Kyle,That was indeed a scary story and a wake up call for all.Glad that the
surgery went well and you are doing well.Best wishes and prayers for a speedy
recovery!
SunilProspect, Jeff Co
On Saturday, October 2, 2021, 08:04:18 PM EDT, Kyle Bixler
<dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
No Sabine’s Gull and a scary lesson for birding alone
Good Evening
*warning: this email has some gross, not-so-fun parts in it* So yesterday I
went to Lake Liberty in search of the Sabine’s Gull that has been seen there.
After an hour of searching, sitting, and watching — still no gull. So I saw
that the lake level was down, had heard from several people that the gull will
sit in a hidden cove, so I decided to walk along the exposed rock to see if I
could peek around into the coves. One cove was muddy with steep walls, and I
decided to climb up and walk over to the trail. The steep slope was muddy
*warning: scary gross part coming* so as I climbed up the slope I slipped,
caught myself, but slipped a second time, slamming my face into the ground. I
felt sharp pain and heard a snap. I got up and blood was gushing out of my nose
and covering my shirt, shorts, binocs, and camera. Honestly, I was absolutely
terrified as I realized I landed on a stick and it had driven into my nose.
After somehow by God’s grace, I made it back to my car, a stranger helped get
me to the hospital, a discovery that the stick snapped and 3 inches of it
pierced my septum and was lodged up into the sinus cavity, and a drive(by my
wife to UK Hospital), a successful surgery this morning, I am finally home
recuperating and realizing it could have been 100X worse.
I’m reminded to tell people where I’m going when I bird alone, don’t take
stupid chances, and remind myself not to listen to my 18-year-old risk-taking
brain…be wise. So, all turned out well. But if you bird alone, be careful. And
yes, I saw some decent birds anyway, my camera and binocs are fine somehow, and
I can’t wait to get better and get back out.
Kyle Bixler
Wilmore, Ky
Sent from my iPhone
