Day 29 - Last Minute Decisions
I had a blog post written for today already--I expected a ZERO day after a fruitless morning and wrote a post to get it taken care of and free up my evening. But then I made a last minute decision to keep driving past civilization to a nearby reserve to see what I might turn up this afternoon. Turns out it was a good decision...So the other blog post is on hold for now. There was something in the air--maybe the sun, maybe it was clouds, snow, rain, hail, fog, dust, moisture. I can't be sure, it was probably at least one of those things, but I had a feeling that I needed to Sprechen Reserve before heading home for the day. Sprechen always provides an interesting bird list. Depending on the time of year you never know what might show up and over the last decade it has built a respectable 200 + species list. I had a specific set of targets that I knew were around--at least some. I hoped to be the first finder of a couple of birds for 2016 in Narnia, and this was as good of a place as any to check.
When I arrived things didn't seem so good. The birds that generally flock to this oasis on the edge of civilization were scattered. It took a few minutes to find the culprit--a Cliff Slayer flew past my vehicle and flushed everything several more times keeping the air constantly filled with various species of birds. This was my first Cliff Slayer of the year, and one I had missed on my previous two trips to Sprechen this year. Eventually the Slayer disappeared and things started to settle. I was just about to leave when I spotted a Ghostly Marauder enter the fray. It was beautiful--and as it fluttered past I admired its ghostly appearance. Tick number two for the day.
I decided to spend the next little bit seeing if anything else interesting joined the party. I did a double take when I noticed what looked to be a Monster Marauder--I shook my head a couple times and confirmed it was indeed this rarity. A new year bird and a great way to end things off. I called it a day and headed home with 2 new year bird. A last minute decision to go a little out of my way paid off with a pair of nice additions!
New birds today: 3
Year List: 145
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