SO LONG WINTER...
Thursday, March 28, 2013

Sure, I know it was "officially" spring a week ago, but today I packed my snowshoes and skis into the closet until next winter...



I must admit I have mixed feelings about this... I'm certainly looking forward to warmer weather and everything turning green again, but sometimes it seems like winter flies by way too quickly...

JMH

TURTLES & FROGS
0.5 Mile Walk at Greece Canal Park
Saturday, March 17, 2012

Ann and I grabbed some sandwiches and salad and headed toward the lake to enjoy a gorgeous day. Our first stop was the Greece Canal Park, where four years ago we saw dozen of woodpeckers at the end of March... no such luck this time around, though we did see quite a few fish, a lot of frogs, and several turtles enjoying the warm sunshine. The peepers and wood frogs were also singing up a storm - quite the show for the middle of March!

JMH

1 Mile Walk at Onondaga Lake Park & Long Branch Park
Sunday, May 1, 2011

By the time I reached Syracuse the sky had cleared and it was a gorgeous sunny day. Drove by Onondaga Lake Park and saw that the lake was the highest I've ever seen it, flooding much of the park visible from the Thruway. So of course I had to stop and take some pictures...

The flooding has definitely made a real mess, with all the flotsam and jetsam that usuually ends up along the shoreline off in the grass. It will definitely take a lot of work the clean up, once the waters recede. The ducks and geese, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind the situation at all.

JMH

3.9 Mile Walk at Five Rivers EEC
Saturday, April 23, 2011

Rained pretty steadily until well after lunch so I decided to postpone my long run until tomorrow... trudging up and down the southern Taconics in the rain just didn't have any appeal. But getting outside once the rain stopped certainly did. I considered going for a short run, but my guts were grumbling a bit so I ended up heading over to Five Rivers for a walk instead.

More signs of spring today... leaf buds popping out all over the place. I have to admit it will be nice when all the brown and grey is replaced by greenery, even if it will be much harder to see through the foliage once that happens.

Birds everywhere, especially very cranky geese. Didn't get chased by any (actually, the one spot with signs up warning about an aggressive gander seemed to be goose-free - and I found eggshells nearby, so I wonder if something managed to raid the nest and that pair left?) Lots of honking and goose-fighting down on the Beaver Pond, where I counted at least three nesting (and a fourth across the road on the Heron Pond.)

All the activity seemed be taking its toll... toward the end of the walk I came across a pair of geese at the edge of one of the ponds, and after acting a bit wary of me they proceeded to settle in and go to sleep, with me standing just a few feet away taking pictures. Guess that beats being chased like last weekend!

JMH

HIGH FLYING WOODCOCKS
1.2 Mile Woodcock Watching Walk in the Pine Bush
Friday, April 8, 2011

I've noticed woodcocks calling at dusk in the spring and summer for a while now and have even seen a few... but I've never seen the male doing his courtship display, which is what the nasally "peent... peent... peent" is part of. So when I saw that the Pine Bush Discovery Center was offering a woodcock-watching program it was a no-brainer to head over there and see the show.

The program started out with a short presentation about woodcocks, where I confirmed a lot I already knew and learned a few new facts (the females nest out in the open relying on excellent camouflage for protection, eggs hatch in about three weeks, and the chicks fledge a little over a week after hatching.) Then we headed outdoors for a short walk through the Pine Bush. Initially the guides concentrated on giving us info about other aspects of the Pine Bush, and we even got to see a motion-triggered camera that's set up along one of the trails for a research project. We listened but didn't hear any woodcocks because it just wasn't dark enough - though there were a lot of robins calling and we could hear the peepers off in the distance.

On the way back we had a lot more success, hearing and then watching a woodcock take off up into the sky until I lost sight of him (some of the others said they could see him as he circled far above us, then dropped almost straight down to start all over again.) A little further along we had one doing his thing only a little ways off the trail; unfortunately at that point it had gotten dark enough that all we could do was listen.

I didn't manage to get any video - the little guys move incredibly fast for such chunky, awkward-looking birds - but I did find the following video on Youtube which shows what we saw and heard:



Definitely a worthwhile trip to the Pine Bush tonight - now that I know what to look for I'll have to try spotting them on my own sometime.

JMH

1.8 Mile Walk in the Pine Bush
Friday, April 8, 2011

Once again my plans to go for a run were stymied by lack of time and the inconvenience of having to go from running gear to the woodcock watch at the Pine Bush Discovery Center. So instead I stopped at the Blueberry Hills section and walked from the Columbia Circle trailhead over Blueberry Hill West and back. A nice walk on a pleasant evening, nothing too spectacular - I had hoped maybe the toads would be out breeding but either the timing isn't right or it just isn't wet enough right now.

JMH

BIRDS!
6.1 Mile Run on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Wednesday, March 16, 2011

A rainy morning followed by a warm sunny afternoon... too bad that the sunshine was mostly gone by the time I got done teaching this week's karate lesson, but I still headed over to the bike path for a short run... in shorts! Wahoo!

Enough of the snow and ice was gone on the path heading east that I started out with about a mile out and back in that direction, then took the Gerbil Wheel west to Lock 7 and back. I was surprised to find that my legs didn't feel too bad... I was expecting a lot of grumbling after yesterday's long haul on snowshoes up at Thacher Park.

Along the way I saw birds, birds, and more birds, and I heard a few I didn't see. It's a great time of year for waterfowl - I spotted common mergansers, northern shovelers, wood ducks, mallards, black ducks, green-winged teals, and of course Canada geese. Also a number of cardinals and smaller birds, and the blackbirds were calling constantly. At various times I also heard a kingfisher, a killdeer, and a woodcock calling. Spring is definitely on the way!

JMH

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

A Short Walk on a Warm Windy Evening
Friday, February 18, 2011

I had planned to go for a run tonight, but the combination of a couple of chores that needed doing and being a bit beat from the past week made that a difficult proposition. So I settled for a short walk to the store and back, to pick up some supplies for the post-race feeds tomorrow and possibly Sunday.

It was definitely an atypical February evening - warm and windy, with a bright moon up in the sky. I've been enjoying snowshoeing and I'm looking forward to another month of that (at least, if the snow holds up) - but tonight I felt a definite stirring in my blood for trail runs on warm spring days and evenings. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming running season!

JMH

BRRR... WHAT HAPPENED TO SPRING? Part 2
SNOW?!!!
Sunday, May 9, 2010

Yup, snow. A bit was sticking on the grass and leaves and cars when I first woke up, though by the time I actually got up for the morning that was gone and the snow that was falling was melting as soon as it hit the ground.

Incongruous sight of the morning - a robin gathering batches of dried grass as the snow fell around him.

It turned out to be a really good morning for the backyard birds... in addition to all the usual suspects (robins, sparrows, doves, cardinals, and grackles) we spotted both a male and female rose-breasted grosbeak (Ann saw the male a day or two ago when she was adding seed to the feeders) and a northern flicker spent a while catching bugs and grubs in the grass. The goldfinches also seem quite happy that their thistle sock is back...

JMH

RUNRIG - MAYMORNING
Saturday, May 1, 2010

Somehow this song just always comes to mind on a sunny May morning... even if today feels more like June or July than May!



-JMH

GOODBYE SNOWSHOE SEASON... HELLO MUD & WATER SEASON!
8 Mile Run at Black Creek Park
Monday, March 15, 2010

While it's not out of the question that I may get in a few more miles of snowshoeing over the next couple of weeks, snowshoe season is basically done... and all that melting snow, combined with the rain we've had recently means - lots of mud and standing water out on the trails!

I headed over to Black Creek Park expecting the trails to be pretty wet, and I wasn't disappointed. Mud, soggy ground, ankle deep water, knee deep water... there were a few spots that had firm footing but they were definitely in the minority.

I actually had a lot of fun running through the mud and water... the really wet sections were far enough apart that my feet generally warmed up in between, and the slippery footing slowed me down even more than usual, which meant I didn't finish 8 miles feeling whupped. Only passed a couple of folks out walking dogs (no surprise, given that it was in the afternoon on a work day) though I did see lots of evidence of folks who didn't clean up after Fido did his business... sometimes I think parks should require people to put diapers on their dogs when they walk them, though that's unfair to the dogs... after all, it's the rude dog owner who's at fault. OK, I'll climb down off my soapbox now...

Lots of birds out and about... tons of chickadees, Ann and I will have to try feeding them by hand sometime and see if they're as accomodating as the ones at Mendon Ponds. Saw a few geese in the swamp, and a heron flew off when I checked out the heron rookery. I also saw a decent sized grey raptor fly up from the ground near the end of the run... didn't get a clear enough view to see if it was a hawk or an owl, unfortunately. I even startled three deer in the woods overlooking the pond at the far end of the park.

The big surprise of the run was how much Black Creek has overflowed its banks... the creekside picnic area was flooded, which is where I ended up walking through knee-deep water (well away from the creek) to keep moving forward, rather than backtrack and take a different trail back to the car. All part of the adventure...

JMH

18.1 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path & through Colonie Mohawk River Park
Friday, March 12, 2010

With rain in the forecast for the next few days I decided today was a good day for riding rather than running... I'd much rather run in the rain than ride in it, and I really need to put some time in on the bike before the Flower City Challenge at the end of April; it's bad enough that I'll probably be jumping in the kayak without any time to train beforehand. So this afternoon I took the bike over to the bike path for some relatively easy riding with a few short hills thrown in. Started out heading east from the Nisky Lions Park over to Colonie Mohawk River Park; other than one short stretch the path was clear of snow and ice. The park was pretty much deserted, even though there were several cars parked at the locked gate... maybe folks were walking their dogs on the trails. Spent a little while enjoying the river and just listening, then headed back to the car to add an extra layer (it was getting chilly) and head west to Lock 7. I expected to have to turn around there, since the ice usually lingers for a while on the shaded path between Lock 7 and the base of the old landfill, and I was right.

Today was a day when a lot of things didn't go smoothly - I had a flat when I went to take the bike to the car, then I left my seat bag open and had to stop to pick up my tire levers that fell out, and I forgot to put fresh batteries in the camera, so I had to be somewhat judicious in my picture-taking. But in the end all of those were pretty minor challenges, and the pluses of the ride definitely outweighed them.

The biggest plus - critters galore! Canada geese and muskrats at the Nisky boat launch. Red winged blackbirds and robins all along the route. A large group of common mergansers out on the river near the trailhead just east of the Nisky Lions Park, and a few gulls over at Colonie Park. Heading west there were geese and ducks along the way, and - very cool - a trio of hooded mergansers in the beaver pond just west of the Ferry Road bridge. When I got back to the Nisky Lions Park there was a beaver swimming in the river as well... all in all, quite the day for wildlife. As much as I love winter, I'm definitely enjoying the approach of spring and the birds and animals that are returning with it.

JMH

Spring Has Sprung
Thursday, April 17, 2008

No, not because of the weather, though that's been awfully nice this week (shame I slept through it yesterday evening... aargh.)

This morning I saw visible evidence that the birds are building nests and preparing to raise the next generation of feathered friends... as I was going to my car I saw a starling gathering up nesting materials and flying them up to the eaves of a house across the street. She was quite brave about it too - I wish I'd had my camera because I probably could have gotten a good picture.

The spring weather does make it dififcult at times to be indoors but I'm still glad it's here. Now I just need to get my backside outside for more running!

JMH