When I realized that today would not be another day in the deep freeze, I decided I should take a longer ride and raid Larry Arnold’s end of the greenbelt. But then I called the VA this morning on the off chance I could get on a schedule for a vaccination. Amazingly, I was given an appointment for 4 pm today.

So of course I couldn’t let an appointment interfere with my quest for more birds so I set off in a hurry. The Song Sparrows (2-nesting?) in my back yard helped me to get a good start, and everybody seemed to be encouraging me to go further. Finally, I was 10 miles out and I needed to be home fairly quickly. Normally, I just cruise my way home, but today I powered on and made 10 miles in less than an hour. Not bad for an old fart.

Final tally was 47 species, including a Bald Eagle, 6 different RT Hawks, 12 different GB Herons, a Merlin, a FOY Ring-necked Duck, and lots of cooperative birds.

Oh, and the shot was no big deal, no obvious reaction, and an appointment for my 2d shot in a month. What a great day!

Tom McCabe, Boise