Posted by Jeff Weber on September 16, 2003 at 10:11:16:
In Reply to: Black-Faced Grassquit posted by Paul Bithorn on September 15, 2003 at 19:37:43:
Paul:
Congratulations to both you and Mike Hamilton on finally snagging that tenebrous fugitive. I was birding with Mike on his first trip down from Buffalo and felt bad for him when he missed it. I missed it myself on three trips and only got it when I was about to give up on the fourth try.
Given the circumstances, I certainly felt a libation was in order (even at 9:45 a.m. on a Sunday), so I grabbed a dark stout -- Dragon -- to celebrate the bird's dusky hue. No one would join me at that hour, but several birders from Gainesville were passing around Atomic Fireballs, which seemed (to me) sort of an odd tradition.
Jeff
: My Fellow Birders,
: I just received a call from one of my fellow lost souls, Mike Hamilton, from Buffalo, New York, who started birding with me at 6:30 a.m. this morning.
: He saw the Grassquit (Number 761 ABA) at approximately 6:25 p.m. in an area approximately .7 miles from the turnoff from the main park road into Long Pine Key. There is a Tamarind tree (Lysiloma bahamensis) with a lot of dead growth, probably poisoned Brazilian Pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius), that is just south of the 35 mile speed sign. It is on the west (right) side of
: the road heading towards the campground.
: This morning I found a family of Eastern Towhees, Great-crested Flycatcher,Carolina Wren, Pine and Prairie Warbler and Ovenbird in this gnarly area.
: It fed a foot off the ground on the fruit of a vine. and allowed him a fairly close approach on foot after leaving the comfort of his Cerulean Blue
: PT Cruiser. The bird was oblivious to his presence and never called.
: This is the second time that I know of that the bird has been seen late in the day in the same area. Brian Rapoza and David LaPuma , et al. have
: previously seen the bird here.
: I can only hope that somehow, as I was creating my previous e-mail at 6:28 p.m., that an ethereal message was transmitted to Mike, that the bird was
: in his midst. His dogged determination (second trip from Buffalo) paid off!
: Life is good.....................as hope springs eternal.