Sunday Run, Birds and Brrrrrrrr

I woke up this morning to the sound of the heater blaring and black skies that has been getting rather old lately and thoughts of April seem to happen on a daily basis now as I put on my many layers to venture outside which is where I go for peace of mind whether it be 90 degrees or 10 degrees, but prefer a happy medium of 70 or so but I suppose beggars can't be choosers.

I dressed myself in my running layers and decided to do another trail run as the only time I can get them in is during the weekends due to work. The snow was a little tougher today for running but it suit my mood as I have been in a funk lately and chasing many demons that battle my mind and the only way I can rid myself of them it seems is outdoors where I run from them whether on the streets, the trails or snow ladden paths in snow shoes. The bitter temperatures did not opress me, but rather invigorated me as I ran up the trails almost defying the snow, the harsh wind and the inner voice that told me I was crazy for running in such an environment under such conditions, but its just the therapy that works as everytime I am done, the demons are gone and life is good again.
After the run, I met up with Alan and we headed off to Lancaster to see if we could spot the leucistic Red-tailed Hawk that folks have spotted there for the past few weeks. We looked around for a while and didnt' see anything until a local birder walking his dog had spotted him earlier and sure enough, there it was. It teased us some as it flew from branch to branch, but I was able to get a half way decent look at the hawk as well as a couple of lousy pictures like the one above. Is this a cool bird or what!!!! Wish it would have ventured closer to us, but happy I got it just the same.
A photo of the area in which the hawk seems to spend a lot of its time.
After that it was back in the car to warm up some and try and figure out where to go next so we did what was natural when in Lancaster and head over to Bolton Flats which is one of my favorite places to bird in Central Mass but of course we didn't even bother getting out of the car as there is nothing there yet, but it was nice to see it just for old times sake. ;-)
We went to another section of Bolton Flats that I had never seen before so Alan decided to show it to me and we were lucky enough to see another Red-tailed Hawk land on the ground to grab some prey and the bird proceeded to fly to a branch to eat its breakfast which was rodent mole', or rather a mole that was in the wrong place at the wrong time as you can see! I took this from the car window so it didn't come out clear, but didn't want to disturb the hawk while it was eating as he has enough problems surviving the winter without me harassing it for a better photo.
After that it was onto the Pond the Never Freezes where we saw some Mallards and Black Ducks and then onto Wachusett Reservoir, gate 6 to look for Eagles. While walking down the path, I could hear the call of a Common Raven and sure enough one came into view which was great as it wasn't on my list this year. We met up with other birders who were there for eagles too, but low and behold there weren't any. In fact, the only bird we would see while there was one lone Mute Swan (joy!). Grrrrrrrrrr, and one wonders why I think of spring so much. Oh well, on the bright side January is oficially over with and the days are getting longer. I am typing this at 5:20 PM and guess what, I can still see light! Take care all.