Jan 28 (Day 28) - Washington DC and an internet experiment

Today I biked 39 miles from the southern edge of Baltimore, Maryland to Alexandria, Virginia; This took me right through Washington DC where I actually took some time to do a bit of sightseeing (more on this below). The cold returned today after a warmer day yesterday, and the northwest wind did give me a bit of a push as I rolled south. I did tack on 2 more year birds today. Both Killdeer (#123) and Black-crowned night heron (#124) were observed adjacent to Ronald Reagan Airport. I also saw a very large (~150) raft of redheads along the Potomac. This is the largest group of these birds that I have ever seen. I occasionally see groups of 3-5 redheads in New England, but a group this large was a real treat. There were also a few Canvasbacks mixed in for good measure. Tomorrow I hope to locate Tundra Swan as I ride south to Fredericksburg, VA. I must get this bird in the next few days.

The ride

The most efficient building in the world!

Killdeer shot from my stock

Lastly, as I am biking through our nation's capitol, I suppose I could say a few words about how I think I could run this show better than many of the representatives that are working here now. I will, however, refrain from doing this. Instead, I have decided to conduct a small experiment to drum up some additional interest in Biking for Birds. I commented a few days ago that the internet does an amazing job of connecting seemingly distant people. This experiment will test the ability of the internet to do just this. I have no idea how this will go. The link to the experiment is here and is also pasted below. Please forward this to anyone who might find it amusing or who might be able to connect to me to President Obama. Post it on your Facebook page, whatever it takes! If nothing else, maybe someone in the Red Sox organization will see it and sort me out with 2 VIP tickets for next year!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JvNWuDGngE&feature=youtu.be