2012 Training Log – Week 52
Got 42 in a little under 7 hours, and I’m starting to feel a hint of mojo returning. I had two unexpectedly good runs this week, and a long run that was sweet – even if I did make it home totally running on fumes.
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For the 3rd Saturday in a row I got up before sunrise and ran from my house up Waterton Canyon. This time I went up the Colorado Trail a bit before turning around.
The sunrise was epic!
Pretty cool to get into some views like this after an hour of running.
The wind was blowing hard on my trip down the canyon and making some cool effects on the ice.
I packed the DSLR the whole 17 miles in hopes of getting some more bighorn shots, but came home empty handed.
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I scratched the camera itch by spending Sunday afternoon hanging out in Chatfield State Park.
I haven’t identified this guy yet, but he was a photogenic little subject for a while.
Geese. Lots and lots of geese.
Then I finally got what I was after. A bald eagle came swooping by flying in a tight circular pattern as it made its way down the shoreline. It was a little far for my lens, but I did the best I could and waited for it to bank into the late afternoon light.
Posted on December 26, 2012, in photography, run, training. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
The Scene Begins 
Dude, the mystery bird is a western meadowlark. 🙂
Awesome photos, man!
Yeah, yeah. It’s only the state bird for like 30 out of the 50 states (ok, maybe 6). My birding skills have improved tons in the last few months.
No. No! Wasn’t making fun of you…
My faves are the male western tanager (I’ve briefly seen one at our place, and then one while on a run – usually they’re just passing through the state around May) and the male evening grosbeak (which we have at least 3 generations stop by our place to feed every summer). I would love to see a male kestrel someday. Any bald eagles out by you (besides Waterton Cyn.)?
Yeah, but you should have been. I can’t believe I didn’t even know that was a meadowlark. I see them every day now.
I had to cheat and look up the tanager and the grosbeak. Nice! That’s cool you get the grosbeaks stopping by.
I saw my first spotted towhee last week which was cool.
There is a mating pair of kestrels about two miles from my place that I see regularly. Took this shot on Sunday afternoon.
A few baldies. Spent 2.5 hours watching one from about 50 feet away on New Year’s Day down in Chatfield. They are definitely the exception rather than the rule around here, though.
Oh, and the female:
They are an awesome pair to watch. They often hunt together. They have this cool hovering technique I need to learn more about – haven’t seen anything like it.