Today was my birthday, and so we made it a day with a trip to Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin. The most vivid memory is going to be all the dead snapping turtles on Rt. 49, the road that runs right through the marsh. Fresh kills, too, in pools of blood. Most of the carcases were on the side of the road, which means the killers are probably birders who aren’t paying attention. It’s a gravel road, so they probably don’t even notice the sickening crunch. Though Pole was kind of freaked out, these senseless deaths bug me in particular because I have a special affinity for turtles. (You see, I keep my innermost self hidden deep inside an emotional shell. Oh, and I have a scaly, reptilian tail.)

Four new birds for Little Year, all of which we saw along the side of the turtle-strewn Rt. 49: a SORA, a SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, a PECTORAL SANDPIPER, and a single female YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. The best sight for me, though, was a Ruddy Duck, which I missed back in March. So now I’m only 11 birds behind Pole. Still sucks.