Posted on

A couple weeks ago,

 While I’m trying to move a kidney stone along, I’m in the emergency room answering questions.  In Texas, in addition to all the other questions, they ask what religion you are.  He asked.  I said “none”.  He didn’t understand the answer.  He listed the choices.  I said “none”. “None of the above?” he asked. I said “none”. “Don’t want to say, huh?” “I just said.  None.” He wrote something down.  Probably “undecided”.  
Posted on

Addendum

 The Big Day started in Port Aransas, where it usually does.  Judy and I aren’t there, we’re still at Sandpipers 170 miles south.  Judy stayed here, I went there; this is not something Judy wants to do.  A Big Day.  I’ve described it before as “Like having fun, but different.”  Judy agrees.  So really the Big Day started the day before for me.  I drove to Port Aransas (with a stop at Snoopy’s for an early dinner).  I checked into a room and slept for three hours before meeting Jon at midnight.  I wanted to be well-rested. You know it’s really Jon’s Big Day.  He plans it.  We both do it, we both look and listen, but he spots way more birds way faster than I do.  There are other people that help as well.  People call and text during the day to say what they’re seeing and where.  Usually we don’t divert much from our itinerary, but by the end of the day when we’re scratching out every last bird we can before dark, those calls and texts really help.  There was a fair amount of dashing back and forth that last hour or two and we got some cool migrants as a result. A whole bunch of year-birds for me.  A few year-birds for Jon, but he’s already doing a Texas Year, so he’s been hard at it since January 1st.  One new Lifer for me; the Whip-poor-will.  Good to get that one.  Now I still need to hear one call.  I may have to go a little farther east for that.  Maybe Georgia. So, as I said before, a good Big Day, but throw in an extra 350 miles of driving for me to pull it off this year. 
Posted on

It’s that time again

 The Big Day. It happens every year about this time.  One day.  We have 24 hours to see how many species we can identify.  We begin in Nueces County on the boardwalk in the marsh listening for rails.  We hear a few coots, teal, and shovelers.  A sora goes off.  We go out west to Jim Wells County.  There is a wind from the south that makes it a little hard to hear, but by dawn we have 35 birds.  An eastern screech-owl and a great horned owl.  Nightjars:  Common pauraque, common poorwill, chuck-will’s widow, common nighthawk, lesser nighthawk.  Later on we got a whip-poor-will. The wind dies down.  We go back through Jim Wells County to Nueces County.  We get a lot more birds.  We’re at 125 birds when the front hits.  It’s a black wall from the north with 40mph winds, gusting higher.  It blasts us.  The sky is suddenly filled with raptors that had been migrating high overhead.  Broad-winged hawks, Swainson’s hawks, and Mississippi kites.  They headed for the trees. Back on the coast it’s still windy from the north, but we get a lot of migrants.  The north wind knocks them down.  Warblers, flycatchers, pewees, and tanagers.  Then it’s to the point where it’s hard to get new birds.  #197, Cape may warbler.  That’s a really good one.  It’s getting close to dark.  #198, the other waterthrush, northern.  Suddenly there are new birds.  #199, #200, #201, Canada warbler, Kentucky warbler, and Swainson’s thrush.  #202, chestnut-sided warbler.  We’re almost done.  One more trip out the boardwalk to see if we can hear a rail, and right out there exactly where no-one would expect to find a warbler, #203, golden-winged warbler.  That could be my favorite warbler.  Last bird of the night. 20 hours of birding.  250 miles in the car.  203 birds.  Not a record, but a good Big Day.