3.3 Mile Run in the Albany Pine Bush
Monday, July 30, 2012
After running a couple of errands, I stopped off at the Pine Bush Discovery Center for a short 6-7 mile run on the Karner Barrens trails. Unfortunately, I was most of the way around the main loop when my right knee started complaining more than usual, probably because I tweaked it at the end of last week (doing laundry, of all things..) - combined with the clouds of bugs that surrounded my head every time I slowed to a walk or stopped, that was enough to convince me to cut the run short.
Before I headed back to the parking lot, I went a short way down the connector between the East and West barrens to see if I could spot and photograph some towhees I heard calling... while I was doing so, a smaller bird flew up and proceeded to scold me for a while. The real surprise was - he was bright blue! Comparing the photos to my books, I'm pretty sure he was an indigo bunting. I've only seen an indigo bunting one other time (last summer, in the Blueberry Hills section of the Pine Bush) though Ann may have spotted one last week when we were out riding.
A 3.3 mile run is barely a warm-up... still, I suppose a short run is better than none at all.
JMH
