the Way of the Turtle

AND THE 1ST DAY OF SPRING BRINGS... BRR!! COLD!!!
12.8 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Friday, March 20, 2009

I thought I was overdressed when I stepped out the front door this afternoon - thermal top and tights - so I changed into lighter gear before heading over to the bike path for a short, easy ride. Fortunately I also had some colder weather gear in my bag, because it turned out to be darn chilly along the river, and it only got worse over the course of my ride, so much so that I eventually cut it a few miles short. It's ironic that the vernal equinox, the official "first day of spring", turned out to be the coldest day so far this week...

Other than being cold, the ride was unremarkable... exactly what I was looking for after the last few days. But in addition to the usual geese and mallards I had a number of surprises among the waterfowl out on the Mohawk... exactly how many surprises I didn't really know until I got home and checked out the photos I took. I saw over a dozen mergansers, near both the Niskayuna Lions Park and Lock 8. I also saw what I initially thought were more long-tailed ducks (like Ann and I saw Sunday evening) but they turned out to be bufflehead, which I've only seen once before. Out near the base of the old Nisky landfill I spotted what I first thought were mallards, then ring-necked ducks... turns out they were type of duck I've never seen before called greater scaups. As I was heading east from the park I spotted what I thought were either more mergansers - turns out they were ring-necked ducks. A definite wealth of waterfowl!

On my way back to the park, I heard an incredible racket that told me I was coming up on an evening flocking of birds like Ann and I saw out at Braddock Bay, and right at the edge of the farmer's fields the trees were filled with birds all chattering away. People were stopping to watch them and I naturally stopped to take some pictures. While we were there they flew to a couple of other trees. I've never been able to figure out what kind of birds they are, though this group seemed to have a few red-winged blackbirds and other birds mixed in with them. Whatever they are, they make a heck of a lot of noise (several hundred birds all talking at the same time will do that) and they're awfully impressive to watch.

Not as much to see on the ride east over to the Colonie water treatment plant... ordinarily I would have ridden to the top of the hill down to Island View Road, but it was getting too darn cold, so I turned around at the old sewage plant. When I finally got back to the park, I went down to the boat launch to get a few more shots of the mergansers, and found two muskrats in the stream that runs alongside the bank... spent a while watching them and got some excellent pictures. What can I say, despite its quirks I love the my new camera.

Today marks the first week of my spring break... one more week (plus a weekend) to go. Best of all, I've been outdoors for a significant amount of time every day of my break... and six of the last seven days I either ran or rode. Definitely a good way to spent my vacation!

JMH