As previously mentioned in the last post about nothing, I took the weekend off from lumbering, enjoyed the spring weather, watched football, and hung out with Wifey. B was also home for Mother’s Day, so that was a bonus. It was all pretty swell. Well, other than the Spurs losing yet again in league play. I hate them.
With all that out of the way, I was eager to get back in the woods to burn off the weekend’s bad choices.
One of the bad choices I made was eating too many refried beans on Sunday. That put me behind schedule on Monday, due to the fiber content. For once, I’ll spare you the details, but I will say, the septic tank was working O.T.!
I try to get to the trails before too many other users arrive so that there’s less chance of the critters being spooked and the possibility of human interaction. However, today I arrived just as the Two Aging Hippies were pulling in, and right behind me was the Guy My Imagination Accused of Living in the Park. Oh well…
It was a perfect spring morning, and given the warmer morning temps, I think I’ll probably need bug spray by the end of the week!
For the first part of the lumber, I wasn’t seeing much, and what I was seeing was either too far away or extremely uncooperative. Then, at about the 4.5-mile mark, I saw a broad-winged hawk perched on a dead tree through the branches.
Between the back light, shadows, and my own horrible eyesight, I was having trouble getting focus. Thankfully, the hawk was content to remain perched and giving me the stink-eye as I tried to get a clear shot.
I took a series of shots from two different angles before I got greedy, cleared my throat, and it flew off. As I walked away, I was finally able to take some deep breaths and mentally thank the hawk for being a willing model.
About a mile later, I heard some turkey, and eventually saw a couple walk across the trail and into the woods. When I finally got to where they went into the brush, I saw nothing. Must have been wearing their camo today.
My legs were feeling good, but my stomach was hungry for breakfast and my butt was asking to use the shitter, so I put a spring in my step, and headed towards the parking lot and Escape II.
Just before I got to the suspension bridge, I spied another one of my favorite birds that I just don’t see that often; a male Red-Breasted Grosbeak.
It was just pecking along the trail before it flew into some nearby trees. I slowly entered the woods and was able to get a few shots off before it flew off again. I
I’ve only seen one Grosbeak this spring; it was on the bird stick near the feeder, and I didn’t have a camera nearby. Hopefully, I see a few more in the coming weeks, but I’m not sure how long they stick around during the breeding phase.
After those pics, I was soon back at the lot with 6.06 miles in my feetz.
Later.