July's happy ending

I ended July with just a shade over 500 miles, which was *easily* the mileage month of the year. I actually had some opportunities to go for more, but things just didn't click.

One reason was that this past Tuesday, instead of hammering out miles, I did a ride with "no achievements", which will please Pondero to no end. Actually that's a bit of a lie in that I saw some nice birds, and maybe a couple new ones for me. 



 Looks to me like a juvenile Great Blue Heron instead of a rugged old man. I could be wrong.

 Black-crowned Night Heron. He and the GB fellow were within 10 feet of each other, which I deem as somewhat rare. How do you like that floating trash there?

 Turtles, ever popular along the Beargrass Trail

To not be too speciest, I threw in some fauna to balance out the avians. 

 This is a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron at Caperton Swamp.  I can't remember a trip where I saw all three on the same day.

This is a nasty, pasty looking snake curled up on that branch. This is using the telephoto feature at a distance of probably 40 yards. Eww. No me gusta.

19.5 miles on Seafoam

And the full list:

-Cherokee:
A.Robin
Downy Woodpecker
Tufted Titmouse
WB Nuthatch
Carolina Chickadees
N.Cardinal
-Beargrass Trail:
Belted Kingfisher
Great Blue Heron
Black-Crowned Night Heron- herons quite close to each other, strange
Mallard duck or Black Duck- didn't know they were so similar
Wood duck
Catbird- munching berries

-Butchertown/River:
N.Mockingbird
Barn swallow
Cliff swallow
Great crested flycatcher- apparently pretty common, but only second sighting for me
M.Dove
E.Kingbird
C.Goose

-Caperton:
Baltimore Oriole
Carolina Wren
Indigo Bunting
Grackle
WB Nuthatch
Kingbird- haven't seen there
House Wren
Kingfisher- pissed as usual
underbrush Hawk- juvenile Cooper's my guess
Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher
Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron
**Willow Flycatcher- I'm not writing it down, but I'm 80% sure this was a 1st for me. Tiny little bird.
**2 more LBJs- Flycatcher types and 2 or more sparrows I was too lazy to try to ID. Chipping or Song takes care of most.

Comments

David Crowell said…
Damn. I've seen the turtles before, but never more than three at once.
Anonymous said…
I am always paying attention to the wildlife during my walks and rides. I'm always looking and listening and can't help wonder why so many ignore their surroundings and prefer loud music.

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