Some bunnies just can't hold their scotch.

So Non Birding Bill and I are in Madison, WI killing two birds with one stone. I'm getting some last minute training for the Rio Grande Valley Fest at Eagle Optics and he's here for World Fantasy Con. We have access to the Governor's Club at the Concourse Hotel in the evening which has a very well known bartender named Brian who is a favorite among the ladies for his chocolate martinis. I like him because he's a birder. Non Birding Bill looks at me like I'm nuts but I can find a birder everywhere I go, even if that person doesn't know yet that they are a birder, I can still tell. Hm. I wonder if that would be called "bird-dar"?

Brian had been to the website and asked just how big Cinnamon was. I told him that she was in our room and I could bring her down and he could meet her in person. So, on went the leash and Cinnamon bellied up to the bar. I was worried that sneaking a rabbit into the hotel might get is in a little trouble, but when the concierge came by and asked for a photo I knew we were okay. Brian has been in Arizona several times and told me about the all the great birds he sees out there, it's always great to meet a kindred spirit.

Speaking of kindred spirits, I met Peter Straub and got him to prank call my mother. I think she's still not convinced it was really Peter or just Non Birding Bill pretending to be Peter. At any rate, we got her an autographed copy of Ghost Story so in the end she will be happy.

This morning at breakfast we ran into Adam Stemple of the Tim Malloys and he was with his mother Jane Yolen who is married to ornithologist David Stemple who sounds like my kind of guy--he has dedicated his life to the recording of Ring Ouzels! Now that's what I call niche birding. NBB again saw the magic of running into birders anywhere but also bonded with Jane over being a non birding spouse.