Training Log Archive: SwampfoxIn the 1 days ending Jul 3, 2020: |
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Friday Jul 3, 2020 #
Note
I could not shake the feeling all day long it was Saturday, even as during the day a number of things happened that were Friday things (like what announcer or programs were on the radio at different times) should have put it squarely in mind that it was Friday. That's okay though--I'm going to get one of those rarest things: a two Saturday weekend!
I ran late in the day out at Area 44 (think Medicine Bow Map), which I finally got around to finishing the drafting for earlier this week. This was supposed to have been one of the new maps for the Rocky Mountain O' Festival, but instead it's just going to be me.
Actually, what is finished is only part of what I had intended to survey for the race, and maybe later in the summer I will pick back up where I left off. The new section is quite good terrain and utterly different from the immediately adjoining edge of the NE part of the Medicine Bow Map (also Superfly Marsh)--you would never suspect it from running on the existing map we've used.
While I was running, a nighthawk got off the ground right to one side of me. As usual, I wasn't looking for a nighthawk to suddenly appear, so it caught me by surprise. But I still stopped automatically and tried to put my eyes on the spot where I thought it had flown up from. Meanwhile the bird had only flown off 20-30' and was putting on the "hey, look at me, I'm practically mortally injured with a broken wing and I can't fly anymore" act. I took one careful step to where I thought it had been, and stopped, and looked around at the ground and almost at once noticed two strange looking small bumps on the ground just another step away. Two little chicks. That was extraordinarily lucky--I've never been able to spot any eggs or chicks anywhere near this quickly before.
These chicks, by instinct, won't move for anything. I bent down and moved a finger to within an inch of one of them and it remained absolutely dead still. You couldn't even see it breathe, though I could see one unmoving eye was open and watching. It's remarkable. I got back up and left them where they were. I wonder what the advantage it is to the species to nest directly on the ground? I have no clue.
Gazillioins of campers were up, nearly all gathered into groups of 4-6 or more large RVs, with the essential accessory amounts of dune buggies, ATVs, and XC motor bikes. Quite impressive, though in a very different way from the nighthawks.
I ran late in the day out at Area 44 (think Medicine Bow Map), which I finally got around to finishing the drafting for earlier this week. This was supposed to have been one of the new maps for the Rocky Mountain O' Festival, but instead it's just going to be me.
Actually, what is finished is only part of what I had intended to survey for the race, and maybe later in the summer I will pick back up where I left off. The new section is quite good terrain and utterly different from the immediately adjoining edge of the NE part of the Medicine Bow Map (also Superfly Marsh)--you would never suspect it from running on the existing map we've used.
While I was running, a nighthawk got off the ground right to one side of me. As usual, I wasn't looking for a nighthawk to suddenly appear, so it caught me by surprise. But I still stopped automatically and tried to put my eyes on the spot where I thought it had flown up from. Meanwhile the bird had only flown off 20-30' and was putting on the "hey, look at me, I'm practically mortally injured with a broken wing and I can't fly anymore" act. I took one careful step to where I thought it had been, and stopped, and looked around at the ground and almost at once noticed two strange looking small bumps on the ground just another step away. Two little chicks. That was extraordinarily lucky--I've never been able to spot any eggs or chicks anywhere near this quickly before.
These chicks, by instinct, won't move for anything. I bent down and moved a finger to within an inch of one of them and it remained absolutely dead still. You couldn't even see it breathe, though I could see one unmoving eye was open and watching. It's remarkable. I got back up and left them where they were. I wonder what the advantage it is to the species to nest directly on the ground? I have no clue.
Gazillioins of campers were up, nearly all gathered into groups of 4-6 or more large RVs, with the essential accessory amounts of dune buggies, ATVs, and XC motor bikes. Quite impressive, though in a very different way from the nighthawks.