At 8: 47AM this morning I was scheduled to depart Portland International Airport aboard a Continental jet bound for a connection in Houston and then onward to Corpus Christi, Texas. Hurricane Ike changed that. The event to which I was travelling, the 2008 Hummer/Bird Celebration in Rockport, Texas, has been cancelled by its organizers and as I have no other pressing reason to fly into what is shaping up to be a category three hurricane, I am staying put here in Oregon.
Some die-hards (a somewhat ironic phrase given the situation) might suggest that the birding following the landfall of a hurricane will be awesome and that in itself is reason enough to go. While it is true that the “fall-out” of birds battered by the storm will likely make species visible in the landfall area that otherwise would not be, I have already done that once before during and after hurricane Isadore in New Orleans, Louisiana. Quite frankly, I am not eager to repeat it regardless of how many birds I might see. Even more important than that, however, is the fact that I have three people here in Scappoose that would be worried sick the entire time I was away – an emotional state I have no intention of causing them if I have any choice in the matter.
So while I will not be travelling to the gulf coast of Texas this week, I have friends who live there who will be subjected to all the fury that Ike brings ashore, if indeed it does make landfall in that region. For all those I know wherever Ike finally lands, as well as all those I don’t and all those in areas already struck by the storm, I ask that the readers of Born Again Bird Watcher join me, by the manner of the faith tradition of their choice, in offering a prayer for their safety and making a contribution to their own favorite relief agency.
Peace and good bird watching.
