To the Tip!

Exciting times!!! I'm headed to the Tip of Long Point tomorrow morning for a week, give or take a few days either way. I think they already have plenty of volunteers for the banding duties but I'll help out in any way they like. Depending on the weather it's either going to be really exciting, or a touch on the boring side if landbirds aren't moving. Obviously with "Frankenstorm" potentially reaching Lake Erie I'll be positioned perfectly to spot any seabirds that get pushed onto Lake Erie. Even if the storm veers out into the Atlantic, the tip of Long Point is still a major migrant trap that always turns up rare birds in the fall. I think the odds are in my favour that something good turns up while I'm out there; but the question is whether or not I see it flying freely or suspended in a mistnet, or in a bander's hand...

While it may seem like a great place to spot a rare bird for the 50DOR competition, there are a few things going against me. There will be ~7 other people out there also spotting birds so I'd have to beat them to the punch; there are mistnets catching birds so I can't count those birds, and if "Twitchability" factors into the competition then it won't help me too much since people aren't allowed to visit the tip unannounced to chase birds.

While I'd love to update my blog on a daily basis I don't think it's going to happen. I don't have a laptop and I'm not sure what the power/internet situation is going to be out there. My blog may go silent for a week or so...