I'm a lifelong baseball fan. I started as a Tigers fan, going with my beloved Grandpa McMahon to see the Mighty Deetroit Tigers in the late 60s. I saw the World Champion 68 Tigers, with that awesome lineup of Horton, Kaline, McLain, Lolich, Cash, Northrup, Wertz, McAuliffe (Dick, not Terry), Brown, et. al. (Norm Cash lived around the corner from my best friend, and we'd bicycle past his house in hopes of seeing him in the yard.)
Lineatus wearing her Giants colors on her sleeve (well, shoulder)
I moved to SF, and became a Giants fan. Until the advent of (boo! hiss!) interleague play, I never had to choose which team to root for.
There are two things that I learned as a Giants fan:
- Their ballpark is great for birders. It's probably one of the most reliable spots for Ashy Storm-petrels anywhere, at the right time of year. You have swallows zipping past all night. And the gulls can read the scoreboard. (details in the comments if anyone's interested)
- No matter how the Giants are doing in the early season, they run out of steam in June.
Which brings me to...
I'm going to be taking a month off from here.
I'll be away from home 4 of the next five weekends (one long weekend in Yosemite, and a few at our dialup cabin). Lots of stuff going on at work, doing a refi on the house... somethings's got to give.
Four days in Yosemite can cure a lot of ills.
When I started this series around 2 years ago, it seemed like Saturday mornings would be a good time to post - thinking to inspire folks for the weekend ahead. Now, I'm not so sure that's true. When I return (either first or second weekend in July), it will probably be on Sundays. That will let me do some birding on Saturdays and have something to talk about (and some photos to share) the next day.
Saturdays are tough for five months of the year during banding season, and all year round, I think I can do a better job with Dawn Chorus if I can spend some time composing rather than scrambling to pull it together at the last moment (and keep plf515 waiting to post DKos U). On the other hand, there's some value to posting on Saturday mornings when other community diaries also go up. Any thoughts? There's a poll at the end.
Flocking together...
I like love the idea of having a regular place for birders to gather on DKos. If anyone is interested in guest hosting over the next month, say something in the comments (or email me at the address in my profile) and I'll add a schedule to the diary so everyone knows where to look. In the meantime, look for diaries from juliewolf, haole in hawaii, birderwitch, texas revolutionary, dcoronata and others to to fill your birding fix.
6/6 - desertguy will write about desertbirds.
6/13 - Shaniriver will be here with a diary on orioles.
6/20 - tgypsy will talk about local egrets, owls and woodpeckers.
6/27 - maxxdogg will do something colorful.
And after a recharge, I'll see you in a month.