Is That Double Stuf?

Well, the latest exploration is nearing completion.  Time to turn the RV northward and begin the return leg.  Like a good Oreo, our trips tend to be a bit crunchy on the ends, but sweet and delicious in the middle.  This year the special ingredient was our first fallout resulting in a Warbler extravaganza.  Before you get too excited about the future posts, be patient. On a normal outing I can be a bit heavy on the shudder – after this trip I will likely need months of therapy to simply uncurl my index finger.  Not to mention I haven’t even scratched the surface from the January trip.  Getting way ahead of myself – focus Bri, focus!

As we are officially over the hump, I can dive back into the older captures.  Tonight’s featured feathered friend comes to us from Havana.  Ummm, before you start having a flashback to a bad Patrick Swayze sequel, that’s Havana, ILLINOIS.  A rather nondescript small rural town that happens to sit near Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge – the jewel of the Midwest when it comes to birding.

Hit the jump if you have a sweet tooth.

This refuge is full of Oreos smothered in bird.   Bet you thought that lead in trip metaphor was a bit odd ha!  Actually, the Oreo is my personal reference key for the Killdeer.  More of an anti-pattern for those in the software development fields.  In reality I hope I don’t see the two black stripes on the neck.

Nothing directly against the Killdeer, I just have oodles of them in the tin.  They are literally everywhere from the upper territories of Canada all the way down into Central America (except Alaska, they are afraid of bears).  Walk along the water or find some open farmland, filter out the ambient noise and listen for the macabre sounds calling for death to all deer…or a dog going medieval on a squeak toy – both quite unnerving.

Back to the anti-pattern. What I do not have in the tin is a breeding Semipalmated Plover. There are definitely other distinguishing marks, but from a field perspective I start with whether it has one or two rings. Sorry, Oreo vs Hershey bar pie. When I see the double stuf my excitement dampens. I still enjoy these squeakmeisters with their broken wing charades and blood lust eyes, but I need me some Semi Plovers!

For some reason I now have a craving for a dessert. Hope you enjoyed seeing a few shots from the past – take care everyone!