I have decided to share an adventure we had early on in the trip, which reminded me of a trip I took with my good friend Nancy Carr a few years ago. (You will see why in a minute or two).
We decide to drive to the Salton Sea to see what we could see. (Too many see's?)Anyway, Nancy is driving, as at the time I had a police car as my vehicle and the City of Palm Springs was tired of getting calls to see if their officer was alright. People saw a Palm Springs police vehicle in some out of the way place and just assumed the officer had been kidnapped and was tied to a tree or something. I digress, so we are in Nancy's little Honda hatchback and driving down two lane, (barely) farm roads looking for birds.
We saw a pair of Burrowing Owls,(Athene cunicularia), on a sandy embankment near their burrow. We pulled over to the side of the road, careful not to pull all the way onto the sandy shoulder and get stuck. We were looking closely and resting our elbows on the parts of the car most readily available and decided the car was vibrating too much to get a good clear look through the binos. So she turned off the engine and we sat for a couple minutes watching the antics of this cute pair of birds.
Then we heard a very loud airhorn. We looke up and there was a large eighteen wheeler coming toward us through the rippling heat waves. A glance in the mirror showed us there was another coming up behind us at a good clip. In an instant we saw there wasn't going to be enough room for the two trucks to pass us and each other, something had to give, and we knew it was going to be us. Nancy became a blur of action as she started the car, put it in gear and sped off in record time.
Talk about adrenaline rush!
Now, I tell you that story to segue into this one.
Andi and I were in Vancouver, in the West End, for those who know the place. One of the great attractions there is Stanley Park. This is a lot like Central Park in New York City, in that it is surrounded by big city living, such as high rise condos, busy streets, people walking, biking, skateboarding, rollerblading etc. Like Central Park, Stanley Park is a beautiful thickly wooded area, with ponds and lakes, criss-crossed with trails and roads. There are grassy areas where people lay out in the sun, play frisbee, or do yoga. At Stanley Park, it is bordered on three sides by English Bay and Burrard Inlet, with its point part of the First Narrows that connects to two. It has a trail that is paved that goes all the way around the park, which they call the Seawall walk. So, visitors can walk along this pathway with the woods on one side, and the ocean with beaches broken up by rocky outcroppings with tide pools on the other. Absolutely beautiful.
(This is just outside Stanley Park, but this was remarkable to us. That is huge tree on the patio of a penthouse apartment on top of a large building.)
We decided to rent a couple bicycles to go along the Seawall walk. This was a marvelous way to cruise leisurely around the park and soak up the ambience. Some used it as an exercise path, but we were on vacation and took it slowly.
I was having a great time. I had my binoculars hanging on chest on these elastic bands I bought from the Audubon Society some years ago, and my camera in a pouch the rental company supplied for the bike. I was as nerdy and touristy as you could get, (with the exception of shorts with black socks). We rode blissfully around until I saw a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), but nearby was a duck I thought may
be a Eurasian Widgeon, (Anas penelope).
I stop and grab my camera and start to stalk the bird across the path, dodging other bicyclists whizzing by, and rollerbladers rushing past. Andi stops and waits patiently while I try to 1) make the identification which would have been a lifer for me, and 2) get a picture.
As I approached and started to search through the binoculars for the elusive beast, I heard the crash of a bicycle and Andi's distinctive voice cry out. I turned and saw her on all fours off the side of the path and the bike tangled up with her legs and feet.
I abandoned the quest, and ran to Andi, and helped extricate her from her entanglement. She injured her foot as it got tangled with the pedal and when she fell it landed on her foot. We got her to a standing position, and she gamely went on with the bike ride. I have to tell, she really did injure herself, but she continued on with the bike ride, then in the following days on long walks without a complaint.
As a side light, it turned out the fall was my fault. I told Andi to raise the seat so that pedaling would be easier. She took the opportunity to raise the seat and got tangled up, and fell down. So, see, it was my fault.
So, you might be a birdnerd if...you are so distracted by watching a bird you risk life and limb.
P.S. Nancy saw a special on the world's most dangerous road, somewhere in Sout America. She said the announcer stated that while there had been several injuries, and the road was very treacherous, being very narrow and very high up a mountain, there was only one fatality. It was a birder, who was trying to get a better view of a bird he saw off the roadway and fell off.
Birding is a dangerous hobby!
(These are two views of the Narrows connecting English Bay to Burrard Inlet at the tip of Stanley Park. The second one is just under the Burrard bridge. Those are Pelagic Cormorants, (Phalacrocorax pelagicus).
(This is a statue that is in all the travel books discussing Vancouver. The water was way too cold to snorkel or even think of swimming! However, the Canucks did.)
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