Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Headed over to the bike path in Niskayuna for a short ride before going over to the school to work with my student Bob, to help him get ready for his 3rd degree black belt test at the end of September. Before heading out for my ride, I popped down to the river's edge to take a couple of pictures and was very surprised to see a green heron on the shore. Even more surprising - he didn't fly away as I carefully approached to take some pictures. As I crept up on him, it became clear he was concentrating on hunting, and a few minutes after I first spotted him he snatched a fish out of the shallows. After that he seemed to become a bit more aware of my proximity (I'd moved to within about 10 feet of him) and a short time later he flew away.
(Below is what he would have looked like if I'd had a decent camera...)
photo courtesy of NASA/Kennedy Media Gallery
After that, the ride was fairly uneventful. The new chain is working well, and I seem to have the derailleur adjusted correctly - very nice! Not too many folks on the path, probably because it was getting a bit later. I was a bit bummed to start noticing that the days are getting shorter - one of the things I really enjoy about summer is being able to run and ride well into the evening without a light. Still, I suppose I have a few more weeks before I need to start breaking out my headlamp again...
JMH
