A few months ago, I tacked my fall and winter bucket list to the E-wall. Of the dozen dream activities of the season, one is completed, one is half done, and two more are scheduled. As the tortoise said to the hare, "Slow and steady wins the race."
In mid-September, I visited Bob Sargent and the volunteers from the Hummer/Bird Study Group as they caught, banded, and released transient songbirds that were transiting Fort Morgan on their way to across the Gulf.
I admit I was expecting waves of birds to come flocking across the peninsula rather than the persistent drizzle that flowed through the banding tents. But I was surprised at the number of species we saw in a short time.
Sargent and his team provided an adult show-and-tell with enthusiasm that was infectious. The crowning touch was the chance to cup a tiny bird in my hands and release it to follow Nature's trans-Gulf summons.
A few weeks ago, I was scheduled venture into the backwaters of the Delta as Dennis Holt continued to share skills that brought him national acclaim as a nature photographer.
This was to be the second half of a two-part adventure. The first turned into a Magical History Tour of the swamp's eastern perimeter. For safety's sake, the hands-on portion of the workshop had to be delayed.
Last weekend, local downpours and heavy upstate rains gushed through the floodplain, postponing that adventure for a third time. Looks like the Maker intend for us to wait for spring.
That's a shame. I've worked on lots of stories with Dennis and leap at any chance to learn more about his art.
ONCE IN A BLUE MOON
There were three glowing objects wafting across the skyline New Year's Eve. One was a relatively rare lunar event, a blue moon. The second, a Mobile's lighted MoonPie. But I was aboard the Wind Creek Casino blimp, as we towed 2010 into the port City!
I've tucked a lifetime of Hindenburg images ("Oh, the humanity!") into my unlit recesses. I have every confidence that Captain Carl Harbuck and his lightship will return me safely to the ground. If you ride out 2009 in a blimp, can there be any limits on 2010?
Tuesday I lunched on the dock at Daphne's Bayfront Park and watched the blimp maneuver over the city in a stiff north wind. When you think about it, a dirigible is nothing but a motorized windsock.
They say the control surfaces on the blimp are so huge the pilot has to almost stand on the petals to maneuver at times. I could picture Captain Carl trying to stomp the craft into submission. It answered a question for me. Apparently brisk breezes don't ground the WCB.
BANNER TOWING
I learned the folks at Gulf Coast Aerial Advertising drag banners across the sky throughout the year. Unfortunately, their two-seater Cessna recently underwent an enginectomy. My ride-along had to be postponed until the power plant is reinserted this spring.
I found this YouTube video of the GCAA pilots in action. Glad I'll be seated in the cockpit and not getting snatched into the air like the banner. With a climb out like that, my stomach will be trailing my backbone by about 20 feet!
So that's our status for now. Watch this space for the further adventures of 6 Hawks, and get out there in it!
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