Pelagic Magic: When the gales of November are...absent?!!

By -
From Terra Firma, Kim Writes: When Robert Faber, of Discovery Tours and Inside Outside Radio, contacted me last year to see if I was interested in BSBO partnering to host a Lake Erie Pelagic trip, I was very interested. But, I finally had to admit that, with all the other things BSBO had going on at that point, I just didn't have the time to do it and do it right. Now, I have some additional help in the office (volunteers make EVERYTHING that nonprofits do possible!)
I was thrilled to tell Bob to count us in this year!

And, I'm so glad we did. We planned two trips on board the HOLIDAY, and they sold out FAST! I think everyone on board yesterday felt blessed to be alive and outside! The trip really was marvelous. Great people, tasty food, phenomenal weather (almost weirdly warm...), a lake that looked like glass...flat calm, and some pretty special birds too--Kenn will fill you in on the birds in a later post.

And so, I give you, trip number one:


Our group, with the HOLIDAY (barely visible in the background).
Yes; We all fit comfortably on board! Our leaders down in front, John Pogacnik and Kenn Kaufman,
alongside our Captain, and Sherrie Durris from Toledo Naturalists' Assocation.


Port and Starboard views of a few members of our birding crew, 52 in all.

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale of some birders on a trip.
They came to search for jaegers, scoters, loons, and fish...
scoters, loons, and fish...

(are you hearing the theme song to Gilligan's Island in your head...)





At first there weren't many gulls around. But we finally started feeding them the Walleye flavored popcorn from Great Lakes Popcorn Company, and the birds went wild. Thanks for the giant bags of popcorn, Bill! You can actually mail order flavored popcorn from the store and have it shipped anywhere you want. Imagine the joy your family and friends will experience when they break open their gigantic bag of walleye flavored popcorn on Christmas morning. mmm....agh!

Hmmm...
Maybe we should shoot a Gulls Gone Wild video, and market it after spring break!

That's the King of Lake Erie Shores Birding, and one of our trip leaders,
John Pogacnik, in the center of the photo.

In the foreground, two of our favorite people in the world, Bob Hopp and Connie Workman,
on board the deck of the HOLIDAY.

Left - Right: BSBO Volunteer and all around fabulous person, Karen Zach, Sally Deems-Mogyordy, and one of our fabulous leaders, Kenn Kaufman, whose hat reads, Eat. Sleep. Bird.



Sally and her business partner, Bryan Holliday did a fabulous calendar for 2010. A portion of every Winged Journey calendar sold benefits BSBO. Please consider purchasing one (or many!) for yourself and as holiday gifts!





Andy Jones, a BSBO Board Member and Ornithologist at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, poses with Cheryl Harner, of Greater Mohican Audubon Society and Ohio Ornithological Society.

In this photo: left-right: Wesley Hatch, Sally Deems-Magyordy--(way in the back),
Kenn Kaufman, and Hans Clebsch.

The heart of any ship -- THE GALLEY!
The food was really tasty. That's Sheila Thorpe in the middle, sampling the fare.
And, the gentleman sitting down on the right is the ship's captain; what a character, and a real sweetheart, too! He had some amazing stories about the years he's spent on Lake Erie.
I can't wait to talk to him again next Sunday!

Thanks to everyone who came out to brave the brutal Ohio Lake Erie Winter with us! ; ) I'll see some of you next Sunday!

Comments

  1. ChadNovember 10, 2009 at 10:11 PM

    I can't wait til this Sunday! It looks like everyone had such a great time! Where do you get an - Eat. Sleep. Bird. hat?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From Kenn's Drawing Table: Great Black Hawk

By -
Image
Kenn Writes: Some bird painters can put down just a few lines on canvas or paper and then start painting. I respect that, but it doesn't work for me; I have to have a detailed idea of where things are going before I start to lay in any color. I recently started a portrait of an immature Great Black Hawk, and the basic drawing evolved over a couple of days. On the left here is the subfinal drawing. After putting it aside for a while, I decided to change the position of the head, make the bill a little thicker, and make a few other adjustments. I'll probably make more changes in the process of painting, but at least the foundation is set in advance.
Read more

Which Way for ABA?

By -
From a state of contemplation, Kenn writes: The American Birding Association (ABA) has been an important part of my life ever since I joined, at the age of 16, back in the 1970s. The ABA was a brand-new organization then, and it served a unique role in connecting the active birders of the U.S. and Canada. Its little bimonthly magazine, Birding, was a treasure trove for me as a teenager, giving me tips on bird-finding and bird identification that I wouldn’t have known about in any other way. When I started traveling, as a hitch-hiking, teenaged birder, the ABA connected me with other enthusiasts and with prime birding hotspots, and helped to put me on a course as a professional naturalist. In subsequent years I was involved with ABA in many ways. I taught bird I.D. workshops at many of their conventions, and later I began giving evening keynote talks at these events; for a while, I had spoken at more ABA conventions than anyone else. I wrote dozens of pieces for Birding magazine, and...
Read more