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Whew, what a day



Our morning got off to a bright and early start at 4 am this morning.  We
left the house at 4:30am, destination Ridge Junction.  As usual, we arrived
too early (before dawn!) and had to wait 25 minutes for the beautiful sun to
rise!  We were tossing around the idea of driving to Bennettsville, SC where
the Western Grebe had been seen while we waited.  We were thinking of going
tomorrow.  Well, the morning grew brighter, the sun grew hotter, and the
birds stopped coming through.  So we left early (11:10am) and started the
two hour trek home.  We checked the e-mail first thing and saw that the
Western Grebe had been spotted again this morning.  A quick check of the
weather channel made us decide to hunt for the bird today instead of
tomorrow since the cold front was expected to sweep through tonight.  We
figured our chances were better today.  So we left BEFORE the local forecast
at 1:15 pm!

I decided to drive and let Dwayne rest since he'd already driven me around
for four hours (two up to RJ, two back from RJ).  After a truck blew a tire
in front of me on I-77, and a man ran out of the woods on the same stretch
looking as if he were being chased, I woke my beloved husband up to share in
my adventure.  Just past Monroe, NC we came upon a thunderstorm.  For over
an hour it was lightening ALL around us and raining so hard I could barely
make out the tail lights of the car in front of me, all the while I'm
mumbling "this bird BETTER be there. . . . or else!"  This was absolutely
the worst storm I have ever attempted driving in, and probably ever will
again.  At one point, lightning struck an antennae on a gas station about 20
feet to our left.  A quick look at my quivering husband was all it took to
not be scared.  His hands were over his face, his arm hairs were standing on
end, and all he said was "Did it hit us?"  I laughed hysterically and
trekked on.  We did not get out of the storm until we turned onto SC 385,
the road the bird was supposed to be on.

After finding the lake, we made a quick scan in the drizzle and found the
Western Grebe exactly where they said it would be.  We spent 10 glorious
minutes (4:40-4:50pm) looking at the grebe as it swam and dove, then got
back in the car for the three and a half hour drive back home.  Did I drive
home?  No.  And do you think my husband had to drive through a near
hurricane?  Heck no, it hardly even looked like it had rained!

I'll post the results of our count tomorrow (with tomorrow's results).  Now
though, we have to go to bed so we can get back up at 4 in the morning and
start all over again.  Nobody tells you birding is this obsessive when you
start out.  Maybe that's a good thing.

Lori
*************************
Dwayne & Lori Martin
Foothills Bird Club
Claremont, NC
dlmartin@twave.net