My wife and I just returned from an 8,000 mile auto tour around the
United States. Birding was only incidental, but we did identify about two
dozen varieties we had never seen. The biggest problem, even on the
secondary roads where we spent most of our time was that, when we saw
birds we wanted to scope, there was no place to pull off the road. It was
frustrating!

A couple of highlights might be of interest to others:

While drifting the Big Horn River in Montana, we watched a fascinating
behavior of Great Blue Herons which we assumed was a territorial battle.
The two birds were bumping chests with wings cupped and bills pointed
straight up in the air until one of them lifted off and flew to another
spot. Also on the Big Horn we saw our first Common Snipes and Eastern
Kingbirds.

We were surpised at the widespread occurances of Killdeer(s?). In
Yellowstone we watched them in the scope probing the mud with their feet,
and then picking up food. In New York we saw them feeding on a large park
lawn. They, along with Mourning Doves, were the most ubiquitous of the
species (other than crows, starlings, etc.)

On the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina we stopped to watch a group
of birders counting Broad Winged Hawks migrating. At one point, two
people had counted over 800 birds that day. It was our first witnessing
of a hawk migration. Also on the Parkway we watched a flock of Wild
Turkeys land and feed.

Other birds we identified and found particularly interesting:

Black Vulture
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Blue Jay
Hammond's Flycatcher
Tennessee Warbler
Boat-Tailed Grackle
Trumpeter Swan (Yellowstone)
Northern Harrier
Tufted Titmouse
Sandhill Cranes

Grant Hendrickson
University of Portland
ghendric at esd112.wednet.edu