...And when the best laid plans go right into the potty...! :((

16Mar96, Woodland, CA. Yes, I goofed! :(( My visions of exiting Washington
in a blaze of glory with a lovely Sage Grouse, life bird under my belt,
remains at large. I believe I am guilty as sin in making such a big to-do
about this one being in the bag, etc., on & on, ad nauseum. Never count
your *chickens* before they hatch*, I believe the saying goes. Please,
please, my uttermost and most humble apologies to Russell Rogers, Andy
Stepniewski, Bill and Nancy Framboise, Dave Wright, and all WOS members who
anticipated my 4am presence on the 16th, or to whom I may have been a cause
for concern or worse, inconvenience. I am totally embarrassed and
humiliated! Please tell me NO ONE waited around just in case I was late. If
so, especially if such might have compromised the Sage Grouse viewing, I feel
horrible.

Everything was in place, car packed, gassed, pointed in the right direction.
I even went to bed at the unheard of hour of 8:30pm. All I had to do was
wake up, get dressed, stop by 7-11 (emergency coffee), and leave. I
overslept. Not just a little. A LOT! When I rolled over and saw the clock
reading 4:14am, I was completely baffled. What?! How could this happen?!
The alarm set for midnight was still blasting -- I didnt even hear it at
all. I have never overslept in my life -- and a birding engagement is
unthinkable! It would be perfectly understandable if it were just a job or
class or something. But a bird?! No way! If I had done that on an Okanogan
Owl trip, after all the time and distance just to get there, I think I would
have killed myself.

The *good* part about waking up at 4:14 was:
1) I got a really good nights sleep -- 8 hours sustained, uninterrupted.
that has never happened before in recent memory; 2-4 hours at a stretch is
normal. Go to bed at 8:30, what could possibly go wrong?
2) Waking up at 4:14am left no question what-so-ever that I had totally
blown it. It was pointless to even think about going to Yakima at all.
3) I am thankful that it wasnt 2:14am. 125 miles and be there at 4am.
Hmmm. Very risky!! But I might have been crazy enough to go for it.
4) Repacking all my thermal underwear, jackets, and other clothing for
standing out in the cold, opting to toward lighter California garb.
5) Vacuuming the house, scrubbing the sink, and scrubbing the toilet. I
mean, whats the rush now?
6) Breakfast at Dennys.

So what sort of self-imposed punishment should I inflict on myself? I
decided penance could perhaps best be served by counting crow and eating
chicken. Thus I launched a most unglamorous undertaking of individually
counting every single crow along I-5 between Seattle and northern
California and eating junk fried grouse, ...err um, ...chicken.

This actually ended up being rather entertaining, made the time pass quickly,
and I kept my crow count on a tally whacker (clicker). This scientific
survey actually was expanded to include all members of the family Corvidae
(crows, ravens, jays), and had to be conducted at speeds in excess of 65 mph.
Fortunately, I didnt go by way of Foster Island, or encounter such a place
elsewhere, otherwise, Id still be there counting crow.

The I-5 survey ended at the Glenn Co. line, north or Orland, California,
with the last silhouettes of roost bound crows in the fading dusk. The state
by state summary follows:
AMCR CORA STJA SCJA YBMA miles
WA 89 0 7 1 0 171
OR 33 7 3 8 0 300
nCA 312 4 2 6 8 176
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL 434 11 10 10 8 647

I may have missed one or two crows during lapses of highway hypnosis, and
another one or two may have been missed (or even counted incorrectly) as I
had some difficulty distinguishing some crows from rock doves at 70mph while
dodging trucks and in between bouts of hysterical laughter listening to
Imus on Portland radio AM620. Why doesnt a Seattle station carry the
I-Man for heavens sake??!! This is some of the funniest talk radio you
will ever hear!

I hope my penance is justly served by here posting the results of eating
crow.
I am currently unsubscribed tweeters. Any comment or bawling out should be
sent privately, or do it publicly if you dont want me to see it.

P.S. 17Mar96, Woodland, CA. -- Maybe I didn't deserve it, and it took
4-1/2 hours to find them, but I did locate the Mountain Plovers (lifer).
Down from ~200 earlier in the week, 26 were counted in the field exactly as
where advertised. Neat bird!! :)

Richard Rowlett <pagodroma at aol.com>
(Bellevue, WA, USA)
currently: Piedras Blancas Lighthouse
San Simeon, California