[Bristol-Birds] Fw: BBC Historical Snippet - Feb 28-29, 1992
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2008 12:27:31 -0500
BBC Snippet
Feb 28-29, 1992 the Bristol Bird Club had 40 members travel to
the Sandhill Crane Weekend for an overnight weekend field trip to the
Hiawassee Wildlife Refuge near Cleveland, TN.
Our travel party occupied every room on the second floor of a Cleveland motel.
A written survey of attendees had each person to itemize their expenses. The
results showed we spent $3,040 for an average of $76 per person.
In addition, we had arranged a behind the scene tour of the Tennessee Aquarium
in Chattanooga. Aquarium aviculturist Kevin Calhoon met BBC members at a side
door and took us through a private entrance into the administrative areas,
refrigeration storage rooms, preparation labs and the top floor aviary
overlooking
the downtown area. After an hour of walking through and learning about how the
aquarium is managed, members entered the public exhibit area at the top level
and walked down the many long ramps to see the displays and fish as the
public normally sees them.
Thousands of Sandhill Cranes thrilled birders and the public came in droves to
the Hiawassee WMA. We birded all day and everyone had a wonderful time. We
birded at several other good spots in the area. Birds were everywhere and the
waterfowl abundant.
The weekend was not without its challenging and sometimes humorous moments.
On the trip down, Wallace Coffey experienced a tire blowout on his car not far
from the Jefferson City exit. The car had a new set of tires with less than 150
miles on the blown out tire. It took almost three hours searching to find a
size
replacement. Finally, not far from Pigeon Forge, a tire store had what was
needed.
The tire was taken back to the car stranded on the interstate. Other birders
left
behind to wait had started making a list of birds at that mile point on I-40.
Bert Hale drove is new car. He was talking with a group of birders in his room
when
one noticed a key chain with a new-fangled button pushing job that unlocks a
car
by remote. In the wee hours of the morning, police came to Bert Hale's
room and knocked on the door. They had found his car unlocked in the parking
lot
with the trunk lid open. They wanted him to come and check on his camera,
binoculars, spotting scope and such to make sure nothing was missing. Who
pushed the button on the new gadget earlier that evening ?
Marge Olsen, long time president of the BBC, insisted that everyone walk a
couple of blocks to eat at one of her favorite restaurants. We would love it.
The food was delightful. The atmosphere lovely. We would be pleasantly
surprised. Forty BBC birders managed to run ahead of the traffic across the
four lane highway and walk to the restaurant. As the party turned the corner
of the building, there were weeds growing six feet high in front of the entrance
door. The place must have been closed for decades :-)
From the archives of the Bristol Bird Club
Other related posts:
- » [Bristol-Birds] Fw: BBC Historical Snippet - Feb 28-29, 1992
