Beer Drinking Birders

Yesterday was an unusual day for me because I drove to a brewery in Stillwater and drank beer.  As part of the appreciation dinner for us crazy birders, the Audubon Society put on an appreciation potluck and we got one free beer.  So I took my token and went up to the bar and was asked what I liked. I asked, "What is the best kind of beer for people who don't like beer?"  I was given a sample. The woman next to me said I should try some kind of beer with the word tropic in the name.  I didn't like the sample so I asked for the tropic beer.  Yeah, I didn't like that either but I could taste a little bit of grapefruit juice behind that nasty beer taste. I drank about 20% of the glass during the evening where we heard about our efforts.  We all got an Audubon calendar and a thank you card.  One woman got a special prize because, twice in her marsh bird surveys, she was stopped by the sheriff and questioned about her suspicious activity.  She can laugh about it now.  There was a trio of older men on one survey and I had met them earlier in May at the training.  They were stopped by an angry and aggressive property owner who spat tobacco at their feet and said he would follow them as they got off of his road.  I always thought public roads were not personal property but I guess not everyone agrees with that.  With good company, good food, and some nasty beer, we all had a great evening together talking about exciting bird sightings and places to go to see wonderful birds.  I was a little nervous all the way home.  I have never driven with beer breath before.