Thanks to all the blog readers who gave me suggestions. My decision is to not go on Annie Auklet’s…er…I mean Debi Shearwater’s “Emergency Pelagic Trip” today. It was a tough decision that came down to two factors. First my son, Scott, is visiting and I was truly looking forward to spending some time with him. The second consideration is the time of the year. Tony Leukering once told me he thought that the end of October and early Nov. is the most exciting time of the year for rarities. There’s plenty of evidence to back this up:
1. Brown-chested Martin – On Nov 6, 1997 at Cape May, NJ, Paul Lehman discovered one that then hung around for six days. There’s also a hypothetical sight record published for Belle Glade FL 24 October 1991
2. I ticked my life Varigated Flycatcher at Toronto islands, Toronto in late October of 1993.
3. The 1st North American record of Tufted Flycatcher was recorded on Nov 3, 1991 in Big Bend NP.
4. Lynn Barber got her year Rose-throated Becard on November 8, 2008 in the LRGV
5. Black-faced Grassquit -10-29-60 in Everglades NP.
6. Little Bunting- Pt. Loma, San Diego Oct 21-24 1991
7. Bananaquit – There’s always a chance that the bird first seen at Bill Baggs SP last week will be relocated this weekend.
Since many rarities are first discovered on weekends when the birders are out in the field, I’ll see what turns up today and/or tomorrow. If there’s a rarity to chase, I’ll chase it. Scott knows that if this were to happen, I’ll drop him like a hot potato and race out the door. Regardless, I’m going after the Pink-footed and Barnacle Geese next week.
And reason #3: after this year, you can no longer afford a good divorce attorney.
John, Guess you have heard about the Thick-billed Vireo in Greynold’s Park Miami by now…have you dropped Scott yet??
The geese may have been shifted by this ongoing October storm.
Hope it brought something extra to Cape May.
Wish you luck!
Somewhere in Florida, Sandy Komito is shaking his head
Just teasing!
I admire your priorities!
Oops, just realized you already got the vireo…my bad…
Thanks for a great weekend read! All year covered in a day and a half! I can’t wait to see what shows up in the remainder of the year!
Blair saw a Great Skua today – and didn’t even leave his car! Good luck with the goose chase.
Subject: First Encounter Beach – 10/30
From: Blair Nikula
Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:22:33 -0400
Although not a perfect storm (despite its intensity, too brief in
duration and peaked at night), the 20th anniversary of THE Perfect Storm
produced an excellent seabird show at First Encounter Beach today
(10/30). Given the forecast for NW winds gusting to 60mph and a morning
low tide, I was afraid conditions at First Encounter might be
intolerable this morning. However, by dawn the winds had subsided a bit
and maintained enough of a northerly component to provide some lee, in
addition to which the intense low pressure kept the tide from going all
the way out. Consequently, viewing conditions were fairly decent for
the most part, though after six and a half hours my car had a
considerable coating of wet sand!
The morning started very slowly, but from about 7:30 on there was
constant activity, with a steady stream of shearwaters and gannets,
frequent jaegers (some very close), flocks of kittiwakes, and ultimately
the best bird of the day, a Great Skua…
….1 GREAT SKUA (fairly distant, but pale streaks evident on back; molting
primaries)
Awesome decision John! Good luck the rest of the year and because of your decision to stay home with the family and see your son you will receive a lot of good kharma!
John,
I’ll let you know if anything unusual shows up in the RGV. Good luck wilth the geese.
Fr. Tom
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