14 December 08
Grinding through the Mud: Christmas Bird Count
It didn’t rain the whole time. But the rain there was was cold. We rode and walked our bikes up the 4.5 mile road to the top of the ridge (it was very slick and the mud made it hard to get a purchase on the surface). At the top we were inside the clouds.
We saw very few birds as predicted with this cold front coming in, but it was a good experiment. I’d do a count by bike again, particularly on a stretch where you have to walk in a ways and retrace your steps. It made the return trip much, much faster…
The bikes are caked in mud and it’s raining now, and dark. We’ll deal with it in the morning. The compilation dinner was enlivened by Joe and Ron’s shoe-fly pie and by the thought that there’s a chance, a small chance, that we will lead the nation in northern pygmy-owl…
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Shoo-fly. It’s a Pennsylvania Dutch dish, from the same people who brought us Boova Shenkel (Boys’ Legs) and Schnitz un Knepp and Whoopie Pies.
I like y’alls’ Count. Plus it was great to see you!
However, I note that flying shoes did figure in the news shortly thereafter.