Monday, June 22, 2009

Of storms and storm-petrels

Sunday I woke up with the rain pouring down and a cell phone that wasn't working. So naturally, I went birding.

Northern Gannets, Wilson's Storm-petrels, and Common Terns were abundant, but not much else of note was turned up (by me - Jason found an Arctic Tern and he and Len had a brief look at an alcid that was probably a puffin). The rain and wind postponed Seaside Sparrow plans for another day (probably many more days).

I like birding in storms. It feels pretty awesome to be tough enough to stand in the brutal rain and wind scanning for birds. I think it makes me value what I see a bit more too.

Unfortunately, it may not be the smartest thing to do when coming down with a cold. Today I'm completely knocked back. Hopefully it will go away before my excursion tomorrow.

Come back tomorrow for the weekly bird quiz - brought to you by Ben G. this week.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yesterday was a little insane. We had dozens of Wilson's Storm Petrels inside Gloucester Harbor. There were still there this morning when I went to work.

Dawn Fine said...

All those cool birds and we are in Ct. Have never seen Wilsons storm petrels..wow..steve saw them.

Well...I enjoy being out in the rain too..with raincoat and rain pants..but not with a cold.
take care of yourself...dont get too sick!

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