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So last night I got the email that a Wood Sandpiper was in Delaware (check out my buddy Jeff's photos here). So, as a dedicated birdchaser, the only real question was how early would I have to get up to chase this baby before work!?!
The answer, 4am. A 140 mile drive got me there about an hour after sunup. A couple guys said they saw the bird right at first light, but by the time I got there, it had disappeared.
Finally, after over an hour of searching, we finally found it across the road from where it had been seen before. What a beauty!
After half an hour of watching this Asian shorebird, it was time to get out of the rain and head back to the office. I made great time heading back, until Dick Cheney's motorcade locked up traffic on the PA Turnpike for over half an hour! Luckily I was perched on top of the Hwy 611 overpass where I had a direct look at his motorcade when it pulled onto 611 at the Willow Grove exit. Fortunately, I was still pretty jazzed about seeing the rare bird, so my grumbling about the VP-caused gridlock was kept to a minimum (that is to say I stopped fuming about it fairly soon after it was over!).
Bird Friends at Rancho Naturalista
6 hours ago
3 comments:
Hearty congrats on the Wood Sandpiper! Additional kudos for the Round-headed Veep sighting. They're a notoriously skulky species not commonly seen outside of secure undisclosed locations. When they are seen, as they tend to prefer the dark side of any environment, their field marks are often difficult to clearly see.
Congrats Rob! I wish I had time to go see it.
Ooh ah. Only the second for the east, isn't it? Only rarely do I regret leaving the mid-Atlantic, but when something like this shows up....
rick
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