We’ve got the 12 bar blues 🎼🎼

That’s a reference to an old NRBQ song and today we were out on the hunt and stake out for the 12 wired bird of paradise and did not get lucky. It was the usual MO - leave hotel at 5 am, drive to forest, hike into the hide in the dark (and today I even wore my headlamp) which allowed me to see (and ignore!) the millipedes along the trail.

So we hung around from about 6 am to 8 am and the bird was a no show. Hiked out and still did not see it but for one quick flight across the road over our heads.

It’s okay if we miss some - and if we had to miss any one in particular I’m glad it was this one since the photos we have seen don’t make it look quite as spectacular as some of the others.

We got back to the hotel in time to enjoy the breakfast buffet and we will head out again at 2pm to see where our guide takes us to lunch and then afternoon birding at a new spot and not in a hide.

And if lunch doesn’t turn out well, I can always order this tasty cracker salad the hotel has to offer 😂🤷‍♀️ I’m sure there is a logical translation that does not involve actual crackers since my crackers are not usually tender, juicy, and this flavorful.

From the stake out in the hide: I think I’m starting to look a little exhausted but I’m still feeling good. And Mike looks chipper as always. Oh, funny thing hiking in- he was in front of me on the trail and a vine got stuck around his ankle so he was dragging it along for a while and it looked like the tail of the lesser bird of paradise so I was feeling particularly interested in my male 🥰. And then I reached down and pulled it off without tripping him up.