Bird Day - Day 211

  Hiking today got a delayed start due to a pop-up thunderstorm in the morning. That had consequences that I'll tell you about later. There were more beautiful lakes with campsites, still part of that Chain of Lakes. This is New Johns Lake.

There are birds galore. I don't know a lot of them, but if I catch a picture of something then I have a better chance for the ID. Interesting ones I know, but got no pictures, are bob-o-link, and ring-necked pheasant. Of coures, herons, robins, mallards, geese, kingbirds, killdeer, etc. There are tons of terns and gulls, but I haven't even tried to sort out the kinds.

A very common bird along the canals is the bank swallow. You can see a whole bunch of them swooping around the bridge. They look like spots on the photo.

Almost every bridge has a contingent. Why? They like to build their nests under the edge.

These are female or juvenile Brewer's blackbirds. This is a new species for me.

But the very best bird find is this. I could only tell it was something strange (to me), but I got pictures! It's a sharp-tailed grouse. Common here, but new to me.

Today's lonely North Dakota picure. You are probably saying, "It's just another picure of the canal. But look at it. There are no clouds, trees, fences, trucks, hay bales, utility poles, or rock piles. There is only sky, grass, and the canal with its road. I paced that distance, and it is nine-tenths of a mile to the next bend.

The rest of today's story. I started late, and there was such a strong headwind for the first two hours that the sides of my calves were getting sore trying to walk against it. Then it got hot. High nineties. I did the miles I had planned, but I'm here to tell you I won't be doing this again. On hot days, I need to be done hiking by 3 pm. I managed to finish by keeping my head and shirt wet (that nearby canal is surely good for this). So I didn't finish until almost 5 pm, and the recovery time is long. In fact, I'm probably going to cut back the miles tomorrow becauase I am just beat. Yes, I drank enough. I just can't do heavy exercise in heat like this any more.

I may do a short day tomorrow. We have to move the trailer anyway. It is supposed to be much cooler, but I may need to recover a bit more.

Miles today: 16.2. Total miles so far: 2533.6.

See Chain of Lakes