Nothing quite warms the heart like a Parasitic Jaeger bathed in the golden light of a setting sun. But soon I will be trading my treasured tern-chasing jaegers for birds more comfortable following army ant swarms; just something I will have to live with. Photographed at Half Moon Bay, CA.
Well birders. I'm off to the land of Spangle-cheeked Tanagers and Magenta-throated Woodstars with The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive. Things may be quiet here for a while, and I am worried that my readers will fall into a catatonic state of depression. I've come to realize that birders need BB&B...we have truly become a monument to a kind of savvy wisdom that is missing from much of this birding world, where the prevailing culture often carries a bland but bitter taste. But, for good or ill, the world will continue to turn and luckily there are still birds out there for you to find.
Felonious Jive, the Great Ornithologist, has some parting words for 2012 over at 10,000 Birds. While he will surely lose his year listing competition, Bostick and I are still neck and neck, with a difference of only 9 species (NIB)...I have pulled ahead in the last week with the celebrity Gray Hawk, a Grace's Warbler, Vesper Sparrows, Prairie Falcons and some unexpected Chestnut-collared Longspurs. My last new U.S. bird of the year was a Le Conte's Thrasher on the Carrizo Plain, possibly one of the very same individuals that were my last new 2011 year birds. That's some full circle shit right there.
Bostick tells me, "I will win and you will lose", but only on the night of December 31 will we find out who will be forced to hang up their binoculars...for good.
See you soon nerds.
I'll be waiting to see who wins.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the humor and information you provide. Happy Holidays!
Have fun in the jungle, but don't forget to look down. Plenty of cool herps at your feet. And some might make you regret over-looking them.
ReplyDeleteHave fun!
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