On December 14 I left Ohio to drive to Arizona to see some of the rarities being seen there. I arrived in Douglas on December 17 and called Arnie Morehouse in whose yard an Elegant Quail had been hanging out with several Gambel's Quail. He kindly invited me over to his house and, shortly after my arrival at 1:00 pm, the bird was kind enough to put in an appearance. About twenty minutes later, a Sharp-shinned Hawk zoomed through his yard and flushed all the birds away. After waiting about ten minutes the Gambel's began returning to the yard, but the Elegant Quail was not among them. I don't know if the hawk got the Elegant Quail or not, but neither the hawk nor the quail returned while I was there. I have not had the opportunity to call Arnie to see if the Elegant Quail has returned. Those of you interested in chasing this bird should contact Arnie at 520-364-3178 before making the effort.

I drove from Douglas to Hereford to visit Walter and May Kolbe at their San Pedro River Inn. As good luck would have it, they had a vacant

cabin for the night, so I was able to get a good night's rest before beginning the search for the Rufous-backed Robin and Rufous-capped Warbler that had been seen for a few weeks at their place. By the way, Walter and May are wonderful people and the Inn is as nice a place to stay as one could want. There are few other accommodations in the area which makes it all the more desirable. For rates and further information call them at 520-366-5532. You also need to call before paying a birding visit to get parking directions and permission to enter their property.

I was up at day-break on the eighteenth and out in the yard as the Robin started his morning off in the yard right in front of the main house. After half an hour enjoying the Robin and a delicious cup of coffee, I set off down the 1/4 mile trail to the river to look for the Warbler. The sparrows (including a rare there Field Sparrow) in the fields along the trail delayed my progress considerably, but I reached the river before 8:30. I searched up and down the river in the areas where the Warbler had

been seen previously without success. I ran into Jim Abernathy from Los Angeles and together we searched for the Warbler. A Sharp-shinned Hawk showed up and took a Yellow-rumped Warbler right under our noses and we felt a bit discouraged but decided to continue looking. Jim took the high trail along the river bank while I walked the horse trail. I spotted the warbler about a foot off the ground 25 feet ahead of me and called Jim. He came a-runnin' but the bird flew off before he got there. We looked for another quarter hour without success and I had to get packed and checked out of the cabin so I left him to continue without me.

As I was leaving the San Pedro Inn, Jim came back up the trail and we were both delighted that he had finally re-found the Warbler! We caravanned to Patagonia to look for the Ruddy Ground-dove that had been reported in a yard there, but found nothing interesting. We parted company and I headed for Bosque del Apache NWR on the way home, stopping for the night in Truth or Consequences, NM.

This was my first visit to Bosque del Apache - what a place. It's right up there with Malheur, Aransas, Ding Darling and the other superlative birding spots. My purpose was to see Whooping Cranes again - I had only seen one once before. Driving the loop was an exciting birding experience culminating in seeing two Whoopers at fairly close range near the last overlook on the loop. By the way, there are, I learned later, only the two adult Whooping Cranes at Bosque del Apache this winter so far and little hope of more arriving. I fear that the experiment to re-introduce them to Grey's Lake and Bosque del Apache is failing.

The trip home was supposed to be uneventful but a freezing rain developed in Texas as I spent the night in Amarillo and followed me all the way into Missouri. I spent the next night near Joplin but the bad weather stayed right with me. I had not been making good progress because of my great caution on the slippery roads, using the 4WD, and going very slowly.

Even so, my luck ran out on I-44 as I crossed the Gasconade River bridge. Either the bridge flexed at just the wrong moment or a gust of wind came down the valley or both occurred simultaneously and the Jeep went spinning. It came to rest abruptly enough to deploy the airbags, blocking the right hand lane. It could have been worse. Although the Jeep's front suspension will need major repairs, I was unhurt and spent the rest of the morning waiting for the highway patrol to take the accident report, arranging repairs, calling the insurance company, etc.

There being no public transportation from Waynesville, I finally found a rental car at Fort Leonard Wood to drive to Lambert Field in St. Louis. Of course, this time of year and in such bad weather, getting a seat on an airplane was difficult, but TWA got me on a flight the following morning and I am home safe and sound.

This trip has brought me to 700 life ABA birds (the only two I had never seen before were the warbler and robin), 701 if the powers that be decide that the Elegant Quail is countable. Even so, the added expense of the Jeep repairs and the flight home make them two of the most expensive life birds on my list.

Also this trip did nothing to help me out with the Code 2 and 3 birds I have yet to see, but another trip to Alaska and California should pretty well see that goal achieved too.