Trails, Running, Birding, Shoes and an Early Nester!

I had the day off from work today and decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and set off to Upton State Forest for some snow shoeing (turned into trail running once I saw how much snow melted) and birding.
But first I made a stop at a location where a reported Great-horned Owl was observed nesting so I decided to look for myself and low and behold there it was! I saw it eyeballing me as I made my way closer for a photo and couldn't help but to laugh when I saw the look on its face. I watched it for a while and then decided to venture off to give her some peace. Awesome bird to get this early in the year and in Worcester County no less!
Next it was onto Upton. I had my snow shoes with me with every intent on snow shoeing, but then looked at how lousy the snow was at the beginning of the trail and quickly changed into my trail running shoes and microspikes for a 3.5 mile run as snow shoeing was going to be out and I couldn't really hike it as I had errands to do in the afternoon so couldn't dilly dally much.

There were areas of the trail that could have been snow shoed on like the picture above but was happy running just the same. I had a really good pace going when suddenly I could hear the sweetest bird song I have heard so far this year. In fact, it was so sweet it reminded me of spring song and I stopped dead in my tracks in the middle of a run to scan the tree tops to see where it was coming from. I searched and searched as they bird sang it's lovely tune but could never find it. I decided to take some audio of it and a couple of my friends on Facebook were kind enough to ID it for me as a Brown Creeper. I have seen creepers all winter and have heard their note call, but have never heard them sing before until now and was happy I was in the right place at the right time to hear that tune. That gave me a little more spring in my step and off I went to run through trails that were absolutely gorgeous with snow on the ground and pine trees surrounding the trails. Really nice spot and one I will be back to because it's a clean 3.5 mile loop which is nice for a short run.
After that it was off to Trader Joes to stock up on staples when suddenly this Red-tailed Hawk above caught my eye so I pulled over at a safe location for some photos.
It stuck around for a while and then proceeded to fly off, but not before I got at least one half way decent flight shot.
After Trader Joes and lunch, I decided to try snow shoeing again and low and behold, it was once again lousy and I didn't have my running shoes with me this time, so I had to just deal with snow shoeing through snow and at times mud, as best as I could. Let me tell you snow shoeing through mud is tough as the mud is heavier than snow and your snow shoes sink right in so you really work your legs trying to navigate your way through the mess. All in all, it was still a nice hike with about 2.5 miles of woods, fresh air and occasional pockets of the regular winter woodland birds.
As I was making my way home, I saw a kettle of Turkey Vultures I had seen earlier in the day, but this time I was in an area where I could pull over safely for some photos. There were about 15 of them including the one above.
And a small kettle of them. As I drove by, I would see 8 or so of them fly out from a large pine tree and take to the skies. I got back in my car with the satisfaction that spring is another day closer and this is yet another sign. I have also noticed the male Northern Cardinal in my yard doing a lot more singing this past week and the days are getting longer which makes me very happy indeed.
And last but not least, check out the purchase I made that I am so happy with! Allow me to introduce you to my new LaSportiva Wildcat Mountain Running Shoes from the Wilderness Running Company! Are they not the coolest things or what!
I have been looking for a trail running shoe that would provide me enough traction and stability for the more technical trails out there that I plan to run this upcoming spring, but found that many mountain running shoes are bulky and heavy which is something I don't want. These are a light weight mesh with sturdy traction at the bottom so you don't slip and slide on wet rocks while running which is one of my biggest fears.
They even have a supposed "Impact Brake System" which I thought was pretty darn impressive!! They fit nice and I plan on breaking them in this weekend to see how they do. And a big thumbs up the the Wilderness Running Company for their super quick and free shipping. Check out some of their stuff as it's suited for not only runners, but hikers, birders, etc.

Take care all!

Wachusett Meadows and Mountain

Mount Monadnock photo taken by me while at the summit of Mount Wachusett

I decided to take advantage of my last day off for the weekend and head out to Wachusett Meadows for some running, hiking and birding as I was curious what the place was like in the winter and was hoping I may be lucky enough to spot one of the Northern Goshawks, but once again a no go.
I spent some time before my run over near the feeders where there were scores of birds including the regular Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, American Goldfinches and the Black-capped Chickadee and American Tree Sparrow shown above.
Another Black-capped Chickadee I spotted during my warm up giving me the "hairy eyeball".
As I was making my way toward the Chapman trail to run/hike on through to Mount Wachusett, I came across a bunch of deer and stopped dead in my tracks as not to disturb them while they were grazing and to get some pictures of course.
Check out the one with the itchy ear. So cute!!!
Finally they all ran off with such grace and speed, that I yearned to chase after them and join in on the fun when suddenly one stopped to give me one more glance. I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at the deer as it stared back at me in return and that happy feeling I get whenever I am outdoors and something cool happens arose as I set off on the trail in which they had just vanished from.
The trails at Wachusett Meadows and Mount Wachusett are the most narrow I have come across thus far in running and the most technical which is just what I wanted. The more technical the trail, the greater the chance of falling so was careful of my foot placement but did take my first official "run spill" ever today and am happy to report that I didn't do too bad as my gymnastics instinct from the past kicked in and I tucked my head inward to let my shoulder take the brunt impact of the blow. The shoulder was spared damage thanks to deep snow, but the knee was not as fortunate as I scraped it up some but wouldn't know it until I got home and saw the blood on my thermal pants. :-p. All in all, I was glad that it happened because if you trail run, you fall, and I needed the practice. HA (and yes I am serious :-P)
After about 1.7 miles of mostly running, I came to the end of Wachusett Meadows and to the Harrington Trail at Mount Wachusett and the first thing that struck me was the lack of snow at the beginning of the trail which was awesome because I haven't run on bare earth in a couple of months now so it was very welcome.
Soon enough though there would be no more bare earth, just more snow and toward the beginning of the summit, lost of ice so I used some common sense and decided to hike instead of run. You can see what I am talking about with the ice in the photo above. I avoided hiking on ice patches such as this and would seek alternative routes that were not as ice packed and had trees around for grabbing because I didn't have my trek poles with me because I was running and they would just get in the way.
But I had no problems running other parts of it that were a little more forgiving with soft snow and the beauty of a winters day.
Blue Ice I came across near the Link Trail that would lead me up to the summit. Again, I was hiking at this point.
The closer I got to the summit, the more people I would see, who were out there with microspikes and trek poles getting in a little winter hiking. As they passed by, they all commented on how windy and cold it was up at the summit as I was soon about to find out for myself as the wind whipped against my face and the tears started to well up in my eyes due to the strong winds.
That didn't stop me from getting my camera out to get some pictures though, like the one above.
The wind was too strong and cold for me to do my usual, eat a Cliff Bar and Chocolate while at the summit so I made my way down back to the Midstate Trail while inhaling my snacks as I had already gone 3.5 miles at that point in which 2 miles of it or so was spent running.
And then, the funniest thing happens to me. I am running down a fairly steep trail when suddenly I see something in the middle of the trail staring at me. It registers in my brain as a bird as I call out to my legs to stop because I didn't want to run it over. My legs attempt a stop in the midst of the steep trail when suddenly, the very ticked off chickadee gives a very feisty little Chick a dee dee dee dee dee, and flies off with the rest of the clan. I am grateful the bird saw me because I wasn't doing a good job in stopping so decided to take a rest and get some pictures. Not only where there chickadees there, but White-breasted Nuthatches like the one above.
A picture of Mountain Road. The prettiest I have ever seen it! May actually be pretty enough for running if the snow sticks around some. ;-)
Those awful wind turbines that are so ugly in my opinion. Yes I know we need alternative energy and blah, blah, blah, but they are hideous and I don't like the potential danger they have toward raptors and other birds so when I see when they depress me.

My last bird of the day that I pished before going back to my car to head home.

I finally make my way back with very achy legs, wet feet (despite my sock layers and wick socks) and a very hearty appetite. All in all, it was 8.5 miles 5 of it running and 3.5 of it hiking (I spent some time on other trails running at the Meadows before doing Chapman to Harrington) and it was awesome. I was looking to find a place where I could put in lots of miles and they are hard to come by near my neck of the woods so was happy to get out there. It's funny in that I complain a lot about winter, but find that if I am outside and very active in it, I love it. We are supposed to get some snow tonight and I am hoping it sticks around some as it's so much fun to play in!

Take care all!

Bird Count, Running and Follow that Bird!

Example of a bird chase taken a couple of week ago

Another day of the Great Backyard Bird Count, but had a late start in that I spent some time this morning performing my motherly duties and took my youngest to the grocery store to buy his girlfriend a box of chocolates and all the fixins for a romantic dinner made by my charming son that would consist of salad in a bag and a box of Prince Pasta topped with Ragu! Yup, he has potential in the husband department for sure but not for another 10-15 years or so at least and I make sure I remind him of that often. ;-)

Anyhow, I picked up his girlfriend on the way back and was making my way past a corner when suddenly I saw two Red-tailed Hawks soaring above doing a wonderful aerial display of chase it appeared so I yelled in excitement as it looked as if these two hawks had a little valentine romance of there own going on and was happy to have caught it. My sons girlfriend is in the back and my son in front and I can tell by his crimson little cheeks that pulling over on the road with camera in hand would probably not be wise so off we drove to put the groceries away much to the relief of my son.

Further on, I see a large bird in the sky riding the wind swaying to and fro and much to my delight was a Turkey Vulture. I scream Turkey Vulture at this point with a big goofy grin on my face and try and follow it, wondering when the next side street is so I can pull over with camera in hand for a record shot of course. The TV has other plans and takes off behind a house as I am keeping one eye on the road and the other on the fleeing bird and off I drive disappointed to never get that shot, but happy just the same to have seen it. Can someone say Spring is another day closer!!! HA ;-)

After that, I took off to do some birding and running and decided to hit a new trail in town that I had discovered thanks to a couple of sites out there that the local mountain bikers maintain to discuss and map local trails they like so have been using it myself for planning my trail runs. What's even better about this is that these guys even keep up the trails through cleaning, marking, etc so it's a win/win situation for all, especially me. ;-)

I start with a slow run as there was no spring in my step today after yesterday but soon enough find some incredible paths that were magical to run through as the sky was blue, the sun was warm and the snow sparkled as I ran through it. I made a stop a couple of times for birds with the most notable being an entire flock of Golden-crowned Kinglets (6 in total) that were fixated on a couple of spots which I thought was very interesting as this was the first time I have ever seen a flock of kinglets of that size and also because there were no Black-capped Chickadees around which I thought was pretty cool.
The trail went for about a mile or so (am guessing there is more to it, but not daring enough to explore in winter out of fear of getting lost), so will go back there soon as it has much potential with its combination of woodland paths and a vast amount of powerlines that are scrubby and definitely warbler worthy. After that it was off to do my hill training for the week so I went to my favorite powerlines for more running and birding. I make my way through the beginning of the trail and the first bird I see and hear is one of the Common Ravens and was happy to have gotten them today for the bird count. About a mile or so after that, it was one of the local Red-tailed Hawks so I am guessing they will be regulars now which is so nice because I missed them both.
As I said earlier running was tough so would pray to hear a bird here or there so I could use it as an excuse to stop and get my camera out for photos and counts. I had a Northern Mockingbird mixed in with some American Robins, some American Tree Sparrows, Juncos, etc and of course the Tufted Titmouse like the one above.
After that it was onto more uncharted territory to get in my total 5 miles of running for the day and made my way to a path that was pretty deep with snow and very difficult to run through but did my best.
After a while my legs cried in protest so I decided to stop for a while and just enjoy the sun on my face as I drank some water and ate some Dark Chocolate. As I stood there and entire flock of Black-capped Chickadees decided to pay me a visit and land near me so I could get some photos like the one above.

All in all not a bad day and was happy to get some new species to my backyard bird count list including the Turkey Vulture and Northern Mockingbird.

Take care all.

Great Backyard Bird Count-Birding on the Run Day One

That's right everyone, just when you thought things couldn't get anymore stimulating this winter, I proudly present to you The Great Backyard Bird Count-Birding on the Run series starring moi. As some may know, I never do things quite the way most folks do and have proven it again this weekend as I plan on doing the entire Backyard Bird count on foot while trail running. You see, the sun doesn't come out early enough yet, for me to get in an early morning trail run, so I have to wait to do it during prime birding time to get it in so I am essentially killing two birds with one stone (pun intended). Of course, I could hit the pavement in the dark in the morning to get my running fix, but I do that during the week and really miss my trail running so I have to find a balance between running and birding and this will have to do for now. Plus, I wouldn't be at all surprised if I am the only one in Great Backyard Bird Count history to attempt such a thing so consider yourselves lucky to be able to experience it first hand. :-p.
I set off late this morning to Martha Deering because I was interested in investigating it more after I googled some maps of the area which shows trails from here that meet with trails of the Grafton Land Trust so I was hoping to get in some extra miles and find new places to explore.

I was rather surprised at the amount of snow that still remained on the trail and kicked myself for not bringing my snow shoes, but such is life so off I went with microspikes on my feet as I trudged through snow that made running rather difficult and tough on the legs. I now have a new appreciation for those who snow shoe race as running in the snow is as difficult as running in soft sand and can really slow you down.
Anyhow, except for a Hairy and Downy Woodpecker, all was fairly quiet bird wise as I made my way through narrow trails covered in snow and lined by trees. It was very nice out so I was in my zone at this point and was just enjoying a fantastic winters day until I came upon an open area of land in Grafton. I made my way to the center and scanned the skies for a Red-tailed as it just seemed natural to see one in such an area, but no such luck I'm afraid.
I was finally lucky enough to come across a pocket of birds back at Martha Deering near the old foundation of the house that once stood there. None were going to do me the honors of posing so I took what I could get including this picture of a White-breasted Nuthatch above chucking me the moon.
As well as a couple of Golden-crowned Kinglets who wouldn't sit still for a photo.
And of course a Black-capped Chickadee mixed in with their old side kick the Tufted Titmouse.
And a picture of the old foundation at Martha Deering. This land was donated to the town and there once stood a house that went with it. Anyhow, someone decided to burn it down and this is all the remains sadly. Such a beautiful fireplace though none the less. They just don't make things like that anymore that's for sure. Talk about attention to detail.

I decided to hit Brierly after that and inhaled a couple of Cliff Bars and an entire bottle of water while in my car to the next destination as all that running had me famished! My legs were still in shock from the trauma at Deering and proceeded to cry in protest as I attempted a gentle run up the trail but soon enough, they accepted their fate and off we went. Sadly enough, there were even less birds here than at the other place, but it was awesome to be there none the less as it was quiet and peaceful which is what I yearned for.
Finally I see a pocket of birds near some brush so I stop and watch them. The flock consisted mostly of Juncos like the female above. Here she is peeking at a small body of running water that looks mighty tempting to her as evidenced by her sweet little face.
Anyhow, she decides to dive right in and take a nice brisk bath while I watched. Totally awesome!!! One of my favorite things to do is watch a bird bathe because they enjoy it so much, so I sat there for a few minutes staring at her and smiled. Highlight of my day. :-p. I made my way home after that, starving again and I felt good running five miles through the snow (of which maybe 1 mile in total was hiked as it was mighty tough, just to get in the 4!)
And the other Juncos too. Love these birds and will be sad to see them go in a couple of months. Well......Not really, as that will mean spring is another day closer, but I can still enjoy them while they're here!
Lastly a shot of a Cooper's Hawk taken by my son via an IPhone. He had called me while I was at work to tell me a Red-tailed Hawk was in my yard so of course I got excited. What's it doing? I ask. Eating a Starling. HA!! I then try and explain to him why it is most likely a Cooper's Hawk vs. a Red-tailed, etc, but have to hang up as my boss is calling and low and behold, my son's first bird picture ever! Not too bad for an Iphone! I came home after work and it was still there so it should be interesting to see if the coops is a regular in my yard. Funny I see her in the neighborhood all the time and she flies by my house, but this is the fist time I have seen her directly in my yard all winter. The European Starlings discovered my suet for the first time last week so I am guessing the starling is the food of choice for the Coops. Will make sure suet is out at feeders all times going forward. ;-)

Take care all

Peregrine Falcon Update: February 2010

It's been a while since I have given a Peregrine Falcon update and that's mostly because there hasn't been much to report on with it being winter and all. Things are starting to get interesting lately as I have seen what I am almost certain is the female over near her nest box on the Unum building the past week or so and today she was actually in it which I am taking as a possible good sign!

The male on the other hand still likes to perch and look at downtown Worcester from a couple of his favorite locations including the one above which is on top of the Commerce Bank Building. Notice how lunch is flying by as he stares out into the horizon! ;-)
And that's not all that is downtown as you can see from the picture above which is of a Cooper's Hawk taken today as I was getting up from my desk to grab a PB&J from my bag. I could see a raptor of some sort flying very fast and powerful so I grabbed my camera for a couple of record shots and then my bins and proceeded to follow it while it flew.
I had often heard how powerful accipiters can be while flying and have seen it somewhat when I am hawk watching, but today it was different and threw me off guard at first because it was not characteristic in how I think a Cooper's Hawk normally flies. Perhaps it's because it was in such open sky, that I had an unobstructed view so could really appreciate it. Regardless, I just hope this Coopers' decides to fly the coop before the Peregrines start nesting after what happened to the poor Cooper's Hawk from last year who decided to hang around downtown and he would up at Tufts.

Will start keeping you all posted more now that things appear to be picking up some. Take care all.