Dear Tweeters,

Thanks to one and all who responded with suggestions on tripod repair.
Here is a summary of the suggestions:

--scopes and cameras are expensive, so send the tripod in for repair to avoid the risk;

--scopes and cameras are expensive, so order the original replacement parts, fix it yourself, and be very careful;

--scopes and cameras are expensive, but, "You only live twice, Meester Bond," so fix it with whatever materials you have to hand.

Naturally, I chose the parsimonious third method. Kudos to Marc Hoffman, who came up with a great idea for an ersatz bushing! I had originally effected the repair with a proprietary blend of scotch tape and duct tape, but wanted to try Marc's suggestion, so went out and bought some really cool metallic tape, Nashua Multi-Purpose Foil Tape, to be precise. A local hardware had it in the wood-stove section for $7.99 a roll. This stuff seems like it would be great for fabricating slender shims for various purposes. It is more robust than most tapes I've seen. Now the legs no longer fall off the tripod when I loosen them. Too bad elbows and knees aren't so easy to fix.

The big flock of Cackling Geese was at the junction of SR 20 and Gardner Road again today, just east of Burlington (Skagit County, 11-26-11). They flew in at about half-past nine. With them was a lone adult Greater White-fronted Goose. Why these geese like this little tiny stubble field is beyond me--there are many other stubble fields that are larger and more remote, with no cars whizzing by and no electric wires near them. Maybe the birds have figured out that nobody's going to shoot them there.

These Cackling Geese give great views at close range. Some are a bit larger than others. Some have darker breasts than others. It is an interesting assemblage. Nary a honker could I find among them, though, and every bird cackled in the characteristic falsetto.

At Green Point were a dozen or two Brant. Fidalgo Bay had fifty or more Canada Geese, and there were lots of Snow Geese at Fir Island, with another few hundred at Samish Flats. I was able to call it a five-goose day. Yay!

Hayton Preserve at Fir Island was the coolest place I today. Thousands of Dunlin and close to a hundred Black-bellied Plover were feeding in the mud fields here, often very close to the access road, giving great views. A few Long-billed Dowitchers foraged with the throng.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch





Gary Bletsch?Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA?garybletsch at yahoo.com?Mentre che li occhi per la fronda verde
ficcava ?o s? come far suole
chi dietro a li uccellin sua vita perde, lo pi? che padre mi dicea: ?Figliuole,
vienne oramai, ch? ?l tempo che n?? imposto
pi? utilmente compartir si vuole?.??