Two Shoutouts

Or is it "Two Shoutsout"? Anyway...I want to start with a shoutout to those who went on the Great Migration Bird Walk on Sat. 9/29 at Paradise Creek Nature Park. It was a beautiful, birdy morning. Paradise lived up to its name. And we had a great group of 16 people including a few young people who were exploring the hobby. I had a nice conversation with one young lady (Epona?) who was on her very first day trip. She'd gone on an owl prowl previously. I asked her if she sensed any excitement in the others on the trip. She responded with a smile and a very definitive "yes." That meant to me that she was excited too. I have a feeling she has caught the birding spark. That's my hope, anyway.

Sumer is Agoin Out

Hurricane Florence, that 'uninvited brute,' though more like a 'minor annoyance' here, had made landfall in North Carolina. My wife and I went for a walk at the Elizabeth River Park in Chesapeake. Water levels were unusually high. One of the docks was completely underwater and we noted fish in the parking lot. Something in the bushes that line the park spooked me. It was an immature Yellow-crowned Night-Heron wrestling with something in the grass. It was wrestling with a grasshopper.

2018: The Year of the Bird

I've begun to make a case for bird watching. Birds are beautiful, they capture the imagination, one can enjoy the hobby alone or with others, etc., etc. Let me add, if I may, one more reason to go birding. (I'll add more reasons as time goes on.) Birding is downright exciting. You never know what you might come across!