I am supposed to get in thirty minutes of heart-pounding exercise three days a week. I still needed one more day, so I ran down to the wildlife refuge, and since the trail was flat, I walked as fast as I could in the loose gravel. Maybe it wasn't quite heart-pounding, but it was a couple of miles.
We will call it good enough.
I left Summer in charge of things at home.
A few photos from my walk. #Marsh#WildlifeRefuge#Humboldt
Dear friends, #EarthDay, the yearly hashtag version is past. Let's make it at least a semi-regular practice to honor and respect our patient and wise Mother. Here is a photo of a wetlands reconstruction in #Truckee#California. In the distance is a ski area. It also has a multi-use path used for foot, pedaled, and wheeled users. A lovely place for a meditative stroll, run, or bike ride.
Visited a place we've never been to before, Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge. Many waterfowl and migrating birds, but it was too rainy to spend time hiking the trails. Will return in better weather to see all that it has to offer. Sussex NJ
Morning at the Crane Pools
Bosque del Apache NWR, NM
Over two dozen Sandhill Cranes are standing in the icy pool—they spend the night there as protection against predators, such as coyote. Around them are many, many Snow Geese who also spent the night here. Very soon all will take to the sky to head off to forage in the neighboring fields.
Snow Geese on Ice
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, NM
In honor of the Winter Solstice and Throwback Thursday I dug out one of my earliest photos from the refuge of geese standing on a frozen pond. Taken in December 2009 through a spotting scope, I reprocessed it this morning, mostly to increase the size for your viewing pleasure 😎
A tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Note the visible brood patch in the center of his chest. In preparation for incubating eggs birds will sometimes pluck some of their feathers so they can better transmit their body heat to their eggs.
A house wren (Troglodytes aedon) hunting in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in late May. These make their nests in holes, like those left in trees by woodpecker nests. They breed in the northern half of the US, and winter in Mexico. They're also present in Central and South America year round.