A Vested Interest in the Olympics. Plenty of Olympians to Root for.

 

Madison, Laurie, Nick, Zach

   A few years ago I was at Third Beach on a rainy, raw day. I saw two woman looking out at the field but couldn't see what they were looking at. I walked up to them and asked. It turned out that it was a Snowy Owl. One of the ladies was up from North Carolina and was hoping to see a lifer Snowy. The other lady from Connecticut was in charge of finding one. I got talking to them. I found out the lady from Connecticut was the mother of an Olympian. Her name is Dee Willis and her son's name is Zach Donohue.

   Zach is half of an ice dance team representing the United States. The other half of the team is Madison Hubble. Together they are Hubble and Donohue (ladies name always goes first). In 2018 Hubble and Donohue finished fourth at the Olympics. They were among the best in the world.

Dee saw a Snowy Owl.
I  met a new friend
My car had a view of Third Beach

   As many of you know Laurie's favorite sport is figure skating. Consequentially I watch a lot of skating. I mean a lot! I went to World's with Laurie in 2016. Though I admit, I really did not know what the hell I was watching or could tell who was good. Fast forward seven seasons and I understand the sport much better. Watching it with Laurie, sometimes I am the one who sees a mistake or knows an obscure fact.  One thing that struck me at World's in Boston, there were so many big Vodka drinking Russian men in the stands cheering on the Russian athletes the way New England fans cheer on the Pats. 

    Fast forward to late summer 2021. The Skating Club of Boston put on two competitions. Laurie wanted to go hoping we could see some "local talent". The competitions ended up being world class. There were skaters from all over the world, most of them good enough to make it to the Olympics. The first event featured Olympians Mariah Bell Alyssa Lu, and pairs team Knerim and Frazer. Those were just the American that were in this Olympics. But the place was crawling with former and future Olympians from all over the world including the 2022 Olympic Pairs Silver Medalists from Russia. It was cool to walk right by Todd Eldredge and Chris Knerim.

   A month later in September we were pleasantly surprised there was another world class comp at The Skating Club of Boston. This time, some of the same people came to compete, but there were also others we hadn't seen. Among the ice dancers were Zach and Maddie. The team, and pretty much every great ice team in the world trains in Montreal, Canada. I figured if Hubble and Donohue were going to be in Norwood, MA Zach's mom would be too. So when we were there, we kept an eye out. 

Hubble and Donohue are in the middle of the 
photo. Norwood, MA

   During the competition we did see Dee.  I went up to her and told her how we met a few years back at the Snowy Owl. We ended up only talking for about fifteen minutes, Laurie and I did not want to feel like stalkers. Before we left her, she told us if Zach and Maddie come out to the stands following their program the next day she would introduce us.

   The following day came. We missed Zach and Maddie coming out to greet the fans somehow. However, we lucked out and after they ate a lunch they came back to talk to Dee and take some more photos. We went up to them. Let me say this, Zach and Maddie skate with a lot of confidence. It is borderline arrogance. When you watch them, you can tell they know they are world class. Part of their style is to be bold and do things harder than everyone else with a confidence to know they can do it and others can't. So it was an huge surprise to realize how unbelievably nice they are. In the twenty seconds we got to talk to them, Zach and I were talking about me birding with his mom. Laurie and Madison were talking about skating. They really were so nice that I wish we would have met them when they were out with the fans so we could have talked longer.

   Later that day, Zach and Maddie won the completion. I had mentioned to Dee how awful the photographer was taking photos of the medal ceremony. He stood so far back you couldn't get any detail on the faces. Dee asked me if I could get some photos for her. I went down to the front row and snapped away. Dee gave Laurie her email address. After a few days of going through my thousand photos, I finally sent her my best ones of her son.  Since then, Dee and I have exchanged emails twice, mostly about national parks (she is an adventurer, hiker, and photographer also).

Madison and Zach

   Needless to say, Laurie and I had a lot invested in these Olympics. Between the four disciplines we saw at least twenty people that qualified for the Olympics. There were skaters from all over the world that we watched in Norwood. Some of which we saw skate four times. Obviously, we were really rooting for Team USA specifically Zach and Maddie. In the team competition they skated flawlessly. They earned the United States ten points. They along with the rest of the USA team captured a Silver Medal. 

   In the Ice Dance competition that followed, there was only going to be room on the podium for one American team. The French were the gold medal favorites followed by the not very likable Russian team. Both American teams (Hubble and Donohue and Chock and Bates) were fighting for the other spot on the podium. Both teams are world class. Either team could beat the other on any given day. They both skate with perfection. Olympic judging is much more fair than even ten years ago because of a much better scoring system. However, both teams are so even, it really might come down to the style the judges prefer. Though Laurie and I "know" one of the teams, Chock and Bates are really likable too. So, if they finished fourth, it was going to make us almost as sad even though we wanted Zach/Maddie to beat them.

   As it turned out, Zach and Maddie got the bronze medal. The French team won and the unlikable Russian team got second. Madison Chock slipped in the Rhythm Dance and they could not make the points up on the near perfect Hubble and Donohue. It's a cool feeling to see someone you've been rooting for years, and you've met, win two Olympic medals. As I said they couldn't be nicer people. 

More Olympic Skaters...

   

Knerim and
Frazer
Norwood, MA

   Sometimes us Americans forget that the Olympics are not just about winning. Most people that qualify for the Olympics do not have a shot at a medal. For most of them, just making it to the Olympics is the dream come true. When we watch a (hypothetical scenario) US Bobsled team come in ninth place we feel like they let us down or they choked. In reality, that team may be thrilled with a top 10 finish because coming in, they were ranked twentieth in the world.  Take for instance the top US pairs teams. There are four pairs (skating) that had a reasonable shot at a medal. Everyone else was playing for fifth or lower.  The top US team, Knerim and Frazer (seen to the left in an incredible photo taken be me) finished in sixth place with an incredible skate.

   As I said a few paragraphs back, there were only four teams that had a chance to podium in Ice Dance. The fifth place team had a score seven points lower than Chock and Bates. However, again, most people know they can't medal. The third US team came in eleventh place. But they were thrilled with their skate. They said they had so much fun. They got to go to the Olympics, compete, and cheer on team mates. And as they say, skate on Olympic Ice.

   With that in mind, Team USA did about as good as they could have. Mariah Bell and Alyssa Lu both skated clean. They had absolutely zero chance of making the podium with all those Russians.  With the US audience used to seeing Tara Lipinski and Dorthey Hamill winning gold, they can't understand how the American women are not champions. They must have either choked or been underscored. Nope, they just aren't as good. So when Alysa Lu and Mariah Bell finished in seventh and tenth respectively, that was the best they are capable of. They peaked and had a great Olympics. 

Tarasova (flying)
Morozov (not flying)

   At Norwood, Laurie and I got to see many people live that went to these Olympics. Obviously, meeting Zach and Maddie then watching them win two  medals was the highlight. Still, we kind of rooted on anyone we had seen even from other countries. Patriotism is great but so is Humanism. We wanted to see these people, all kids and young adults, do well for themselves. For American the team of Knerim and Frazer finished sixth in Pairs. They skated better than they had all year. They were far better than when we saw them in Norwood. We also saw the Silver medal pairs team from Russia. I got a photo of Tarasova looking right at me while in the air.

Mariah Bell

   As for ladies, besides seeing Mariah and Alysa live, we saw Alexandra (Sasha) Trusova skate in Norwood along with the sixth place lady Young You. Trusova won in Norwood. Trusova finished with silver in the Olympics and was the one that said she hates the sport and will never skate again. In Norwood after the comp was over, she signed autographs for little girls until she was told it was time to leave. She was the only person to do this. It was pretty cool to see a Russian sign autographs for little American girls for almost a half hour. 

  We saw a bunch of other non-contenders also. Some had great Olympic moments, some not so much. But no matter what place they finished, forever they can call themselves Olympians. That is something I think, we all wish we could say.

 Olympic Silver Medalist Sasha Trusova signing
autographs in Norwood, MA
in September

A Pretty Slow Start but a Few Highlights

 

Glaucous Gull,
South Kingstown Town Beach

    I have to say, the beginning of this year has not exactly been high adrenaline for me.  For my friends reading this, I sound like a broken record but up until today (February 9 and 10) I had not had consecutive days off with nice weather since I got back from Florida on November 19. If I was lucky, I'd have one dry day out of the two, but many times it rained/snow both days I wasn't working.  Add to that, much of January was around ten degrees and I wasn't driving down to South County to freeze. 

   However, my biggest complaint really isn't the weather, when I have gotten out, I haven't seen too many birds. I live for experiences and I've had a few that I'll mention below, but it hasn't been balls to the wall crazy like the beginning of last year. 

Highlights-

I'd say the highlight of the first six weeks of 2022 was a Painted Bunting. There was one in Jamestown and I got to see it. It was a beautiful male. The light was not good when I saw it, so the photos are decent but do not do the bird justice.

Today (Feb 10) I got to see two rare birds in Stonington, CT. My friend Sue went to visit her mother in Stonington and stopped at the harbor to see if the Thick Billed Murre and Eared Grebe were still there. She found them and sent me a photo. Since I was heading down I-95 anyway I decided to go look for them. I was about thirty minutes away. Sue was kind enough to stay there. When I got there she brought me to the vantage point she had seen them from. The birds were far away (the Murre might have been over a quarter mile away or murre, see what I did there?) The photos aren't worth much, but the view in the spotting scope was great.

  So far I have gotten a total of three photo upgrades. Two of those are only because the previous photos were so awful. I got upgrades on Fox Sparrow and Hooded Merganser for that reason. The Glaucous Gull put on a show and walked right up to me. The photo below was not cropped. However, I had great shots of Glaucous Gulls before. These photos stand out because of pure white this individual is. Just beautiful. 

Hooded Merganser

Fox Sparrow

Glaucous Gull

With spring right around the corner, I should be getting more active. The early migrants will start showing in five or six weeks. Stocking trucks will be delivering trout to our favorite lakes at the same time. As for me, the weather can only get better, right?

Do it Yourself Vacations Part 2

   I assume if you are reading this post, you read Part 1. Having done everything on the REI tour of the Everglades gave me an understanding of what the people on the tour expect. You could see I was pretty focused on how much the tour cost compared to what it cost me. This was easy, I had been to all the places the van was going to pull up. I knew the cost, the weather, and where we would be staying each night. 

  I also don't want people thinking I was picking on REI. As I said in the last paragraph yesterday, the reviews are great. Everyone seemed happy and wants to do it again. There are a zillion tour companies. You can find many of them if you've ever went to a AAA Travel Marketplace. It looks as though REI trips are extremely well done and customers are happy. I just could not justify the expense and loss of freedom on a trip to the Everglades.

  What about a guided to a place I had never been? What are the upsides and downsides? There are multiple branches of answers to these two questions. Lets start with trips in America

   No matter the upsides of going on a guided tour in the USA, I would never take one. The reason, two words- English and Freedom. As long as things are in English I am comfortable. It doesn't matter where I plan a trip in the US, I'd rather do it on my own than go on someone else's tour. Doing the research is almost as fun to me as actually going. I love to plan the itinerary for a trip. 

   Planning a week in Washington DC was fun. There is so much to do and not enough time to see it all. Trying to figure out which museums to visit and when to see the monuments (the museums close at 5 pm, go see the monuments after hours, so you can stay at the museums longer. It's also cooler later in the day, and the museums are air conditioned). I worry about what we are doing but don't think very much at all about what or where we will eat. Seeing a statue in the Museum of Natural History from Easter Island is far more important to me than the food afterwards. 

   I have dozens of backpacking trips planned for wilderness areas and national parks out west. I assume that someday, I will get to them. For example, I really want to go to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. You've never heard of it? Exactly why I want to go there. I know the trips I want to take in the back country, the wildlife, and what to expect on the way. 

   Likewise, I have a trip planned for the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. There are multiple overnight hikes I'd like to do as well as a 2-3 day backpacking trip. I hope to get there one day also. The point is, I enjoy the reading of guidebooks, the taking of notes, and the planning.  

   I know many other people that would never take the time to plan their vacations (never mind dozens of hypothetical vacations in a notebook). My friend Scott has seen almost 800 species of birds in the Lower 48. He has travelled all over to see rarities when they show up. Yet, when he travels, he has AAA set up the flights, rental cars, and accommodations.  I will never travel as much as Scott, so although we have two totally different pre-travel styles, who am I to judge. 

   Above, I wrote the words English and Freedom. English is obvious. I can travel to any place in the United States and not have to worry about communicating with a hotel manager, park ranger, or a museum docent. It is not like going to Rome where I would be totally out of my element. My son has no problem going to foreign countries and the language barrier does not bother him at all. That is a topic for another paragraph. Suffice to say, travelling anywhere in the USA (other than high crime parts of major cities) and I am still in my comfort zone.

  The second word id freedom. Freedom to eat when I am hungry, not to eat if I am enjoying something. Freedom to linger in a museum or a mountain top ( I can loaf at the top of a mountain with the best of them). Freedom to take side roads and side trips. These are all things you can do on your own but not on a guided tour. I know many guided tours will give you a "free afternoon" to do what you want, but that does not seem like enough for me. 

  I have my own schedule and do things my way. For example, if I am camping and it is cold in the morning, I probably will jump straight in my car and drive to the day's adventure to warm up. I'll probably eat my breakfast while driving (Pop Tarts and Bananas are my go-to). I can't tell you how many times I've done this and brushed my teeth in the parking lot before starting the day. I do not want to waste precious daylight hours waiting for bacon and eggs to cooked and eaten by twelve of your new best friends. 

 
When DJ and I went to Yellowstone, we had a week planned. Most National Park tours hit a park a day or at best two days in one park. We explored a different section each day. We went to Yellowstone Lake one day, the Artist Point/ Lower Falls area another day and so on. The day we went to Old Faithful and the Geyser Basin, we saw Old Faithful go off three times. We got up very early and saw it go off about 6:30 am. This was by far the most memorable time for us. Not because it was the first time we saw it, but because it was July 10 and there was frost on the boardwalk. The recycled plastic boardwalk was so slippery from the ice. July 10!. We had the place to ourself. There were maybe five other cars in the giant parking lot. Fast forward a few hours later. All the tour buses showed up, it was seventy degrees and the tourist were thick as ants on a rotting apple.  We spent more time amazed at how many people were at the once peaceful geyser basin than we did watching Old Faithful go off a third time. 

He had the freedom to spend a day at the geyser basin, not just an hour or two. We weren't lined up like robots getting out of a tour bus and hurried right back on to rush to Artist Point. Instead we got to see multiple geysers go off. DJ and I spent half an hour with two rangers watching a minor underwater geyser blow smelly air bubbles at us. It was just us and the rangers for the full 30 minutes. We saw how many people get packed into the benches and truthfully, it was morbidly interesting to see. This is what I mean by freedom. 

Well, that leaves me with the possibility of international travel...someday. Would I take a guided tour? Good question. First off, let me say I'd be more willing. However, I don't want to visit other countries just to say I have. I want to see specific things. There are only a few places I want to go internationally and I can count them on one hand. I'd like to go on an African Safari, England/Scotland, Galapagos, and Paris. Of these, by far Paris is where I want to go most (followed by safari). So I'm going to concentrate this section on Paris. If I ever leave this country Paris is the number one place on my bucket list, so it would make sense to plan a vacation there instead of something down the list.

   For me, Paris has more things I want to see than anywhere else in the world. I've researched the museums, the boat trips on the Seine, and the Cathedrals. I even have a walking route planned out. A week seems like enough time to see almost everything. 

   So, the obvious disadvantage for me would be my lacking of speaking or reading French. This would be my number one reason for going on a guided tour. I wouldn't have to worry about accommodations. I would just have to follow the crowd into a museum. 

  However, the downside would be the same is at Yellowstone. Time. I can not imagine going on a week long tour and spending only four hours at the Louvre. This would be unfathomable to me. If I go to Paris I'd like to spend a couple days there. I have been the victim of "information overload" too many times at museums. At some point your feet hurt and all the descriptions of paintings blur together and you just don't care anymore. I'd like to leave a museum when that happens and go eat some bread and cheese. But, I know I'd want to go back. The Louvre is the largest museum in the world and four hours doesn't do it for me. 

   I've checked out some quality guided tours of Paris, and honestly, they are pretty affordable. They seem to be a much better value than the Anhinga Trail in the Everglades. So the cost really isn't a deciding factor. In fact, in the case of Paris, the value of not having to worry about where to sleep and the safety of a group might be worth the few hundred extra Euros to go on a tour. 

   You can even make an argument that going on a tour will save you time and you will see more. The attractions know you are coming. You can bypass waiting lines. You will go to restaurants that you know are good.

   However, for me, the downside is that lack of freedom. I don't know how I would fair if I wasn't ready to leave a museum.  There are times when I'd rather get a little hungry and stay at something I am interested in than go get lunch. And there are times I know I'll have more fun on a full stomach so I eat first. 

   I don't have a clear answer (for me) on whether an international (Paris) guided tour is for me or not. I've weighed the pros and cons. I've checked out multiple tours, some of them seem to be almost what I am looking for. I guess I have plenty of time to figure it out. There's plenty to see in the United States for me first.

An Argument for Do it Yourself Trips, Part 1 The Everglades

 

  While we were in the Everglades, Laurie and I noticed large REI tents at the Lone Pine Key Campground where we stayed a night. There were so many so close together there was no way it could be a coincidence. After five minutes of research on the REI website, we saw that we ran into one of their travel tours.  We read about the itinerary and what is included and not included. Of course we checked out the price. It got me thinking of the benefits of a taking a tour versus the benefits of doing it yourself. 

    Full disclosure, I love to plan vacations. I love doing the research. I have a full size seven foot bookcase full of travel guides, hiking guides, fishing destination books, maps, Backpacker Magazines,and birds from many regions. I can pour over a state atlas for hours looking for petroglyphs, national grasslands, and wilderness areas I've never heard of. So, it goes without saying I am biased towards DIY trips. Also, I like to stretch my money if I can do a ten day trip for a thousand dollars or a six day trip for a thousand dollars, I'm choosing the ten day trip. There are plenty of rich people out there were money does not factor into their decision at all. For me it does.

   When we looked up the itinerary for the Everglades REI trip (link below) triphttps://www.rei.com/adventures/trips/weekend/everglades-hiking-cycling.html?fbclid=IwAR1qBZExgFGSZANxrfZlugoHolM9CZzG9YPJTaySgLLQc6ZAjW9et_BSr7A

we realized we had done everything on their trip. So we didn't just have a rough baseline to compare our own journey to theirs, he had the exact trip to compare it to. The only thing we didn't do was a kayak trip. However we did see the rentals while in Flamingo. The most expensive kayak rental is a full day, 8 hr rental for $55. 

To our surprise the four day REI trip cost $1699 for a member and almost two grand for a non-member. So, obviously Laurie and I tried to figure out how much our four day total in the Everglades and John Pennekamp State Park. We realized we did those four days for under $600. Not six hundred each, six hundred total, or roughly three hundred dollars a person. 

My breakdown Camping $200, Gas one tank, $40, National Park Pass $30, Snorkel Trip at Pennekamp $80, Pennekamp Admission $8, Rental car $50/day Food-variable. Not including food we spent $558, there were a few other expenses I guess. I know we spent $15 on snacks and Gatorade at a convenient store in Flamingo. However, if the REI people went to the store, that wasn't included in their price either. Also, we did not go on a kayak trip, but as I stated above, that would only tack on less than thirty dollars a person. 

  So, an REI trip for two people would cost $3400 for two people over four days. We spent under six hundred dollars total for a savings of twenty eight hundred dollars!!!! Now, what did they get that we didn't. First off, it looks like the motel they stay at after arriving is included in the price (the airfare is not included). So they did get a night in a motel, and possibly one at the end of their trip. Where as, after our four days in the glades, we went off to our next adventure (Sanibel Island). For the record, our last night in Florida, we got a motel four miles from the airport for $80. So, you could include that in the "total cost". 

  Secondly, the meals were paid for. However, these folks weren't going to fancy restaurants, they were eating picnic lunches just like Laurie and I. Read the itinerary, they stop  for picnics. There isn't fine dining in the Everglades. I assume they had nicer suppers than we did. I can imagine the tour guides made nice meals of steaks with potatoes or other nice side dishes. We ate pasta and sauce one night and soup and Stove Top another night. I will gladly admit, they probably got served meals that cost ten dollars a person where as ours was less than ten dollars total. Instead of going back to camp at supper time to prepare a big meal, Laurie and I use as much of the daylight hours to explore. We spent four hours at the marina in Flamingo looking at wildlife and rushed back to camp at dusk to make food before dark. I'll take that trade off any day. 

  Lastly the people get things you can't put a price on. They got to go on a trip to meet like minded outdoors people. They made new friends. They hung out with people from all over the country. If Laurie and I got into an argument we were stuck with each other. They also had the peace of mind that they didn't have to make any decisions. They didn't have to plan. Their food was cooked for them while they lounged and chatted. How much are these things worth? It depends on the person.

   Personally, all those things you can't put a price on mean nothing to me. As I said, I love research. I enjoy making my own decisions. I like the freedom of driving the rental car. I can stop and look at a gator for as long as I want to. I don't mind making supper while camping. Food tastes better after a long day of exploring anyway. The only time I eat Mac and Cheese is while camping. I find it delicious after a day of hiking, but never eat it at home. 

   As for making the new friends and comradery, I personally can't say I care. I suppose if you met the love of your life on one of these trips, you really couldn't put a price tag on that. However, meeting new people that you'll exchange emails with a few times does not seem like its worth the extra thousand dollars a person. But again, it's not my money. 

   For the record, I have read many reviews from this particular REI trip to the Everglades. They are all five star. From what I read, the tour guides are amazing. They are knowledgeable, helpful, and always trying to give you snacks. I can verify from being at all the places they've been the wildlife and snorkeling is amazing. So I have no doubt they people on this trip have a great time. Would I ever go back to the Everglades and John Pennekamp State Park? Absolutely, I think about it a lot. Would I pay $1699 to do it with twenty other people? Not a chance in hell!

First Half To Do List

    Someone pointed out that instead of having a "bucket list" one should change the name to a "to do list". Since I have wrote the term "bucket list" hundreds of times on this blog, that may be a hard transition for me. That said, "to do list" seems much more likely to get done than something on a "bucket list". Unless you are actively checking off boxes on a bucket list, you are more likely going to put these goals and dreams on the back burner and use the term "someday".

   The above paragraph is just a thought about something I read and really irrelevant to this post anyway.  I'm going to divide my year up into two halves (well almost halves Jan-the first week of June and the second week of June- December). The first half of the year will concentrate on things I have wanted to do for a long time in New England. I will worry about the second half of the year when it gets closer to June. I will revisit this list around the last week of May. 

To do list January-early June

 1. Go up to New Hampshire in late April and see some back country waterfalls swollen by snow melt. I went a couple years ago, but really saw only roadside falls. I feel as though I did not accomplish my goal.

2. The musical I most want to see is called "Million Dollar Quartet". It is about a jam session at Sun Records in the 50's with Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis. I've wanted to see it for years. It is playing at Theater by the Sea in Matunuck in late May. 

3. Smallmouth Bass fishing at Indian Lake in South Kingstown, RI

4. Smallmouth Bass fishing at Stafford Pond, Tiverton, RI

5. Northern Pike fishing at Moore Reservoir in New Hampshire. This is more than just going to fish. I'm staying there until I catch one!

6. There are worm spawns in RI. I caught the tail end of one two years ago. I want to spend more time fishing for stripers during the spawns this year. 

7. Try to catch a tautog from my kayak. I will not beat myself up too much if I don't give it a shot. It's really more because I have thought about it for so long as opposed to actually caring if I do it. That said, if high tide lines up with an afternoon and I birded all morning, I really have nothing better to do.

8. Again not as much of a priority. I want to spend a few days in Northern NH fishing the small ponds around the Connecticut Lakes. I've done this before and would like to go back. The only reason I might not do this even if I can find the time is I'd rather fish Moore Reservoir for pike than fish a pond for stocked trout. Still, these ponds are beautiful and I love fly-fishing so I'll figure it out when the time arrives.

9. If all goes well, I want to go back to the Outer Banks for my summer vacation and take another pelagic trip. I slept too much on the last trip I took and feel like I missed out. I won't feel right unless I do it again. Instead of leaving it on my bucket list, I'm putting it back on my 2022 to do list!

Added post publishing

10. I have always wanted to see a Spring Peeper, we hear them all the time but seeing them is a different challenge

11. I try not to make too many species of a birds a goal, but Monk Parakeets used to breed in Rhode Island but they don't anymore. I found out they live in Bridgeport, CT. I'd love to see them

12. I start a lot of blogs with  "my number one goal on my bucket list is..." That is because once I do something that is number one on my bucket list, I then have a new number one as #2 moves up to the top spot. My new number one on my East Bucket list is to see the Cherry Blossoms in Washington Dc. I am going the week of March 28. Also possibly crossed off of my list is to catch a big catfish (Potomac River) and see a Sika Deer (Blackwater NWR, MD) 

This list will be added to as I think of things or get invited to things. As I look forward to upcoming plans I will add them. 

End of the Year Review

 

This post probably won't be of much use to you as a reader. I write my annual end of the year post so I can look back on things. Usually they are filled with numbers like how many bird species I've seen or trout I've caught. Since I didn't fish much I can't give an overview of how the season went. Since I didn't keep a Rhode Island bird list I truly have no idea how many species I saw in the state. 

Theme- "Go Big or Stay Home"

   As I've said many times each year takes on a theme. I don't generally plan this. It just happens organically. One year I fell in love with trout fishing and fished for them all year. I kept track of how many I caught, what I caught them on, how many I caught in each state and water body. I did not start out in January planning this, it just happened. Another year, DJ and I hiked in New Hampshire every chance we could. We did multiple four thousand footers. The following year I was introduced to surf fishing and only went to New Hampshire once or twice.

   This year's theme is unlike any other in my life. First off, the first half of the year was not good for me. Too much emotional stress and stress at work. April and May, two of my favorite months were awful and I actually lost fifteen pounds due to stress despite eating anything I wanted. 

   Once June got here, things turned around. My North Carolina trip started the last couple days of May and went into the first week of June. Never in my life did I need a vacation more than this one, I needed to get away. That trip "righted me" and things got better from there. 

   From the beginning of my vacation till the end of the year, my theme began. I had very major high intensity peaks followed by an extended boring status quo, then another peak, followed by more boredom, etc... In the last twenty five years, never had I done so little after work. Usually I would fish almost every night or take a trip to chase a bird. However, since I have been doing the delivery for work a couple weeknights a week, I just never had the time. I'd deliver the donuts, then have a couple days off, hang out with my friend Laurie, and it would be back to deliveries. I just never had much time after work  to get out. So the theme for this year, for better or worse, really was "Go Big or Stay Home".

Make no mistake, this was my choice. Doing the delivery a couple days a week is my decision. I could have asked my boss to look for another driver. Yet, I have chosen to take the money. I want to pay off my car within a year and the extra  money means that will probably happen. The above paragraph is not complaining, it is a choice. 

To break up these boughts of boredom I did have a lot to look forward to. Only two weeks after coming home from North Carolina I went to Maine with my friend Sue to Machias Seal Island and saw breeding puffins. The weather was perfect and Puffins, Murres, and Razorbills were only feet from us. 

   I didn't do much over the early summer for fun. As I said, most afternoons were just a couple of hours in-between jobs so I could go back to work. However once mid-August came around, almost every day off was an adventure. I told my boss that with all the stress I needed things to look forward to. So I asked for three days off over the next two months so I could have some three day weekends. The first was to Philly. We spent two days in Philly and a day at Brigantine where I saw a lifer Roseate Spoonbill.

  September was unbelievable. It started with a perfect weather day at the Bronx Zoo. The Skating Club of Boston hosted two international events with high quality skaters. Laurie loves skating so we went to both. I took hundreds of photos practicing shooting moving targets. Before those events we went to Robert Frost House in Derry, NH and the Wydah Pirate Museum in Yarmouth, MA. The week of Sept 25 I spent two nights on Block Island birding with some of my best friends. The end of the month Laurie and I went to Saratoga Battlefield followed by two days in Lake George. That trip was way more fun than I expected

   October brought me to New Hampshire to a fun hike and overnight on Rogers Ledge. The following week  I went to a Owl banding thanks to Barbara Seith. The week after that I caught Kokanee in Connecticut. 

   November I went pike fishing the first week. I struck out, but caught some Smallmouth and had a fun day anyway. Then I went to Florida for twelve days. If you've been reading, I had a great time there. After Florida, I've seen some cool birds (Cattle Egret, Tundra Swan, Snowy Owl, Clay Colored Sparrow, Western Tanager)  I went to The Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol at the Stadium Theater.  

    Like I said, a lot of down time followed by really fun days, followed by more downtime doing next to nothing. There are worse "themes" but it was a very unusual year for me indeed.

Technical Difficulties- 

   To make things even more unusual both my computer and big camera lens broke this summer. My computer broke during the early summer. I was so busy I didn't end up getting one until the first week of September. I took the new one with me to Block Island expecting to write a bunch of blog posts. The LCD ended up breaking on the trip (I don't know how, I was careful with it) so I had to send it to the manufacturer for repairs while I was in Florida.

   My lens was much more disheartening. It broke the week I came home from North Carolina. I brought it to be fixed immediately. Due to back ordered parts, it took over two months for it to be repaired. This was a crushing circumstance for me. I really wanted it for Machias Seal Island, but luckily the birds were so close my 300 mm was fine. I was miserable at Brigantine without it though. I could have gotten great photos of the Spoonbill, Skimmers, and Gull Billed Terns if I would have had it. I probably didn't do much this summer because I was cameraless.

   Birding

   Unlike most years, there will be very few stats. I didn't keep a list and really don't know how many species I saw. Consequently, I also have no idea where I finished in Rhode Island, though I'm sure it is not in the top 15. Nor do I care. Not keeping a list had the desired affect of keeping the tension off. I did not chase many birds after work. I kept thousands of miles off of my car. I did bird almost all the weekends I wasn't away, but I did all those day trips in the above paragraphs on my days off. 

  I did miss some birds I usually see every year. I know I didn't see any Cape May, Blackburnian, or Bay-Breasted Warblers. For shorebirds, I missed Marbled Godwit, Baird's and Buff Breasted Sandpiper. I'm sure I missed a lot more than that, but I do not plan on going over the master list to check. I am quite sure not keeping a year list was the right decision and may never keep one again.

   Despite the noted misses, I had a really good year birding. Though I never found a mega-rarity, I found a lot of good birds on my own. In Rhode Island I found Acadian Flycatcher, summer Eastern Meadowlarks, I found Yellow Billed Cuckoo in Rhode Island and three other states (FL, NC, and ME)

  In other states I found Black Backed Woodpecker, Leach's Storm Petrel, nesting Alder Flycatchers, Ruffed Grouse, Pileated Woodpeckers, Carolina Chickadee, Brown Headed Nuthatch, Gull Billed Tern, Magnificent Frigatebird, Yellow Throated Warbler, White Winged Crossbill, White Crowned Pigeons, Crested Caracara, Limpkins, Wood Storks, and I'm sure others I haven't thought of.

  I did keep track of lifers-  I ended up with an unbelievable 26 species. I will list all of them here, not to bore you, but so I have them listed in a place that won't burn in a fire

RI- Black Bellied Whistling Duck, Rufus Hummingbird, Barn Owl

ME- Arctic Tern, Redwing

MA- White Winged Crossbill, Long Eared Owl, Yellow Throated Warbler, Townsend's Warbler

NC-  (from land) Bobwhite, Henslow Sparrow, Carolina Chickadee, Brown Headed Nuthatch, Cinnamon Teal, Gull Billed Tern,

NC-  (from pelagic) Masked Booby, Black Capped Petrel, Band Rumped Storm Petrel, Audubon's Shearwater

NJ- Roseate Spoonbill

FL- Muscovy Duck, White Crowned Pigeon, Common Myna, Magnificent Frigatebird, Grey Headed Swamphen, Crested Caracara

I got a photo of all species except the Swamphen and the White Winged Crossbill. 

  I did miss two "very big deal" birds in RI. The first was a Brown Booby in Narragansett Bay. The other was a first ever Sharp-Tailed Sandpiper.  I also missed White Winged Crossbill and Hoary Redpoll last winter.  Of course, the big news was the Steller's Sea Eagle in MA, which I did not see. 

I also ended up with photo upgrades of 47 species. I won't list them all here. But since I did not have my big lens for over two months, I am very happy with that number. Some species I will never be able to improve upon because they were so cooperative. Hudsonian Godwit, Rusty Blackbird, Puffins, American Bittern, and Pink Footed Goose are just a few that put on a spectacular show for me. 

I got four RI state birds, the three lifers above and a Painted Bunting

Bucket List-

  Since much of my time was taken up with a crazy stressful year at work and very little "me" time after work, it is not a coincidence that I fit as many adventures as I could in the second half of the year. when I wasn't working. I wiped as many things off of my drivable bucket list as I possibly could. Much of this is parroting what I wrote above, so I'll just write it in list form. The top two things were the things I most wanted to do east of the Mississippi. Doing them in the same year was amazing

1. Machias Seal Island Boat Trip

2. North Carolina Pelagic on the Patterson's Boat

3. Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge

4. Rogers Ledge Hike (there were 8 hikes in NH I really want to do, this was one of them)

5. Catch a Kokanee Salmon

6. See a Roseate Spoonbill (the number one species I wanted to see in the U.S.A.)

7. Saratoga Battlefield (been wanting to go there for years)

8. Brownfield Bog, ME birding

9. Bronx Zoo

Less adventurous things, but still were on my list

10. Get a photo upgrade of Rusty Blackbird

11. Find a Winter Wren (without the use of playback)

12. Robert Frost Farm

13. Whydah Pirate Museum

Doing thirteen things off a bucket list, nine of them pretty big adventures is more than I could have ever expected. After 2020 and once I was vaccinated, I was ready to begin life again. When the year started, I had my reservation for my boat trip to Machias Seal Island and the NC Patterson's Pelagic. Everything else just came as events fell into place

Lasting Memories

   Such a strange year doing so many things off of my bucket list but also having so much down time (or really, too busy to have fun time) However, I did manage to find time to do some other cool daytrips. I understand this is not high drama reading, and I understand if you have better things to do than read that I went to Plum Island in January. But I did not keep a very good journal this year. Add to that that I was without a camera and computer for months, I'd like to have some concrete back up to my memories.

  Besides the above bucket list items

 Sue and I went to ME to see the Redwing and on the way back we got a Long Eared Owl (lifer). We also had a very nice Dickcissel

  Laurie and I did an overnight to Plum Island and Salisbury Beach in January. White Winged Crossbill

  Sue and I met up to see Pine Grosbeaks then went to stake out a Yellow Throated Warbler

  Seeing the Townsends Warbler in a snow flurry

  Rusty Blackbirds put on an amazing show in Cranston. Watched them for hours

  The skating events in August and Sept were fun. We saw countless Olympians and met a few also. People we saw included Vincent Zhou, Jimmy Ma, Hubble and Donahue, Pate and Bye, Alysa Liu, Gracie Gold, Alexa Knerim and Brendan Frazier, Russian medalists, Todd Eldredge, Chris Knerim, and more.

  Block Island overnight birding with friends. I got to see a  Barn Owl thanks to Tim and Sue.

  Rhode Island Whale Watch, saw literally thousands of Common Short Beaked Dolphins

   Cape Ann Whale Watch wasn't as good.

  Two ghost tours. Newport and Plymouth

  Rhode Island Philharmonic and Fireworks at Slater Park

  The Nutcracker at the Stadium Theater

  Redwing, Dickcissel, Hudsonian Godwit, Pink Footed Goose, Clay Colored Sparrow, Black Bear, American Bittern, Machias Seal Island, Pileated Woodpecker, Snowy Owl, Western Kingbird, Rufus Hummingbird Photoshoots 

I couldn't have done North Carolina, and my pelagic without Scott's support, Carlos's planning, and Wayne's knowledge of amphibian sounds

Lake George Boat trips and the Natural Cave were fun. Lake George is a beautiful lake. 

In Florida my favorite moments were seeing the Cottonmouths. My favorite part of the trip were the two days in the Everglades. Flamingo was awesome with the Manatees, Crocs and all the birds. Ding Darling, the Crocs, Anhinga Trail, Purple Galinule, Croczilla, Bowman Beach (shells, Dolphins, Sandwich Terns, Royal Terns)  were all so much fun to photograph. Wastewater 5/6, Corkscrew, and not getting out to a Coral Reef were disappointments. Almost drowning at Fort Zachary Taylor is something I'll never forget. The food in Key West is great. The best KLP is at Sloppy Joe's. Bahia Honda is one of the most beautiful places I've been. 

With a little luck, a fun, healthy, birdy, fishy, 2022 is in all of our future.

    

Well, that didn't suck

 

   Yesterday I went to Avondale in Westerly, RI to hopefully see the Western Tanager ( there were actually two at some points) that had been hanging out there for over a week. I wanted to go on Christmas Eve and/or Christmas but the weather was bad. I spent three and a half hours looking for the Western Tanager(s) without any luck.

   Western Tanager would be a state bird for me. I've seen them in South Dakota but never in Rhode Island. Since the weather forecast for today was just clouds I decided to go back and try again. When I got to Avondale I came across my friends Tim Metcalf and Bill Thompson. We all walked to the area the tanager had been seen. Tim had to leave pretty quickly leaving Bill and I. Soon after Dianne Auld showed up. 

  About an hour after I got there, I spotted the Western Tanager in what I have been told is one of its favorite trees, a Cedar full of berries. I called Bill over and another guy I had never met. The three of us watched it hop into multiple trees. Dianne came around a corner and we waved her over. 

   The bird put on a fantastic show for fifteen minutes. The sky was overcast and nasty white. However, the bird stayed low in the green background. The light was absolutely perfect as long as we didn't have to point our cameras into the sky. The Tanager was absolutely amazing for us. When it finally flew out of sight, Bill remarked "Well, that didn't suck".  I couldn't have worded it any better.