Streak-backed Day 6

January 6   2016

Yesterday mid-afternoon I arrived in Arizona, heading immediately to Yuma, the park a Streak-backed Oriole (Code 4) had been frequenting. I was ready to put in the time to find and film this bird. 

Some mornings I wake up before my alarm, and today was one of those days. It was hours before sunrise, and I just couldn't sleep. Both the anticipation of an exciting day ahead, and having an opportunity to see a truly rare bird by my standards may have contributed to my excitement.  I went to a QT to fill up my water bottles for the day, and ended up talking with the store clerk for 15 minutes. It must be lonely working an all-night shift. After offering some encouraging words, I decided I would drive to the park and wait for the sun to come up in the back of my car at the park. I didn't sleep at the park since it closed at sunset, and during the previous afternoon I saw some sketchy characters hanging out in the bathrooms (to get out of the rain, they told me)

I walked back out to my car and instinctually glanced at the time-  4:45am. Yikes. 

Laying back down in the back of my Subaru, I may have fallen into a light sleep for a while until I decided that being at the park was a better idea. So, I drove back to the park and rolled my windows down and laid down for a while. Another birding vehicle came and went, and soon after they left I heard the bird- right outside my car. I put on my shoes, hopped out, and had great looks and some difficulties photographing it in the light/pose I wanted. (Doesn't this always happen?) 

I followed the bird around the park for a while, hoping the conditions would improve. Then it dawned on my that there were more birds, and I could easily follow this bird around all day. Gotta keep driving...

I had grand dreams of writing this into a long and involved blog post, but hey- it's another bird (a good one) and I captured a decent video of the oriole perched on a fence. 

Enjoy. 

CH