Birder's Itch and BORED in cube land...

GREGORY.B.MILLER@bge.com
Sat, 17 Jan 1998 09:37:50 -0500 

     Hi all,

     Good luck to all search for Crossbills and other *winter* finches this
     weekend!  My last birding day out this year was Jan. 4.  I hunted for
     Crossbills/Siskins on Jan. 3 at the Deer Park location up near
     Liberty, but dipped on both (I was only there for 3 hrs and hiked from
     the first powerline cutting to the second).  I had hoped for at least
     some Siskins.  Oh, well.  Maybe *next* month <grin>.

     <self pity ahead>
     Right now I'm stuck in the gray land of cubicles <sigh>.  I go to work
     before light and go home after dark.  And then there's weekends, too
     <aargh>.  My Monday-Friday birdlist includes 2 species and 3
     individuals: Common Crow and Ring-billed Gull <don't stop me...>.
     This morning I slept in and left for work at 7:45am.  Daylight.
     Hooray.  Yahoo.  Yippee.  <obligatory sarcasm>  I stopped for gas and
     picked up some *NEW* species including the rare and elusive: Northern
     Cardinal, Carolina Wren, and Starling <thrill>.  Driving the access
     road to BGE at Calvert Cliffs (my current contract), I added Eastern
     Bluebird and Dark-eyed Junco.  <ahhh.  that's better>.
     <end self pity>

     For those of you who know Southern Maryland, you know that the Visitor
     Overlook at the BGE Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Plant (open to the public
     from 10am-4pm daily) can be very interesting.  Last winter I saw up to
     2,000 ducks of about a dozen species.  Over the past year I have seen
     Red-necked Grebe, Red-throated Loon, Great Cormorant, Surf and Black
     Scoter (still missing White-winged here).  Unfortunately, I have only
     been able to stop there twice since Jan. 1 and only for brief
     15-minute looks.  The temperatures have been very warm this winter and
     the numbers are way low.  Last Saturday's list only included a Com.
     Loon, a Horned Grebe, and about 70 Oldsquaw.  No scoters (almost a
     given this time of year from this location).  No goldeneyes or
     Buffleheads (very unusual).  Gulls were scattered far out in the Bay.
     I had fly-by Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed Gulls.

     Anyhow, it's good that I can at least *READ* about *OTHER* people
     seeing birds.  I even have a bitmap picture of the Ivory Gull from
     Maine last year to calm my ever-increasing itch to go birding.  So
     birders, send those reports...

     Thanks everybody (it feels good to vent today),

     Greg Miller (itch/twitch/spasm birder)
     Lusby, MD
     -locked here in the bowels of cubedom