Specifically, I stabbed some baked chicken with a fork, and it squirted me with hot chicken juice. This was not so bad when it hit my shirt, because the shirt’s going in the laundry tonight, anyway. It was less delightful when it also sprayed onto my bare arm. But hey, juicy chicken!
And here is what the internet tells me is a “chicken person”, which may explain why it’s delightedly holding the apparently cooked remains of a chicken (non-person).
Where: Rocky Point Park, Old Orchard Park, Inlet Park, Old Mill Site Park (Port Moody), Admiralty Point Park, Bedwell Bay (Belcarra), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Sunny, 15-24°C
Today the forecast was warm and sunny, so I actually slapped on a copious amount of sunblock for the first time this year. It worked. No burning!
We started out with a return to the heron rookery near Rocky Point, as the baby dinosaurs (young herons) should be showing themselves in the nest around now–and they were! There seemed to be a max of three per nest and they were regularly looking about, sometimes getting up and flapping their proto-wings or walking around the edge of the nest. They presumably know to not try venturing out, because it’s a long way down. They are cutely hideous, with this dishevelled just-got-up look, but the stabby eyes already in place.
We ventured out onto Old Orchard Beach after, at my urging, and Nic stepped onto a dubious section to get closer to a heron to get a better shot. The heron flew off and Nic got stuck in the mud. He managed to extricate himself before I could get a photo, though. I went the long way around and remained unstuck.
We did not see much else, bird-wise in the area, but that’s normal. Nic spotted movement under some dirt and mulch and we watched as…something squirmed underneath, looking like it was about to emerge. And then it stopped. We have no idea if it was a particularly robust bug, a mole, or some eldritch horror.
Since we were over on the north side of the inlet, Nic suggested we visit Belcarra and check out some of the trails, so we did!
Repeating a theme throughout the day, there were a ton of people at the picnic area on the beach facing Boulder Island (the place one goes to rock out, presumably). This was the first summer-like day of the month, and I guess everyone wanted to savour it after most of May has been cooler and cloudier than normal.
We went down a few forest trails and I took possibly my worst-ever photo of a song sparrow with my kit lens. But I switched back to the telephoto as we came out to Bedwell Bay and there we found along the shore, getting pushed by the tide, a bunch of adorably tiny crabs.
This is an area with beautiful trails through forests, nice vistas, but not many birds, so we are unlikely to return too often, but it was nice to check out a new place.
After the new, a return to the old and after some weeks of seeing few herons, they were all over today. We say one here grab a fair-sized fishy from one of the creeks. We also our first cedar waxwings of the season, woo. The big pond also featured a pair of shovellers who had not yet shovelled off. Or maybe never will, because apparently they just go into hiding. The community garden yielded few birbs, but there were shiny swallows, at least one white-crowned sparrow and pollinators on nearly every flower.
We made copious use of the water fountain here, as Tlahutum offers no over at all, and by now it was mid-afternoon.
People were parked in pretty much every available space around the Nature House, but we lucked out and got a spot close to it.
The vibe (much as I hate the word) is different here right now for a few reasons:
We didn’t even catch any squirrels doing the cute squirrel thing. Maybe next time we’ll hit different parts of the trail and be blessed by the return of the mountain bluebirds. It could happen!
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
Common:
Raptors:
Non-birds:
Yes, I am back from the world of barfing, barfing and then barfing just a little more.
I was able to get out and aboot today (to a doctor appointment, ironically), and took a few photos. Here they are!
A few days ago, my partner came down with what appeared to be a stomach virus. Like a king, he found himself spending a lot of time on the throne.
After yesterday’s run (which went quite well), I noticed my stomach felt off and mostly brushed it aside, though a tiny alarm bell was ringing way in the back.
I had a glass of chocolate milk when I got home and two Aussie bites–a nutty, oatmeal/high fibre kind of snack. Jeff was running late, so I figured I’d be on my own for dinner, but strangely I wasn’t hungry.
Eventually I found myself laying on the bed and dozing intermittently. Around 8 p.m. I got up and felt much worse. I then made a tactical error and not just returned to the bed, but got under the sheets. I proceeded to barf two times, suddenly and without notice.
I managed to get up and finished off in the toilet. I was no king, I was a peon, kneeling before the throne.
About an hour later, round 2 came and at this point it seemed my stomach was now pretty much empty. A little while later, I had to go to the bathroom, and that’s when I moved from peon to king.
Today, I have been vomit-free and my bathroom duties seem to be back to normal, if minimal. I still don’t feel great, but feel a little better.
And the weight? When I stepped on the scale this morning, I had lost almost five pounds overnight. One again, getting sick is a great way to lose weight. Too bad it’s always temporary. I didn’t actually lose weight, of course, I just emptied out all the food and liquid in my stomach. I mean, there’s some minor weight loss there, as that food/liquid will not go into making me more muscular/fat, but still.
The last time I remember throwing up was in the early 90s. Having now re-experienced it, I will be happy if it never happens again. The sensation of being on one knee, facing down into a toilet bowl, and waiting to see if your stomach will involuntarily convulse and push out whatever is in it, is, in a word, gross. Also, awful. And other words. I have a thesaurus here.
I missed my usual Monday run (this is not becoming a pattern, I swear!), but like with Friday’s missed run, made up for it by going out the next day.
The forecast was around a 50% chance of light rain, but it didn’t look too bad, so I gambled and went out wearing just the usual t-shirt and shorts. It actually turned out to be partly sunny, so my gamble paid off, woo. Once I got to the lake, I opted to go clockwise, then remembered the detour on the Southshore Trail due to resurfacing…and went, anyway.
My first km was 5:49/km, which is not bad, but not fast. I felt fine, though, so just kept motoring along. My watch gave me a +7 on conditions for the run, which is possibly the highest it’s ever been. I was skeptical, but intrigued.
The second km was also 5:49/km, which is definitely a good sign. Shortly after this, I had to divert onto the Freeway Trail. The detour lasted a little over a km and I made it back onto the Southshore Trail just before the second boardwalk. My pace was 5:48–slightly faster!
By the time I was nearing the 4 km mark, I was feeling a little tired. I made a deal with myself: If my pace was slower, I’d briefly pause to rest, then continue. But my pace was 5:43/km–faster still! So I kept going, pushed a bit and ended with a final lap of 5:37/km, the first time I’ve gotten below 5:40 in a while. My overall pace was 5:46/km, eight seconds better than Saturday.
No issues experienced, though the lake was kind of overflowing, forcing me to divert slightly to avoid a few mega-puddles that had formed on the trail. Since it was an early afternoon run, I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of crowds, but it was overall pretty quiet, likely due to the morning showers.
Overall, a good run. I attribute my success to the soothing stylings of The Moody Blues’ album Long Distance Voyager, which I listened to for the run.
Stats:
Run 925
Average pace: 5:46/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 1:10 p.m.
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 28:58
Weather: Mostly cloudy
Temp: 13°C
Humidity: 72-69%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 150
Weight: 172.8
Total distance to date: 6,460 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (55/93/148)
Music: Long Distance Voyager, The Moody Blues
Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Centennial Beach (Delta), Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Partly sunny, 12-16°C
Today’s birding was X-rated, due to everything from dragonflies to swallows and sandhill cranes were getting it on. It was quite scandalous.
We started out at Reifel, where it seemed like most of the people there were Serious Birders and Their Very Gigantic Lenses. Even my 400 mm lens started feeling puny. On the other hand, I don’t have to stand 500 m away from a bird to get a shot.
We saw some baby ducks, which was fun, along with more goslings. Several male cowbirds were working it hard on the females, but the women were just not impressed.
In news both sad and horny, the Sandhill cranes have already abandoned their island nest, which has since been claimed by a goose as they expand their honking empire across the sanctuary. This likely means that any chicks they had did not survive. Undeterred, we witnessed them engage in a spontaneous (to us) mating ritual, so perhaps they are priming to try once again. Good luck, cranes!
Not to be left out, a pair of tree swallows did the nasty in a tree, which is the logical place for birds to make out. There was no fuss or muss here, just some very quick action, then each went about their business.
Shorebirds were finally spotted again in one of the big ponds–dowitchers, it looked like–but they were far off. Boo. And we only saw a single heron, which matches the number of turtles we saw as well.
In the cute department, apart from all the babbies, was a house sparrow fledgling, eating alongside a possible parent and looking delightfully scruffy.
The tide was extremely low, so the odds of seeing shorebirds here were also extremely low, but we did see a single killdeer, more baby ducks and a crow amusing itself by dropping some manmade thingamabob from high up above the rocky beach.
We also saw a house sparrow nab a crunchy winged insect of some sort atop a concrete block near to us.
I actually can’t recall seeing much else. It was one of the least bird-filled visits to Centennial in recent memory.
We ended at Piper spit and by this time, the sun was mostly covered by clouds, the wind had picked up and the No Bird Feeding Due to Bear in Area sign was up, which everyone obviously ignored.
It was too late to visit the Nature House by the time we arrived, due to Google Maps sending us on a very indirect route from Centennial Beach, but we did see about a billion more goslings, the Sandhill crane was present yet again (though standing in bad light) and more cowbirds were trying to get it on.
The lake level was way up after recent showers, so shorebirds were absent yet again. We had to make due with pigeons, a squirrel and the usual waterfowl.
Overall, it was a fine outing, and I got some snazzy shots, particularly at Reifel, where I had my R7 out for the first time..
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
Common:
Raptors:
Non-birds:
A weird Saturday run because I was just too lazy to run yesterday. That’s it, no good excuse!
I knew today would be soggy, so I opted to run the river trail, to reduce overall drenching time. As I got to the trail, I briefly considered going to the lake, because it was only lightly spitting, but figured that was a good way to insure a downpour. So the river trail it was.
I started strong at 5:45/km, but on the second km I dropped all the way to 6:05/km. I silently said a George Takei-style “Oh my” to myself, then…ran exactly 6:05/km for the third lap.
This could not stand. Also, I wasn’t sure why I was being such a laggard. I picked up the pace to 5:51/km then finished with 5:40/km, bringing my overall pace to 5:54/km, which is better than Wednesday, so I’m calling it good.
I also had another Crotch Incident™ with the shorts, but this time I was able to make the required adjustments without needing to stop. My left foot also felt a bit crampy, but this is unrelated to running, as it was feeling stiff and crampy last night, too. I assume imps are beating and twisting it at night while I sleep.
Conditions were otherwise decent. It was mild, with little wind, and the rain consisted mostly of some sprinkles to start, then was mostly just cloudy later, with the sun poking out just for a few moments at the very end. The earlier rain meant there was both puddle and slug dodging. There was some people dodging, too, but not too many people were out.
Overall, a good, if late, finish for the week.
Stats:
Run 924
Average pace: 5:54/km
Training status: Maintaining
Location: Brunette River Trail
Start: 131 p.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 29:38
Weather: Cloudy, some drizzle
Temp: 13°C
Humidity: 83%
Wind: light
BPM: 152
Weight: 171.7
Total distance to date: 6,455 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (50/80/130)
Music: Even in the Quietest Moments, Supertramp
I’m late posting my latest batch of birb photos, but here’s one I have ready, a female cowbird taken at Piper Spit. The rest in the next few days.
This is pretty much standard fare for YouTube captions. The bonus is, I didn’t realize my neon-green pointer was shoved up against the guy’s nose when I got the screen grab.
Not an album I can access through a streaming service, but one I bought and can play anywhere.
The answer: Wilder Minds, by Mumford & Sons, from 20151Worse, I’ve barely listened to the album, I never got into it.
Yes, the newest album I own was released 10 years ago (I bought it when it was new).
I only started listening to streaming music (via Apple Music) a few years ago, so there really is a years-long dropoff between now and when I bought my last new album. I have lamented how streaming seems to have killed the album in favour of an endless mix of random songs, but now realize I’m part of the problem!
I’m slowly rectifying this, though. The past few weeks, I’ve been listening to albums on my runs instead of shuffling songs. The albums are admittedly ancient, for the most part, but it’s a start.
Let’s see what’s new out there…
The neighbours down the street change up the figures a lot. I especially like the dramatic angle on this one.
I headed out a little later than intended, but still safely ensconced in the morning hours, plus as a bonus, it was cloudy and cool (for running, this is a legit bonus).
I opted to run counter-clockwise and started near the fountain by the dam, instead of the 0K marker. This saved me from having a prominent hill to climb up right near the beginning of the run. This turned out to be wise, as my energy level was a tad low.
I missed Monday’s run for reasons (pretty good reasons, really!) but this meant I’d had six days off since my last run, which is about three more than I’d like. I felt the time off.
The good news is that despite having three km just over the six-minute mark, I still came in under, at 5:57/km, thanks to a decent-ish start and a finish where I put in a little extra effort.
I had only one notable issue during the run, just over 2 km in: my shorts started chafing around the crotch. This is not a good place for chafing! I paused the run for a few moments to adjust and it seemed fine after, but it was weird. I don’t like weird on my runs, unless it’s something like someone else jogging up beside me to give me a cheque for a million dollars or something. That is the kind of weird I can handle.
The only other issue was post-run, and it was steering clear of these guys, who popped out onto the trail just as I approached:
In all, a not bad effort for mid-week and the time off. I look forward to the time when running 5Ks feel “easy” again.
Stats:
Run 923
Average pace: 5:57/km
Training status: Maintaining
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 10:53 a.m.
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 29:57
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 12-13°C
Humidity: 80-76%
Wind: light
BPM: 154
Weight: 171.9
Total distance to date: 6,450 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (45/75/120)
Music: The Beach Boys, Sounds of Summer