But I'm glad I went.
Just a handful of birders, and a fun guide named Charlie.
(the guy with the scope and blue shirt, and the woman on the left in blue are my "groupies"...they seem to show up to nearly every program I do at any Hamilton County Park and know RAPTOR's birds very well)
We saw a gator out on Oxbow Lake....
(okay, okay...it's a log.)
The reason this trip was worth it....Bird Number 200!
Stilt Sandpipers...four of 'em.
I did the Life Bird Dance...the group (except Kathi, who knows the Life Bird Dance) must have thought I was crazy.
200 different species of birds. Wow. When I became a birder, I never thought I would see 50.
A total of 28? species were seen today...I'm not 100% sure. Kathi's the record keeper, so she can do the math for us.
Another special moment...I was scanning the far shore and saw a "duck". The light was bad, the bird was far away. But it looked "teal-ish", which got Kathi all in a froth. Turns out that Green-winged Teal would be a life bird for her. And not only a life bird, but her 300th!
We couldn't ID it, so we walked on, hoping to see a male to make the ID easier. The bird in question was a smallish, brown mottled duck with a dark head. And we couldn't see the speculum.
Farther down, we got it: Green-winged Teal!
Kathi did the Life Bird Dance, and I dutifully documented it with a photo:
"Raise your hands in the air and wave 'em like you just don't care..."
Yay, Kathi!
PS>>>>>If you would like to read what Chet Baker thinks of me, go check out Julie's post for today.
7 comments:
What fun! I've done that bird dance before... :o) But not nearly as many times as you and Kathi have!
Yay for the life-birds.
I've never started a life-list--perhaps I should. Will dance lessons be necessary?
So attractive (NOT!) Perhaps I should start dressing better for bird walks, and doing my hair and make-up.
Nina and Mary: BT3 will teach you the Life Bird dance in West Virginia next spring, and you will get plenty of practice. Tons of excellent birds there.
Susan: The early worm gets the Life Bird. You will learn to appreciate 6am (maybe).
~Kathi
Guess you can't ever call Kathi a jinx anymore. Nice post and how exciting that each of you had a red-letter day for life birds.
Congratulations!!! And I *love* Julie's post about you! It was fun to see you with Chet.
Hurray for the lifers and the impressive life list. I'll have to count one of these days. Teach me the dance in Cape May?
Way to go birding girls! Doing the lifebird dance will probably become an aerobic event for me in West Virginia!
Post a Comment