primary grunt of the frustrated birder

There is a rather humorous guy in France (although not exactly the most elegant) who did a short monologue a few years ago. His point was, if a situation is very frustrating, then use the "primary grunt technique". In other word, yell, grunt, very loud, in a very basic way. If it does not help, well, at least, you will feel better about it.

As I checked Bruce's email list Monday morning, after an OK day of birding in gallup park sunday, here is the message that went on Bruce's email list (note the time)

"Date: Sun, Nov 23, 2008, 8:28 AM
Sunday morning, 9:00 AM A woman in Ann Arbor has just called into Washtenaw Audubon. She has seen a Varied Thrush in her yard yesterday and today. She's prepared to be descended upon.Laura Wooley1165 Wendy CourtAnn Arbor, Mi663-4383Wendy Court is near Mack School, north of Miller Ave.Sherri Smith"

Followed by :

Date: Sun, Nov 23, 2008, 5:57 PM
Nothing but negative results here. 1) The Varied Thrush was not seen after 10:45am today despite the efforts of numerous birders in the late morning and all afternoon. The homeowners welcome birders who would like to try again tomorrow.


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A varied thrush? What is this little guy? Honestly, I don't even have a clue what a varied thrush looks like. Even worst, this address was about a mile were I was Sunday at the same time.

I talked yesterday with my cubicle neighbour (an author of the book "birding in wasthenaw county"), and looking for comfort, suggested that maybe, 10 or 15 years down the road, I would be able to find another Varied Thrush in washtenaw county. His answer was "not very likely, even in your entire lifetime"

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