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"/article/yucky-places-birders-and-birds/What%E2%80%99s%20the%20weirdest%20or%20most%20unappealing%20place%20you%E2%80%99ve%20ever%20gone%20birding?%20That%E2%80%99s%20a%20question%20we%20pondered%20recently%20as%20we%20perused%20flocks%20of%20house%20sparrows%20in%20a%20McDonald%E2%80%99s%20parking%20lot%20at%20a%20busy%20urban%20intersection%20in%20Westbrook%20recently.%20We%20were%20there%20because%20a%20rare%20lark%20sparrow,%20a%20grassland%20species%20that%20breeds%20only%20as%20close%20western%20Ohio,%20had%20taken%20up%20temporary%20residence%20in%20this%20unexpected%20location.%20We%20had%20hoped%20to%20see%20the%20bird%20and%20add%20it%20to%20the%20tally%20for%20our%20Maine%20Mindfulness%20Big%20Year%20(https://www.boothbayregister.com/article/mindfulness-birding-our-maine-big-year/114193)%20%20that%20we%20have%20written%20about%20a%20number%20of%20times%20over%20the%20past%20year.%20The%20bird%20had%20been%20there%20for%20a%20number%20of%20days%20already%20so%20the%20chances%20of%20it%20remaining%20were%20getting%20slimmer.%20But%20we%20found%20ourselves%20just%20a%20few%20minutes%20away%20while%20doing%20something%20else%20so%20we%20decided%20to%20bop%20over%20and%20give%20it%20a%20try.%20%20We%20won%E2%80%99t%20try%20to%20pass%20this%20place%20off%20as%20peaceful%20or%20serene%20in%20any%20way.%20On%20the%20other%20hand,%20it%20is%20rather%20interesting%20in%20its%20own%20way%20to%20study%20in%20more%20detail%20the%20goings%20on%20of%20house%20sparrows%20and%20pigeons%20and%20the%20spectrum%20of%20people%20who%20pass%20through%20a%20busy%20McDonald%E2%80%99s%20over%20the%20course%20of%20several%20hours.%20%20Needless%20to%20say,%20we%20failed%20in%20our%20quest%20to%20see%20the%20lark%20sparrow.%20%20The%20time%20there%20did%20make%20us%20reminiscence%20about%20other%20gnarly%20urban%20places%20where%20we%20have%20looked%20for%20good%20birds.%20Just%20about%20every%20birder%20eventually%20spends%20some%20significant%20time%20at%20those%20stinky%20places%20we%20used%20to%20call%20%E2%80%9Cdumps%E2%80%9D%20but%20that%20are%20now%20given%20the%20more%20sanitized%20name%20of%20%E2%80%9Clandfills.%E2%80%9D%20%20We%20have%20certainly%20passed%20many,%20many%20hours%20scanning%20through%20gulls%20at%20dumps%20in%20search%20of%20the%20more%20unusual%20species.%20One%20of%20the%20most%20memorable%20dump%20visits%20we%E2%80%99ve%20had%20was%20to%20the%20Brownsville,%20Texas,%20dump%20where%20we%20went%20to%20look%20for%20Mexican%20crows%20(unsuccessfully)%20but%20where%20we%20ran%20into%20some%20old%20birding%20friends%20we%20knew%20from%20New%20Jersey%20Audubon%E2%80%99s%20World%20Series%20of%20Birding.%20%20During%20the%20course%20of%20past%20times%20scouting%20or%20competing%20in%20that%20event,%20there%20were%20some%20truly%20scary%20urban%20birding%20experiences%20including%20a%202%20AM%20stop%20at%20a%20parking%20lot%20near%20a%20marsh%20in%20Kearny,%20New%20Jersey.%20Cars%20thumped%20loud%20rap%20music%20and%20large%20jet%20planes%20passed%20low%20overhead%20as%20they%20took%20off%20from%20nearby%20Newark%20Airport%20as%20we%20listened%20for%20the%20cackling%20of%20moorhens%20and%20tried%20to%20listen%20for%20rails%20in%20the%20Hackensack%20Meadowlands.%20Fortunately,%20the%20boot%20we%20saw%20sticking%20up%20from%20the%20marsh%20was%20not%20attached%20to%20a%20body.%20Even%20last%20year%20during%20our%20searches%20for%20the%20famous%20Great%20Black%20Hawk%20(https://www.boothbayregister.com/article/salute-our-great-black-hawk/113628)%20that%20used%20Deering%20Oaks%20Park%20in%20Portland%20as%20its%20home%20base,%20we%20sometimes%20found%20ourselves%20walking%20the%20gritty%20urban%20streets%20nearby.%20It%20was%20an%20adventure,%20but%20it%20wasn%E2%80%99t%20our%20preferred%20place%20to%20look%20for%20birds%20and%20absorb%20the%20sights%20and%20sounds%20of%20nature.%20Times%20like%20these,%20in%20such%20unexpected%20places,%20remind%20us%20as%20we%20carry%20on%20our%20Mindfulness%20Big%20Year,%20that%20birds%20themselves%20find%20themselves%20in%20places%20they%20might%20also%20not%20expect.%20Yet%20they%20are%20often%20resilient%20enough%20to%20thrive,%20or%20at%20least%20survive%20until%20they%20can%20move%20on.%20Just%20as%20we%20do.%20Jeffrey%20V.%20Wells,%20Ph.D.,%20is%20a%20Fellow%20of%20the%20Cornell%20Lab%20of%20Ornithology.%20Dr.%20Wells%20is%20one%20of%20the%20nation%27s%20leading%20bird%20experts%20and%20conservation%20biologists%20and%20is%20Vice%20President%20for%20Boreal%20Conservation%20for%20National%20Audubon.%20He%20is%20author%20of%20the%20%E2%80%9CBirder%E2%80%99s%20Conservation%20Handbook.%E2%80%9D%20His%20grandfather,%20the%20late%20John%20Chase,%20was%20a%20columnist%20for%20the%20Boothbay%20Register%20for%20many%20years.%20Allison%20Childs%20Wells,%20formerly%20of%20the%20Cornell%20Lab%20of%20Ornithology,%20is%20a%20senior%20director%20at%20the%20Natural%20Resources%20Council%20of%20Maine,%20a%20nonprofit%20membership%20organization%20working%20statewide%20to%20protect%20the%20nature%20of%20Maine.%20Both%20are%20widely%20published%20natural%20history%20writers%20and%20are%20the%20authors%20of%20the%20popular%20books,%20%E2%80%9CMaine%E2%80%99s%20Favorite%20Birds%E2%80%9D%20(Tilbury%20House)%20and%20%E2%80%9CBirds%20of%20Aruba,%20Bonaire,%20and%20Cura%C3%A7ao:%20A%20Site%20and%20Field%20Guide,%E2%80%9D%20(Cornell%20University%20Press)." 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