the Way of the Turtle

A COLD GREY WINDY AFTERNOON
1.4 Mile Walk at Turning Point Park on the Genesee Riverway Trail
0.6 Mile Walk at Ontario Beach Park
0.3 Mile Walk at Braddock Bay Park
Sunday, March 14, 2010

Hello Daylight Savings Time! Hurray! Combined with the roughly 3 minutes of daylight we're currently gaining each day, that means my options for running and riding after work just went way up.

The predicted rain held off today, though it was grey, grey, grey... and very windy, which combined with the damp air made it much colder than either of us expected it to be. But despite that we still headed out for some walking, up near the shoreline of Lake Ontario.

Turning Point Park

Our first stop was at Turning Point Park, which was surprisingly quiet, probably because the gates were locked. We walked down to the Genesee Riverway Trail on the boardwalk across Turning Point Basin and about 2/3 of the way to the far side before we decided it was just too darn chilly to keep walking there. Along the way we spotted a group of mergansers, some gulls snoozing out on a mudbar, and a few geese and ducks. Red-winged blackbirds also hollered at us from perches near the start of the boardwalk, and at one point a red-tailed hawk took off and spent a while circling higher and higher into the sky before catching an air current he apparently liked and zooming away.

Ontario Beach Park

No great surprise, the beach was even colder, with the wind blasting in off the lake. The waves were incredible... even if we had wanted to brave the wind and walk all the way out to the end of the pier, we most likely wouldn't have because waves were breaking over the sides. I fed the gulls for a few minutes, then Ann fed the ducks, but we spent most of the time there watching a couple of fellows who were parachute-surfing - essentially their feet were strapped to what looked like an oversized snowboard and they were harnessed to parachutes that pulled them through the crashing waves. I would guess they had some pretty impressive cold gear on, because the water had to be absolutely frigid. It was neat to watch but I don't think I'd want to give it a try - I doubt my knees could take the stress. While we sitting in the car getting ready to leave, a killdeer came darting across the grass in front of us and plunked down near the parking area. It's amazing how well camouflaged they are... I kept losing sight of him and having to zoom out then back in, even though he wasn't moving.

Braddock Bay Park

We actually started out for the Braddock Bay Raptor Research trails but stopped first at Braddock Bay Park to take a look out over the wetlands, and it was sufficiently cold that we decided to call it a day. We spotted a couple of swans braving the cold and the wind but that was about it, and the ground was sufficiently saturated with water that the walk out to the observation deck was a bit wet. Hopefully the weather will be much better for Birds of Prey days at the end of April. Ann said it was pretty incredible last year, with dozens of hawks streaming across the sky, and this year I'll actually be in Rochester that weekend for the Flower City Challenge both mornings.

JMH