Nature Done Wright

   Here it is, not quite seven a.m. and not quite sun-up, and I am sitting in the A&P parking in the Hewitt section of West Milford, waiting to begin a strenuous day of birding. For the next eight hours, I am tagging along with a team of four birders who will try to see as many birds — and as many kinds of birds — as possible.
   We already have two target birds to shoot for — a Pacific loon and a red-throated grebe, both of which are rare to medium-rare and both of which would be figurative feathers in our caps.
   The four birders are Dave, Darlene, Sean and Denise. It is still dark out, but at least the rain has stopped.

   Dave started birding at 3:30 a.m. in the pouring rain. He came up with a pair of great horned owls near the A&P, and some screech owls. That’s a great start.

   Some of the best birding is around dawn. We’ll see.  Not sure when I’ll be able to log on again, but fellow Christmas count participants should feel free to e-mail me at wrightjamesb (at) gmail.com.