Sickchick.com
This young bird about sums up how I feel right now. My nose has staged a formal protest and a strike has been called. Mucus has moved into all sinus cavities and nostrils and is heavily picketing. Any air that tries to pass through is blocked no matter how much negotiating is done with decongestant nasal spray. Non Birding Bill is going to try and help the mediation process by getting some nasal strips. Hurry, NBB, hurry!I am SO sick. However, being optimist, I am incredibly relieved that my body is getting this out of its system this week. A caravan from Indianapolis is coming up next week that will include my mom and three of my sisters...I think. They've been planning this trip for some time and are very excited--as is NBB (they are not stopping in the Twin Cities but heading straight to Duluth so he gets a pass on visits from inlaws this time around). Mom and my oldest sister Terri haven't been here since the owl irruption, Monica has been here once and this will be Angela's maiden voyage--not sure how she's going to fair being in a blind and being quiet all day. Angela is the loud one of the family. I think it's safe to say we won't be getting any harriers.
Cinnamon is somewhat sympathetic but is happy that I am the one being force fed medicine this time and not her.Hey, can anyone id that young raptor in the first photo? I have some prizes, either a calendar, lens pen, or Nyquill. Let me know what you want.
I'm gonna crawl under a rock now.
Oh, wait an anonymous bird sent me following press release. Careful what you're watching at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge! We had an area in Minnesota get shut off from public access for a similar reason--it was really too bad because long-earred owls roost there. But the police didn't have funding to patrol the area and so closed and bocked it to traffic. My justification was that if more birders were in there then there would be fewer shenanigans, but that didn't fly with law enforcement. Here's the release:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 27, 2006
www.usdoj.gov/usao/aln
FEDERAL CHARGES FILED FOR ILLEGAL BEHAVIOR AT
WHEELER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
BIRMINGHAM, AL - Today in U.S. District Court twenty-one Criminal Informations and seven Indictments have been filed charging illegal sexual contact, public lewdness and indecent exposure at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge located in Limestone and Morgan Counties in Alabama. From July 20 through July 23, 2006, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Alabama State Conservation Officers conducted a covert operation to curtail illegal activity in areas of the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge that had generated numerous complaints from citizens using the Refuge. The "Refuge" is an area within the special territorial jurisdiction of the U.S. Government.
"The Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge is a place intended for public enjoyment through the appreciation of wildlife and nature in general," states U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin. "It is not, and will not be used as a place for public lewdness, public indecency or perverted
acts by the public. These covert indecency roundup efforts will continue."
"We are committed to providing a safe and enjoyable outdoor experience for our legitimate visitors," said Refuge Manager, Dwight Cooley. "We will continue to place the highest priority on curbing all illegal activities that prevent us from accomplishing that mission."
The release then goes on to name names (mostly men) and ages and acts which we don't really need to read here. But just an FYI, if you're birding in that area and have to use the restroom, I would double my efforts to find a portapotty and not a bush. You might be in trouble.
posted by birdchick at 6:45 PM
11 Comments:
Ferruginous Hawk.
Good Lord! Is that a SMILE on Cinnamon's face????
I must be hallucinating.
osprey?
Dawn
Northern Harrier?
I think you gave me your cold. I too have a stuffy nose and general acheyness. Thanks Sharon!
(just kidding)
Good luck with the sick crud. I'm on day 11 of it.
"Mucus has moved into all sinus cavities...."
Are they "A" cavities or a "B" cavities?
Does it at all bother you that whenever your name comes up on Tom Nelson's site, someone has to mention your cavities?
(you know the ones you found in AR)
Methinks it doesn't. You seem to have a great sense of humor.
Good cavity reference!
I would have been disappointed had no comments had been made at all! You can't have a great set of words like "Sharon's cavity" and not make jokes, it's too easy, it begs to be made fun of. Goodness knows NBB and I did several rounds of it when I came home from AR.
For newer readers of the blog, this is in reference to when I did a search for the ivory-billed woodpecker last December. I found a new A cavity (hole in a tree large enough to be made by an ivory-bill). Our crew referred to it as "Sharon's Cavity". So, we would hear phrases like, "Today I'm going to monitor Sharon's cavity."
Yep, it's always a good idea to let your inner 12 year old out to play.
I know you had a interesting encounter NEAR your cavity, but did you ever see anything fly out of your cavity?
I forgot to mention that anonymous got the id,it is a young ferruginous hawk. Alas, I cannot award a prize to someone with no name.
I never saw a bird--woodpecker or otherwise, enter to leave Sharon's cavity.
I don't know how you feel about medications, but you might want to look into Mucinex-D. It's some awesome stuff. It'll clear you right up and it lasts for 12 hours (though it's a little like Cinderella at midnight--if you don't take it immediately at the 12 hour mark your sinuses turn back into pumpkins & mice).
Good luck!
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