the Way of the Turtle

A Beautiful Sunny Afternoon
2.1 Mile Walk on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, February 27, 2011

After a grey snowy morning we were treated to a bright sunny afternoon... much too nice to just head indoors, but I was too fried from skiing and snowshoeing to do very much, so instead I headed over to the bike path for a short walk.

The work dismantling the old Niska Isle bridge is proceeding, they've got about a third of it down so far. There were half a dozen pigeons sleeping in the sunshine up on the power line, so apparently they're finding someplace new to roost (or else they're in for a rude awakening once the rest of the bridge is removed.)

On the way out and back I spotted a downy woodpecker, a white-breasted nuthatch, a mourning dove... and several red-winged blackbirds! I haven't seen the latter since last fall, so it was a pleasant surprise to hear them calling "conk-a-ree" to each other - a definite sign that spring is on its way. I'll miss snowshoeing and skiing - but I am eager to get back to running trails and riding my bike and I'm especially looking forward to having more daylight after I wrap things up at work.

JMH