[obol] Danger at a "hide"

[otis swisher]

Danger at a "hide".
I prefer the British "hide" to the hunter's term "blind".
Mostly, the hides at Cabin Lake Guard Station, north of Ft. Rock city, Lake 
Co. are dark inside.  But, the door jam at Guzzler #1 has settled so that a 
long thin Isosceles triangle forms, apex down and base about 6" opening at 
the header.

To look out through the small windows, benches permit sitting so one's face 
can be close to the opening.  12 to 15 inches is comfortable for me.

However, when the Cooper's Hawk came in, the 25 or so small birds scattered. 
  One bird, scattered through the window, close enough to provide "prop 
wash" to my  right temple.  Then, it passed on through the blind and out the 
crack in the door.

Whoa! is a good term to use at a time like that.

Two days later, no COHA but two birds at different times came past my head 
on the "scatter": the first's wing  tip touched my right temple, the second 
briefly grasped the hair atop my head.

If either bird had struck me full in the face...well,  I'm glad I have 
tempered lenses in my glasses.

Moral: be careful when using any "hide" to observe birds.

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