Re: Odd and scary birding

[Barbara Collins-Perry <bobbiecp@yahoo.com>]

Marilyn & Randy, et. al.--
  Okay, so here's two more scary birding stories:

1)  Last year Will Cook and I were birding for the
Jordan Lake Count/New Hope Audubon Wildathon.  We
started at a very early hour near the Shearron Harris
nuclear plant for night jars/owls.  Well, employees
driving by us on their way in to work were suspicious
of our behavior--driving and stopping every 1/4 mile
or so.  So, an armed guard came out to question us. 
We weren't in any danger (except maybe being detained
if they didn't believe us), but it was a bit
unnerving.  The lesson is, especially in these days of
impending war, call ahead.

2)  Once while birding/photographing in the mountains
of Idaho (Harriman State Park, near Yellowstone), my
husband and I got caught in a hail/thunderstorm. After
the precipitation stopped, we hiked out into a field
with our cameras mounted on monopods.  Talk about
lightning rods!  We looked at eachother, and saw that
our hair was standing on end.  We both yelled--RUN!
and dove onto the ground after a quick sprint. 
Luckily, lightning did not strike. Phew!

Bobbie
Durham, NC

--- Randy Emmitt <birdcr@concentric.net> wrote:
> Marilyn,
> 
> Actually this experience seems mild when compared to
> the 2 experiences I 
> had last year butterflying. The first I found myself
> staring at the barrel 
> of a tank tucked away neatly in the landscape in the
> Sandhills Gamelands.
> 
> The other was when 3 of us have been traveling along
> the sand tracks in the 
> Sandhills Gamelands and all the sudden on each side
> of the road was a 
> military unit (10-12 soldiers on each side of the
> road) popping up from a 
> camouflaged position and firing upon each other in a
> 20-30 second skirmish. 
> All this happened 20-60 foot in front of us as we
> hit the brakes and 
> dropped our jaws in awe of what just happened. Once
> they stopped most just 
> ducked back down and none even acknowledged our
> presence as we drove past 
> them rather uneasily. Just down the road we spotted
> a Red-cockaded 
> Woodpecker too!
> 
> Randy Emmitt
> Rougemont, NC
> 
> At 08:21 PM 3/13/2003 -0500, mjwestphal wrote:
> >Late this afternoon I stopped by a flooded field to
> check on a flock of
> >shorebirds in Henderson County, NC.  It was a mixed
> flock with several Greater
> >Yellowlegs, a couple of Lesser Yellowlegs and a
> whole bunch of Pectoral
> >Sandpipers.  Meanwhile a man and his 7 or 8 year
> old son were walking along
> >the edge of the field near the river, presumably
> hunting rabbits as they had a
> >couple of yelping beagles with them.   While
> watching the shorebirds through
> >my scope I heard shooting, so I looked up and there
> was the kid shooting at
> >the shorebirds.
> >
> >I decided that I ought to do the right thing (maybe
> the stupid thing) and
> >advise the kid's father that these were not the
> kind of birds one should be
> >shooting at and, in any event, hunting season was
> over.  It took a while to
> >walk over to the fellow.  Meanwhile his son kept
> firing away.  Fortunately for
> >the birds he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.
>  When I neared the fellow
> >I suggested to him that perhaps his child shouldn't
> be shooting at those
> >birds.  He responded "they're doves."  Doves????? 
> Long legged doves wading
> >around in water two or three inches deep?????   My
> first thought was:
> >A.      He needed to immediately call his eye
> doctor and make an appointment.
> >B.      He needed his blood-alcohol level tested.
> >C.      He was a guy who really didn't "know a hawk
> from a handsaw."
> >
> >Whatever the case, I decided maybe I was pushing my
> luck with this guy who was
> >someone who probably shouldn't have been wielding a
> weapon.  So I just advised
> >him that, no, they were indeed not doves and it was
> not legal to be shooting
> >at them and then retreated.  But he did call his
> son back and they resumed
> >walking along the river.
> >
> >Next I went to another field to bird.  While
> walking around in that field a
> >storm suddenly blew up.  I raced back to my car
> thinking about what a fine
> >lightning rod my scope would make and wondering if
> my rubber boots would save
> >me.
> >
> >Who says birding isn't a risky hobby?
> >Marilyn
> >
> >Marilyn Westphal
> >Environmental Quality Institute
> >University of North Carolina-Asheville
> >One University Heights
> >Asheville, NC  28804
> >828/251-6823
> >mjwestphal@unca.edu
> 


=====
(`') (`') (`') (`') (`')
 \/   \/   \/   \/   \/
I have decided to stick with love.
Hate is too great a burden to bear.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.

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