Discussion: Wildlife journal

I've been seeing so much of it lately (even while running) I'm thinking of recording it more regularly. Deer are nothing special (nor are ticks) but in the last week or two I've seen or scared: a tom turkey flying low, 2 grouse, a pheasant, a red-shouldered hawk with a rodent in its claws, 3 or 4 great blue herons, a river otter, and a hefty wading bird that looked like a green heron but probably wasn't.

Cool. Seeing that stuff is one of the main benefits of spending so much time in the woods.
This morning while I was rowing I saw a large shadow of a bird diving out of the sky and then saw a splash of water. I am pretty sure it was an eagle grabbing some breakfast. I was surprised to see the fox yesterday in the middle of the day.

I like to chase deer for fun. Try it sometime. ;-)

A little off topic: Jerritt, I am beginning to train for orienteering and I am trying to figure out the best way to go about it. You seem to have some experience and I am curious what you are doing when you say that you are 'Control picking at Lebanon Hills'. Are you following courses on maps from previous MNOC meets?

Any advice is appreciated.

Todd

Hey Todd,
Good question. Hope to see you at Afton next week.
First I would say that Ian and Pete (iharding and pfc) are better sources for info than me. Second, I read your log and going back out and running old courses is great training. If you take splits at each control you can see the improvement and/or mistakes even better.
Control picking is a general term for marking control locations on a map and then running the course. You get to choose what types of controls and/or legs you set to practice specific skills. In general control picking includes lots of controls in a short distance, so that you have to use fine navigation skills more than you would on a typical advanced course. Ian/Pete/Stephen, any other thoughts?

Thanks. I will do some "control picking" this weekend, to be followed "tick picking" ;-)

Todd

Jerritt you are correct... control picking is practicing the last 100 to 300 meters and getting it spot on. It avoids all the long distance route strategy/implementation stuff. You should basically be very much in contact with the map and then run directly to the spot within 5 to 10 m (no looking around/hunting for it). It's a great skill to practice