5-May-2008 - Another spring passes by

Spring migration was unbelievable this year, I really can't do it justice with a few mere words, so I'll sum it up with just one. CRAP!

My spring migration highlight was a male Hoooded Warbler in the yard, singing no less and watched from bed. Yer can't get better than that, didn't have to move the one muscle I've got left. Didn't even need bins. Easy Peasy.

We have an excuse of course for not having a great spring and I'm more than happy that our 11lb 3oz bundle of joy prevented me from enjoying these gargantuous fallouts experienced by Tallahassee's finest. Why? Well there really weren't any fallouts. Granted a few warblers set down during the odd thunderstorm but that doesn't constitute a fallout. Thank the baby jesus that Mr Murphy gave us a real feel for what happened this spring.

I'd also like to point out that I have been asking "where are all the birders at our local hot spots during spring migration" for the last 5 years. I guess they were all having babies too.

Anyway thankfully there are one or two birders getting out and about and finding all these great birds for us to read about, it's like I'm actually there in person. A few photos would be nice.

After working on a project with Julie's Dad today I managed an hour at the bird window. The squirrels were very entertaining. One of them winked at me and exclaimed "Dude you should've been at St Marks the other day, there was a massive fallout"....."There were 18 species of warbler"......"Huh" ...."Thats almost as good as the 24 we had at Ft Morgan on a slow day last spring"....."Have you heard of the old saying Swings and Roundabouts?"...."No" said the Squirrel and continued eating a delicous peanut. Peanuts are truly delicious. I had a whole bowl full whilst I watched my mate the Squirrel. A Blue Jay showed up as did the pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers. Did you know that the male likes suet and the female likes peanuts? Bloody amazing!

Squirrels....They're great....Love 'em. Isn't it funny though how some folk get wound up by them? Chill Winston. The subject deserves a whole entry in this ere blog at some point in the near future. Now don't get too excited....

What else has been going on...oh yeah the Mighty Reds got knocked out of the CL down at the bridge. To be fair Chelsea were due and I'm hoping they lift the trophy for the first time. They're playing Shrek, pretty boy, car thief and their merry band of scumbags...a.k.a Manchester United. Most yanks will have heard of them, they're like the New York Yankees...hated by everyone. It should be an entertaining game.

Labour lost a load of seats in the by-elections. Surprise! Looks like Britain's dabble with the left has ended and a swing to the right is occurring. In 20 years time it'll swing back again no doubt after a period of complete and utter chaos. Politicians are a bit crap really....they are the same all over. They should just be honest.

"Vote for me and I'll really bollocks up the country, I won't do anything you want me to do because that would mean I'd have to work hard for my kazillion dollars that you the taxpayer so kindly throw my way"

It's all going a bit Pete Tong over here with the Presidential Campaign in full swing. It's really hard to know who to vote for because they're all a bit crap. Sound bytes, spin, big smiles, kissing babies, 80's disco hits, silly hats....blah, blah, blah. Try something original, something the voters have never seen before....like do a Big Year. The candidate who gets the biggest list wins. Probably wouldn't work though, they'd just string everything. Personally I think they should have a WWF style Election Rumble. The last one standing gets to run for President.  Wouldn't that be much more fun? Yeah it would be brilliant.

Well this is a bit of a crap entry really, I'm just writing for the sake of writing. It's only taken me 5 minutes so far because I can type fairly fast. A rapid stream of bullshit eminating from my fingers.

Looks like it has been pretty lively on t'other side of the pond. Another Black Lark showed up in Norfolk. Saw the last one on Anglesey. What an ordeal that was. Shitty weather too. Dad sent me pics of the Ross's Gull that's been mega tame in Lancashire for the last couple of weeks. Now that's a bird...not one of yer gaudy warblers but a real Arctic gem.

Ross's Gull in Lancashire taken by me Dad

There are lots of good pics on Surfbirds but isn't it funny how every once in a while birders post really shitty pictures despite the fact that there are very very good pictures on there of the same bird. Why do they do that? And they post next to the picture....Record shot, distant, poor light. Be fecking honest eh fellas and write....I'm a crap photographer, my camera is 100 hundred years old, I have no clue what I'm doing, I just wanted you to know that I saw the bird and it's now on my list!

I think I'm turning into Victor Meldrew!

My mum took some great pictures when  they visited last month.

Red-headed Woodpecker at Pebble Hill Plantation, taken by me Mum