Friday, January 11, 2008

Big Valley birding

Not THAT Big Valley...

I'm going on a field trip to the other Big Valley, here in Central PA, with some State College Bird Club folks tomorrow morning. I've never birded in that area, so I'm really excited. Birdy atlasing pal Roana will be along, as will her parents and some other very experienced local birders.

Anyway--back to the birding. The Big Valley is an area south-southwest of my usual territory. Sadly, this trip will involve a bit of driving, so it won't count for my Bigby list. Still--it'll be neat to go to a new area with people who've been there before and know all the good spots.
Here's a little map to give you an idea of where we'll be:
The red dot is where I live; the circled area is where we're going tomorrow. There are a lot of Amish fields, wooded areas, and other great habitats (or so I've heard), so I'm hoping to see a few lifers like horned larks, snow buntings, and more. I'm hoping I'll get some pics, but I'm not sure whether the weather will allow it; we're getting some pretty hard rain, but I'm hoping it'll clear up later today/tonight. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
By the way, my favorite Barkley brother was Jarrod, which made me the oddball--everyone else liked Heath (Lee Majors, pre-bionic) or Nick (Peter Breck--whatever happened to him?). And I was deathly afraid of Victoria Barkley (the fiery and independent Barbara Stanwyck). I also loved Audra (pre-Dynasty Linda Evans); probably I had a little girl-crush on her.

3 comments:

Matthew Hubbard said...

A very dear friend of mine, who is one of Your People with Your Agenda, was crazy for The High Chaparral when she was a little girl. She was keen on Linda Cristal, and she also liked the multicultural aspect of the Hispanic and Indian characters.

Earl Cootie said...

Good luck! I'm envious. I would so love to see a snow bunting at long last. We may be going to the coast this weekend, so we might even see one ourselves!

dguzman said...

I never watched that one, Matty Boy; I guess I was too sweet on Audra to stray.

Earl-I'm hoping. I've wanted to see a horned lark for three stinkin' years!