Fools and Englishmen

Saludos fiesta gente!

The insanity has reached new levels, heretofore unparalleled in my personal existence. Yesterday, we drove 500 miles to go birding in 114F weather, to find a little gull who got lost, as so many do nowadays.

Now I'm not English (although some of my best friends are), so clearly Noel Coward was onto something.

In this case, however, it wasn't just any little gull, it was a Little Gull! This is a rare visitor to California, possibly from Asia, and has the distinction of being the smallest gull in the world. If you're a Bird Nerd, you would appreciate that this gull appeared to be only somewhat larger than a phalarope. If you're not a Bird Nerd, then please realize: there is still time.

Our target was reported earlier this week near the town of Lemoore, CA. Now we had never been to Lemoore before, but our first impression was positive. On the way into town, we passed Lemoore High School, which must be a FANTASTIC place to be educated because (A) there was an actual fireworks stand in the parking lot selling actual fireworks, and (B) across the street from the school is a restaurant named "Lolita's". Undoubtedly, that would have brought a tear to Nabakov's(*) cold, steel-blue eyes.

The one downside to Lemoore is that they apparently have The World's Largest Outdoor Furnace, and it was turned to SCORCHING. When we first arrived at the ponds where the gull had been reported at about 3PM, our car's thermostat read 110F. When we returned to the car after an initial failed attempt to locate our quarry, the temp read 114F. Fortunately, the furnace must have run out of hydrogen, as the mercury had "cooled" down to around 100F by the time we left at 6:30.

If you're curious about what a Little Gull looks like, glue your eyes to this pic:

Little Gull stares pensively into the mirror, contemplating his own mortality as he wonders what the Hell that was that died in the background.

If you'd like to see a little action, then check out this video we took with an iPhone through our scope (the gull is in the middle):

Now, there is clearly a lot going on here, much of which I attribute to Delirium from the heat:

1. Our protagonist, the gull, is Riverdancing his way through the puddle.
2. The tall pink-ish/orange-ish headed bird in the foreground, the American Avocet, is a drama queen, strutting about majestically, swiping its bill through the water with dramatic pauses. His stationary partner to the right, clearly embarrassed at this display, refuses to look at him.
3. The small birds on the left, Wilson's Phalaropes, are playing Dizzy Bat, except without the Bat or the footrace that traditionally follows.

Fortunately, the temps didn't get any hotter, or who knows what deranged acts we may have witnessed?

Speaking of hotter, the next few days will find us in Arizona, chasing some exotic hummingbirds and a few other targets. We are visiting just at the beginning of monsoon season, so maybe we'll also get a terrifying torrential thunderstorm or two!

Hasta la vista,
Me


(*) Fun Regional Fact about Nabakov that I learned while doing extensive research for this blog post. Apparently, he lived in Ashland, OR for a while and finished the novel Lolita while there.