Three easy miles today, recovering from Monday’s 20 mile run, this time in the cool (cold?) Stillwater Bubble. Some joints and ligaments still ached a bit, but were better when the run was over. I sure like running in cool temperatures - I think that was another reason why Monday’s run was so tough on me - the Community Center track is probably about 70 degrees. Outdoors wasn’t in the cards today as the overnight temp was about six below zero, a little too cool for my feet.
A few days ago I saw a male pileated woodpecker on a burr oak tree, very close to the house. What a magnificent bird, his size all the more stunning up close. He started at the bottom of the trunk, stopped for a moment, moved up a little more, stopped again, repeatedly searching for insects. I believe that woodpeckers listen for the sounds of insects under the bark, then strip the bark away, but can an insect move and therefore make noise when the temperature is below zero, as it was that day? Anyway I was somewhat pleased to see that Mr. Pileated didn’t find much to hammer on, because insects tend to be where the tree is decaying, and his inability to find insects might mean that the tree is still sound. Too bad for the woodpecker; what a tough way to make a living.
4 comments:
One of my favorite birds! I never grow tired of seeing the Pileated. Great stuff, Don!
We get one at my house every now and then (in Stillwater). The kids get so excited when we see it. -Mark
I had 20 years between pileated sightings and now see them occasionally - but I always hear them first!
Don, Got your message about the Saturday run. 3 miles sounds perfect, since I'm doing a 5k Sunday. But, Hudson is having a hot air balloon launch Sat morning and my kids love it, so I can't make the time. But when I get up to doing 5 miles (my plan calls for 5 in a couple of weeks) I will be joining you for the Sat runs.
http://www.hudsonhotairaffair.com/
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