Birds, Birds and More Birds

This morning's run was all about the birds. I guess when you're out on a 12.5 mile loop which winds through country fields, by the ocean and along several salt water marshes, you're bound to see a variety of wildlife, and today didn't disappoint!

I headed out at 5:55am from the field house parking lot down Rt. 123. It was a beautiful morning, still and sunny, with temps only reading 53 degrees. Perfect running weather! I was happy that there wasn't as much traffic on 123 as the last time I ran this loop. Still, it was nice to turn off the main road and into Pennelville. I took a much needed port-a-potty break at the soccer fields (once again, thank you Town of Brunswick!), and then continued on. The sun was just beginning to hit the fields and they were covered with the morning's dew. Very pretty. I saw several phoebes, barn swallows, sparrows, one Bobolink, mourning doves, crows and a chickadee as I headed out toward Simpson's Point.

As usual, Simpson's Point offered a wonderful view, and I enjoyed the chance to look at the ocean. About 30 Canadian Geese were swimming in quiet waters. After turning around at the point, I saw 9 turkeys in the woods - 4 adults and 5 little ones. Then I heard, and saw, a Pileated Woodpecker attempting to peck away at a telephone pole. Now that's a first!

I went through 6 mile at 52 minutes. Pretty good. Now the games began. Could I keep up the pace for the second half? I wandered along Rossmore and down to Maquiot Bay, where I saw a robin and a male goldfinch. Then onto my least favorite 2 miles of the route, along Woodside to Pleasant Hill. This section is just uphill enough to tire me out. But I soldiered along, and eventually hit the junction with Pleasant Hill, where several barn swallows were swooping over the road and through the fields of Crystal Spring Farms.

The last few miles were relatively uneventful, and I pulled back into the parking lot at 1:46:30. Snowman does all sorts of fancy math to figure out his pace, but using simple division, I figured my pace was 8:30 (or there abouts). I'll take it!