Sunday, June 28, 2009

Scotch And Beer: The Blood Of A Coward



Some nerds take shelter beneath the friendly Madera Canyon Flame-colored Tanager.

My Great American Roadtrip is slowly beginning to take a dim and hazy form......a short while from now I will be embarking on a solo trip from Ventura, California, to Tucson, Arizona, to take part in the Monsoon Reun(ion), a foolish plan that was hatched by the side of the Santa Cruz River in May of last year. We had been watching the Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks and the Tropical Kingbirds and the Gray Hawks and the Bronzed Cowbirds, and our party was about to separate.....Handsome Dan, Bobstar, Stilt and myself were going deep into the bowels of Southeast Arizona......Plover was going another way......Cassowary and flock were going another. It was tragic, really.....we had all been veterans of the Imperial Valley Burrowing Owl Census, and it was sad to see the flock break up like this.....and so it was pledged that we reform, with greater strength, during the monsoon season of 2009. And so it has come to pass...and against all odds, I'll be there.

Rufous-capped Warblers......Sinaloa Wren.....Berylline Hummingbirds.......they all have my inner nerd drooling. The writing on the wall says this will be an interesting time, for good or ill. We may all make asses of ourselves, but we will all leave as Heroes, and with the summer monsoons at our backs......can we really do anything Wrong?

Beyond Arizona, I will be going through New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio before I get to Pennsylvania. I am going to attempt to do some birding on the way.......I've found some good spots......this "internet" thing is pretty handy sometimes, you know what I'm sayin'?

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