Shell-shocked, crushed, deflated, dumbfounded . . . yup, all of those would fit how I am feeling today after the game last night. It took three overtimes, but we fell just a little short. No BCS game for Rutgers. No Miami birding for me.

Instead, llast night’s devastating loss to West Virginia, 41-39 in triple overtime, will likely send us to the inaugural Texas Bowl in Houston. Yeah, Houston! Well, I have never been there, at least.

Ya know, if anyone had said we would have fallen a two-point conversion short of a BCS game at the beginning of the season, even a tried and true, scarlet-bleeding Rutgers fan like me wouldn’t have believed it. The stars were aligned – even the West Virginia stars – or lackthereof as superstar Pat White was not able to play!

But now, having been so close that I could almost taste oranges (we would have likely gone to the Orange Bowl in Miami with a win last night), we deal with the taste of defeat and the dreaded day-after what-ifs? What if we made the conversion to send it to a 4th overtime? But, what if Townsend didn’t drop that pass that would of put us up by a touchdown with 4 minutes left in regulation? What if we called a better play than the 3rd down pass that was broken up before the 51-yard field goal attempt by The Judge? (Run Leonard up the middle behind Corcoran to either get the first down, or shave a couple of yards off the field goal attempt). That horrible call was overshadowed only by the ridiculous two-point conversion play that ended the game? (Come on, no running back in the backfield; that situation was screaming draw play!). To take the what ifs a little further, what if the refs didn’t blow the play dead when Slaton fumbled – and Rutgers returned the fumble for a touchdown? Ugh, I hate what-ifs. But, that’s what a football fan does in the aftermath of a defeat like that.

But hey, we’re going to a bowl game for the third time in the school’s history, and for the first-time ever we’re going to a bowl two years in a row. Oh, wait, this is a BIRDING blog, isn’t it. Sorry.

But, my other real complaint about going to the Texas Bowl – which I, and a number of my friends will be doing at the end of the month – is the fact that I am unlikely to score a life bird! (See, I WAS able to bring this back to birding!) In fact, rarities aside, only one potential lifer, albeit a long-shot – Henslow’s Sparrow – for me occurs near Houston in winter. But, I should be able to get some quality time studying some birds that we don’t see much of here in Maine (more on that at a later date.) (A trip to Miami could have produced Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Red-whiskered Bulbul and other introduced junk, as well as a good chance at a few rarities, by the way).

Speaking of birds in Maine – and I guess since this is a blog about birding in Maine I should spend SOME time speaking about birds in Maine. So, here goes . . .

Today, Lysle, Luke, and I headed down to Scarborough Marsh. Based on the weather, we were hoping for something VERY good (and it would have helped make me feel better!). While Paul’s prediction about Cape May came true (10 Cave Swallows yesterday), my prediction that we would get something great up here has not YET come to fruition.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed a good day of birding on a beautiful, crisp morning. We spent half the day, visiting many Scarborough sites. One late Gray Catbird, one very late Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and a Yellow-rumped Warbler were seen – some of those late migrants, perhaps, that I thought may have been pushed south and to the coast by this recent cold front (or lingering in the mild weather of late). Sparrows were few and far between, but there was a smattering of Song and American Tree. 13 American Coots were in Grondin Pond, and 16 Ruddy Ducks were in Prout’s Pond, while a Northern Harrier and 5+ Lapland Longspurs were spotted from Eastern Rd. Not a bad list for December – but no “Mega.”

Unfortunately, the “one that got away, “ (no, I don’t mean the football game) was a call note that Luke and I had along the Cliff Walk at Prout’s Neck. We never saw the bird, but it did sound like a Palm Warbler. However, if it WASN’T a Palm – well, it would have been something to write (type?) about! Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

And speaking of tomorrow, if we do get a bit of snowfall in the next few days (and, if the storm wobbles just slightly more westward, we could get a decent snowfall), keep an eye out at feeders – late-lingering migrants, sparrows, and rarities may get pushed to the easy, energy-rich meals of feeding stations!