Right in front (page) of me:
"Thousands of miles, 749 birds, 1 record for Cambridge man" by Bryan Marquard | Globe Staff, January 02, 2014
As a year’s final hours slip away, many measure its success in paychecks, vacations, or the simple pleasures of everyday life. But for Neil Hayward of Cambridge, 2013 ticked down to a single bird.
He was among the select bird-watchers who had attempted what’s known as a “big year” — seeing as many different kinds of birds as possible, traversing the continent to do so. With just days left in 2013, he was tied with the longstanding record of 748 sightings. He kept going.
Did he see any eagles?
And then it happened. Last Saturday, from a boat along the North Carolina coast, he spotted a Great Skua, the winter light catching the gold specks on its back. That made bird 749 — and made Hayward the North American bird spotting champion....
He has proof of all of them?
A biotech consultant who could leave home and fly cross-country at a moment’s notice, Hayward intentionally avoided keeping tabs on the cost....
I've been harping and harping on it for weeks now, but the Globe isn't meant for you or me. The Globe is being written by, of, and for the elite and not you and me.
So the TSA doesn't give him a problem with the minutes-notice bookings, huh?
While pursuing his big year, Hayward made use of the Internet [and] his blog....
The Internet and cellphones brought about the biggest changes between 1998 and 2013. Birders who formerly brought sacks of quarters along for payphones in distant locations can now book flights from cellphones and check websites for the next rare bird sighting, rather than relying on word-of-mouth reports....
“But you can derive pleasure from watching the blue jays or the sparrows or the cardinals outside,” he said....
I do.
--more--"
Related: Fry Like an Eagle
Globe must have already ate the meal because the eagles are absent today, and the indigestion I'm feeling must be caused by the lack of coverage regarding Fukushima -- and I'm not saying that to be funny, I'm saying it with dejection, disappointment, and fear covered over by sarcasm.
