Cold day

ITH THE OCEAN,,

Each day I get the rare bird alert in my email box, so yesterday I checked it late like an hour before bedtime...and there again was the Dovekie. If a rare bird sticks around 3 days there is always a chance it will be there...so this morning, I awoke at 6, made coffee, and breakfast, fed my dogs, whipped up a pack lunch and tried to think of what I may need and off I went back to Huntington Beach State Park, its on the Atlantic Ocean south of Myrtle Beach north of Charleston.  Good thing I tossed in a couple extra jackets BOY it was cold.  I kept all 4 layers plus had on my backpack all day and still felt cold. I should have worn my real winter coat but honestly I did not know it was going to be that cold.  

Anyways I hooked up with a few other birders on the way to the Jetty, it's 1.89 mile walk one way in soft sand...and we had a head wind in our faces.  I did not get my bike ready as I didnt know I'd be going back this quick.  I saw  a few people on fatbikes, ebikes...I would enjoy a fat bike, but just getting some tubes in my flat tires would be a good idea.  My bike is a 7 speed mountain bike, I haven't ridden it in years..ONE thing is its a boys bike, I want a girls bike...it's hard to get on this bike, and off of it too.  

So after a long drive I was on the beach at 10 am and we found the bird about 12 or a little after...it was a group effort having all those extra eyes on the water is a big help...

So the Dovekie is a life bird for me, and all in that small group too....and suchhhh a cute little guy.  It's barely a little over 6 inches in length a diving duck  black and white in color.  We got a terrific look as it circled the rocky jetty we saw it in flight then it landed on the rocks Right near us...And preened while we burned the sd cards UP in our camera's. 

Really fun day, now put me with a group of birders and Im a happy lark, we are like minded in most every way...And I met one lady originally from the Netherlands, now a citizen of the US, and a really nice lady.  We were all strangers working together to make something happen an instant team and it was great to be part of a team if only for a day. 

Since it was cold there was few people on the beach and even fewer on the Jetty only 3 fishermen, and not many boats...So we had 3 good birds to look for  and found all 3 and more of course...The Dovekie, the Long Tailed Duck that I reported last week, still there and Purple Sandpiper. So we hit the trifecta.  

It was good...I froze, but it was worth it.  Nothing is colder than the beach in a stiff wind...trust me I lived on a Beach in Brooklyn for nearly 6 yrs and there is nothing more cutting than a northerly wind coming off the Atlantic.   I learned what to look for in a winter jacket, it has to be wind proof, it has to be well insulated, mine is down...(I purchased this before I went vegan) it has to have tight adjustable sleeves, so the wind cant whip up your arm mine has elastic cuffs that tuck up in the sleeve, then the actual insulated sleeve hangs over that.  A good coat has to have a hood with a draw tight string,  and if it has some fake fur around the edges even better mine does not have the fur....a zipper and a snap flap to cover over the zipper to keep wind from getting thru the zipper teeth, it has to completely cover  past your hips preferable knee length and and it has to have a collar to go all the way up and cover the neck AND MINE does all that.  I would say that coat would keep me warm in an avalanche!!  The outer shell is water resistant so it's not good in heavy rain if you carry an umbrella its okay but snow falls right off it. So I went north with my whippy "car length" duck  weight coat and nearly froze to death...so I went to a store and was schooled on what to look for in a real winter coat.  I paid $85 which to me was expensive, in 2002 I imagine much more these days.  If I had worn that coat I would have only had to have that on with a shirt and I would have been toasty warm...with the 4 layers I ended up with it was bulky and I felt like a mummy. 

Live and learn, but toss in forgetfulness. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐perfect 10