Critically Endangered
Around the World in 80 Days - Day 12
Phileas Fogg is back on the water after taking on coal, but still along the coast of Yemen. Some of these birds, at least at one time, would spend time in Yemen. Their breeding ground was in Russia though the last nesting site found was in 1924. The rest of their time was spent in various countries, Yemen being one of them. They were classified as critically endangered in 1994, and now there are thought to be fewer than 50 left. There were some small groups seen in the early 2000's, and some ornithologists saw a single bird back in 2006, in Albania, but just the one. They were likely overhunted in their winter habitats on the Mediterranean. They eat small invertebrates, mostly that they pull from the mud with their long beaks. They won't turn down things from out of the water or wandering around on top of the mud either though.
Today was a great day. My best friend and I decided late last night that she would show up to one of the stores I had to go to when shopping for the in-laws and my parents. She had to go shopping too, so she and I would be able to wander the store together. We have to keep our distance still, but we can talk to each other. I haven't been able to hang out with her forever it seems. Like my husband and especially my youngest son, she is an introvert. I'm very much not, so not being able to spend time with people I love has been getting more and more difficult for me. I've found I have been getting slower and slower when I'm shopping, and I even sit in my car for a while before going into the store to work myself up to it. She was only going to go to one of the stores (I usually do 2, sometimes as many as 5 in order to get everything that people need...today it took 4), but that had me so excited I woke up at 3:00 this morning ready to go. I finally got myself back to sleep at about 5:00am, and then the dog woke me up again about half an hour later. When I eventually got out of the house, I went to the first store. Most of the workers recognize me because I'm there every single week (not many women with bright pink hair shop there I would bet). One of the guys asked how I was doing, and I couldn't help it, I almost squealed as I told him I was great and I would get to see my best friend later in the day. I shopped faster than I have in months. It was just so encouraging to have someone I could chat with and pretend life was back to normal for a short while, even if normal did require a mask and hand sanitizer.