not like by a bog
> 
> I do not like it on my feet
> I do not like it by the street
> 
> I do not like to wait all day,
> For a bird that's gone astray
> 
>         But I do
>         Yes I do
>         Just to see
>         The little smew
> 
> In the rain, on the plain
> By the trees, while I freeze
> On a log, by a bog
> On my feet, by the street
> 
> There I wait, for that bird
> "Seen here yesterday," so I've heard
> Not seen Friday, when I looked
> But there through Monday, while I'm booked
> Not there Tuesday, when I'm back
> There on Wednesday, to thrill the pack
> 
> Shouldn't I really be at work?
> All those cases I must shirk
> Just to spy something white
> a little duck, quite a sight
> In from Russia, or is it British?
> All I know is its mighty skittish
> 
>         I do not like to wait all day,
>         I do not like it, yet I stay
> 
> The crowd in the mud marks the place,
> So I find a parking place
> "We've been here since dawn!" they all howl
> "Best bird yet is the Great Horned Owl!"
> Each one drove for miles
> Just to endure the locals' smiles
> No bird, though, just loose lips
> Talking about birds and a thousand trips
> 
> So I stand, on the bank
> Listening to birders proclaim their rank:
> "Nome Nome Barrow Attu Attu"
> "Have you seen my falcon tattoo?"
> "Peru Ecuador Costa Rica"
> "But I've got the new birding sneaker!"
> 
> "Murphy's, Manx, Booby, Goose"
> "Oh, someone must have let that loose"
> "Warbler Oriole Bunting Brambling"
> And other inspired birders' rambling...
> 
> "Calbird e-mail RBA"
> "Oh, I was there that day!"
> "Big Day Big Year County Lister"
> "I saw the reeve -- oh, you missed her?"
> This bird, that bird, the Blue Mocker
> This is birding, everyone's a talker
> 
> And, I must say
> Though I snigger,
> I too play,
> Mine is bigger
> 
> "The albatross," I begin
> Watching for their chagrin...
> 
>         "There! There! In the river!"
>         Each of us gives a shiver
>         Something white has just popped up!
>         Inevitably, a styrofoam cup
> 
> Back to banter, boast and tale
> And sometimes a bird -- "kestrel, male"
> While we wait beside the slough
> Nothing much better we can think to do
> 
>         I do not like to wait all day,
>         I do not like it, yet I stay
> 
> I explore around the spot
> Good birds there are, but Smew, not
> Rough-leg, Ferruginous, pipit, lark
> Nuthatch, magpie, before its dark
> Mountain plover in the next county
> But I still missed the day's big bounty
> 
> The next day at work, I watch the screen
> As Calbird tells me the Smew is seen
> 
>         It would be another lifer
>         Something I should really try for
>         Something great, something new
>         Something awesome, that little Smew
> 
> Shall I go in the morning?
> From the wife and boss, a warning
> Classes to teach, kids to feed
> And this is a job I need...
> 
> So I sit, here at home
> Writing down this silly poem
> Cursing all I have to do
> While my friends see the Smew...
> 
> I do not like to wait all day,
> But I'd rather be there, than here, today!
> 
> C 2000 Luke Cole
> (first posted to Calbirds, 28 Jan 2000)
> 
>  
>