> “Birding in March is going to hurt anyway, so why not aim high and risk > glorious disappointment”
Or as Conrad might have put it: “It was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice. “ Mike Cooper Ridge, LI NY Sent from my iPhone > On Mar 27, 2019, at 10:41 AM, Shaibal Mitra <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Dear Bob and all, > > It might be a small comfort to you to know that all of us reading your note > have endured this sort of pain. Back on 30 Dec, Pat and I were among the > first responders for the Downsville Golden-crowned Sparrow, and all of us > dipped that afternoon. She and I then suffered further torment when work and > travel prevented us from trying again, even as the bird’s early morning > routine was worked out and exploited by many, many of our friends. Our next > opportunity to try didn’t come until 18 Jan, the morning after we returned > from Ecuador. Like you, we set the alarm for the middle of the night and > drove. We were lucky to see it. > > But win or lose, I’m convinced that chasing rare birds is a vice. It’s not > such a bad one that I intend to give it up, but, for me at least, it always > feels better when I make an effort to atone for my indulgence in > bird-chasing. One of the forms of penance I impose on myself involves writing > the Spring Season report for the Hudson-Delaware region (New York State, New > Jersey, and Delaware), for North American Birds. Reading your note > immediately reminded me of this ordeal—and of a possible way to escape (at > least temporarily) from the Dark Side. > > In tracking the dates of last occurrence of over-wintering songbird rarities, > I have noticed that a large percentage of long-staying Varied Thrushes, > Harris’s Sparrows, Western Tanagers, Painted Buntings, etc. depart from their > feeding stations in mid March. In parallel, many first detections of such > birds also tend to occur in mid March to early April, seemingly much earlier > than their “normal” migration periods. I interpret these discoveries as > representing birds that wintered undetected or unreported nearby, but which, > once having started roaming around, have been encountered by those > pious/masochistic souls who manage to force themselves to go birding during > March. Birding in March is going to hurt anyway, so why not aim high and risk > glorious disappointment! > > Shai Mitra > Bay Shore > ________________________________________ > Subject: [nysbirds-l] The tale of "Robert the Right", along with the saga of > "Robert the Wrong" > > Date: 03/27/19 02:04:21 AM > > From: "robert adamo" <[email protected]> > > To: "NY BIRDS" <[email protected]> > > "Robert the Right", after seeking the current status of the Golden-Crowned > Sparrow on this listserve, made the correct decision to pursue the bird on > Wednesday, 3/20/19, and was rewarded in fortuitous fashion ! "R the R", of > course, is Robert Lewis, and I congratulate him for his conviction, his > effort, and his success ! > > While reading of "R the R,s" good fortune, "Robert the Wrong", decided to > reach for the "brass ring" and so on the following Sunday, 3/24/19, he headed > upstate toward the town of Downsville ! Leaving from Riverhead, L.I. at 0330, > alone (after striking out trying to gather some company for this long trip) > "R the W" arrived on Depot St..at ~ 0715, finding Lance Verderame at the > scene ! We had never met before, but were both aware of the other because of > our contributions to this listserve, as well as leading some NYSYBC field > trips. It was then that I learned of Lance's being the original finder of the > GCSP, and looked at this development as a "godsend"...but I was wrong ! > Although there was ample bird activity, including 2 Bald Eagles, the sparrow > was a no-show. I believe Lance left at ~ 1030, while I finally left at 1300. > > After seeing "R the R's" post re: the GCSP, I contacted John Haas, who > provided additional info. on the bird, besides giving me info. on 3 good > spots to find Evening Grosbeak and C.Redpolls. On my way home, I stopped at > all of them, finding Redpolls at each, and Grosbeaks at none. I made it home > by 1940, a long day, that while seeing 1 of 2 species not seen earlier this > season, I did not get the 1 species I have not seen ever ! > > Cheers, > Bob, aka "R the "W" > P.S...Thanks again, John and Lance > > > > > > -- > NYSbirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> > Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> > Subscribe, Configuration and > Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > Archives: > The Mail > Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> > Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> > ABA<http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> > Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! > -- > > -- > > NYSbirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L > 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
