It all started, strangely enough, at the 2003 Austin Christmas Bird Count. We met with the other people surveying Hornsby Bend late morning before setting out for the afternoon. In a tribute to either Linda's timeless appearance or his superb memory for faces, Bobby Hughes walked over to us and said, "Are you Linda Moorman." Linda replied, "I used to be." We then went through the standard five minutes of remincences and questions. The upshot of all this is that Bobby joined us after the lunch break and we showed him a possible lifer bird, a Least Grebe. We also checked out the greenhouse at Hornsby Bend and took one of Jim's best spider photos.
Bobby urged us to attend the annual Baker Weekend. We have been invited to this event annually for many years, but have never gone because the weekend had been presented as a golfing outing. Suddnely, it acquired a new aspect, and we agreed that we would not only attend, but recruit another birder to make up a full party. (We had Tish Clark in mind, and did mange to get her to join us.)
Before the event, Linda went to New York for one last chance at Broadway plays before Claire left. She and Claire had dinner with Bobby as well as Bob Easton and his wife, Joan at some trendy Italian restaurant. That cemented the deal.
So, we all flew to Saratoga, FL, for a long weekend of birding, feasting, and checking out the sites of Florida's West Coast. It proved to be a nice event, which we will probably add to our calendar for future years. We all managed a lifer bird, Florida Scrub Jay (a recent split from othe Scrub Jays). We were warned not to feed the Scrub Jays, which appeared as soon as we parked the car at the trail head. We should have been warned to guard our snacks. One of the jays literally took Tish's sandwich from her hand!
We also got terrific views of Black-throated Blue Warblers, a common East Coast migrant that seldom strays to Texas. Jim had seen one years ago in Massachusetts, but it was new for Linda. Later, we picked up a Limpkin to add to Bobby's life list.
We took a break from birding on Saturday and met for lunch at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. This is the site of the largest Bodhi tree in the US. This is the tree that is associated with Buddha. The tree blew over in a hurricane and had to be replanted, an operation described in great detail on a plaque nearby. After lunch, we strolled around the gardens briefly, but decided to spend more time in the air-conditioned greenhouse admiring the orchids and other exotic plants.
Here are some photos from the weekend.
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