Tuesday, April 08, 2008

A contest

I have been beading my butt off lately. RAPTOR programs have been very light and I can usually squeeze out a nice bracelet or earrings in between the girls' school schedules.

I have a surplus of jewelry at hand, and thought I would post a contest for someone to win a piece or two.

The question:
What is your most embarrassing or funny moment while birding? (If you aren't a birder, I will take the most embarrassing or funny nature-related moment)

The winner is the comment that makes me laugh the loudest.
Bonus round: If it's really really funny, I will throw in a matching pair of earrings.


This is what I am planning on sending to the lucky weiner. But if you would rather have something a bit more dressy, I have stuff like that, too.

Let the games begin!

14 comments:

entoto said...

Girl, your stuff is lovely...

I am thinking, thinking....

Anonymous said...

I'm excluding myself from the contest for two reasons. 1) I am just feeling lucky! 2) I never, ever embarrass myself birding. I never misidentify a bird. I have never posted to a major birding list and been contradicted by one and all. I'm just about perfect as a birder. So, choose someone else, Susan! :)

Kitt said...

Cute!

I'm only a casual birder, so this is only tangentially bird-related, but plenty embarrassing.

One winter in South Dakota we got a huge snowstorm, like 4 feet at once. I called a local handyman service and requested that someone come over with a snowblower to help me out. The next morning, a guy was out there plowing the walk and around the house. I went out, offered him coffee, and asked him to plow a path to the birdfeeder (there's your bird reference) and told him I'd move my car so he could do the driveway. He was very good-natured and said, OK!

Some time later I realized he'd left, but he hadn't rung the bell to get paid. I called the handyman service and they said, "Larry? We don't have anyone named Larry working for us."

I went outside, baffled, and saw my neighbor. I mentioned what had happened. "Oh! That was my son, who lives on the other side of town. He just got a new snowblower and he's very pleased with it."

Oh, I felt terrible! I got his number, called him up and apologized, but he just laughed at me and wouldn't take a check.

I did bake him a big batch of cookies.

Kathi said...

Oh, I have WAY too many embarrassing birding stories- things like referring to Canada Geese as "Canadian" geese in front of good birders (and being corrected) even though I know the right name, staring at a spot where there is supposed to be a bird and having a dozen people "helping" me find it: "It's right there, in that tree, no the other tree, higher, higher, between those two branches, can't you see it yet?, oh, never mind, it just flew," and too many mis-identifications to count. But, this has to be my best (worst?) story.

On my first Christmas Bird Count, Dec. 2006, we were birding around the spillway at East Fork Lake. I had been quiet (stop laughing, Susan, this ISN'T the funny part!) for the early part of the day, but I had made some good sightings and was getting some confidence. So, when I saw a large bird with a wide wing-span take off awkwardly from a tree-top, I shouted, "BALD EAGLE!" (I can't believe I am telling this story to a RAPTOR-ite.) As I pointed eagerly, I realized it was a Great Blue Heron. My teammates razzed me the rest of the day.

In my defense, when I posted this story to an Ohio Birds site (trying to convince others to try a CBC, even if they didn't feel that they were good enough) another woman replied with her story. She mis-identified a Bald Eagle as a GBH on a Christmas Bird Count in Columbus that same year. We decided there is a rare bird called a "Great Blue Eagle" that only shows up for CBCs.

~Kathi

Mary said...

Let me think and come back. I'll need to choose. First in my mind is the black vulture story but you already heard that one.

Anonymous said...

I will have to think about most embarrassing and will check back for sure! There is some great stuff here!

LauraHinNJ said...

shit i can't think of anything.

Dave Dorsey said...

Does this count?

http://birdtlc.blogspot.com/2008/04/sheesh.html

Mary said...

From what I read so far, I can't been them :o) Hey, and I already have a bracelet - someone else should have one!

Mel said...

*blushing*

Erm... I'm not sure if I should tell you this...
Was at the park, trying to find some cute birds to id and keep learning.
Anyway, I couldn't see much... Maybe because those guys were watching ME!
I felt something warm on my head... yep, poo...
Pooed wanna-be-birder found by pooing birdie first!

*blushing and turning purple*

bwt... never found the bird!

Shannon said...

Okay as to no go into too much detail here, but Susan I know you will remember this one. It is an oldie but a goodie. Let's see a nature related most embarrassing story. Well this one really isn't about me, but it is still funny. Let's just say that I once knew this girl, I think her name stated with an S, but I really can't remember it has been so long ago. Anyway, when it came to nature calling, she would always answer as quickly as possible. Even if there was no bathroom in sight. She was very good at making due with what she had, even if it was a mailbox, outside of a house of a goodie goodie girl that we didn't really care for. I will fill you in on the details later in case you don't remember this one. LOL

Susan Gets Native said...

Shannon! You stinker!
And I didn't GO in her mailbox...it was a pile of rocks, remember? OMG.

Shannon said...

Do I win? Do I win? BTW check your myspace, I have been trying to get ahold of you. Read my blog. Will talk to you later. Give my love to Geoff and the girls. Love ya!

RuthieJ said...

That bracelet is so cute, but I can't think of any embarassing nature- or bird-related stories (sigh)