December 31, 2019 - What? It’s Over? Passing the Torch

 

My “Year of Peregrination: 2019” has come to an end.  I’ve Birded every day this calendar year; at least I’ve completed an eBird Checklist.  Today is my last opportunity to pick up a ‘new’ species for the year, which is unlikely, as there’s been no local “Rare Bird” reported recently.  And, because I've long since blown past the Budget that Marty agreed to when I started this year, I'd not left the State for a month.

That said, I drove out to the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually Natl. Wildlife Refuge for the “Wednesday Walk”.  Realizing that today is only Tuesday…  Since tomorrow is New Year’s Day, the volunteer leaders of the walk have moved the outing to today.

Two dozen birders showed up, but we could have done with a bit better weather, as we had heavy rain and strong winds all day.

Among the group gathered was a young man from Georgia, who is doing a non-motorized Birding Big Year next year.  John Patten Moss, who goes by “JP”, is an excellent birder and a really nice guy.  He's so dedicated that he went out on the Estuary boardwalk with Tom Bowden and I despite heavy rains and 15-20 MPH winds!  We all enjoyed his company, and I was thrilled to learn that JP was beginning is own Birding “Big Year” starting tomorrow, riding his Unicycle from Olympia home to Georgia.

Here's a link to the blog for his big year on the unicycle: The Vision

After the Refuge volunteer who organizes the walk, Phil Kelly, had introduced himself as the "leader of this gaggle," JP seriously asked me if this was really a gaggle?  It turns out that there is a group of gay and lesbian birders in Georgia that call themselves "The Gaggle": Greater Atlanta (Georgia) Gay & Lesbian Birders, a bird club for the gay community of the greater Atlanta, Georgia area. They maintain an email group subscription serving as a common thread that runs through the group celebrating our love of birds.  This list primarily serves as a means of talking about Georgia birds and birding from the particular perspective of the GLBT birder.  

With the rains, there was a lot of sheet water all over the Nisqually Valley, resulting in a paucity of waterfowl on the Refuge itself.

Most of the birders peeled off early, and only a few of us braved the estuary boardwalk.

I didn’t take a lot of photos, due to the rainy weather.  Then, I found that those I did take disappeared into the ether, when the heavy rain completely shorted out my Canon Rebel T3!  And the lens, too!  It was in my back pack, but the rain came down so hard that it soaked through anyway.  After having carted the camera all over the Continent, I neglected to wrap it in a plastic bag today . . .

In any event, J.P. learned about the weather to be expected as he heads south tomorrow on the Northwestern start of his Big Year.  And, I finished my Peregrination with no new species for the day, but with a mix of wonder and of relief.

Nisqually Refuge eBird checklist is Here