I already miss being in the mountains… for Thursday 13, here’s a list of (some of) my accomplishments during our week and 1/2 of vacation in New York (upstate and down):
1. Learned to properly throw a baseball right-handed (I’m a lefty; and there’s more to throwing a baseball than I thought).
2. Waded in a mountain stream.
3. Hiked up a mountain at dawn to search for an endangered bird species (didn’t hear any evidence of them – looking for Swainson’s Thrushes).
4. Wrote a lot; journaled, wrote blog articles, journaled some more. And then wrote more blog articles. [I don’t think journaling or journaled are real words – I can’t find usage of journal as a verb, but I’m at a loss for what else to call it. Isn’t writing in your journal, journaling??]
5. Learned about the Iroquois Nation and its tribes at the Iroquois Indian Museum. A really fantastic place.
6. Made new friends that we met at the museum; got together with them the following day.
8. Watched a red fox that took up residence under the barn at our place in the Catskills.
9. Visited with my very best friend down in lower NY; went out for dinner and drinks, and got our families together the following day.
10. Visited the 9-11 Memorial in NYC.
11. Despite being a New Yorker for 26 years, I visited the New York Public Library for the first time and had my picture taken with Patience (or Fortitude).
12. Rode the A-Train.
13. Got up close and personal with a very large spider for an hour and 1/2 (kept a stout pane of glass between us). I really don’t think that would make anyone else’s vacation list except mine, and perhaps a few of my geekier nature-friends (Kate??).
Where did you go for Swainson’s thrush? I always had them easily around Inlet NY. I remember hearing them call at dusk around that lake just north of town. It’s the Bicknell’s thrush I’ve had trouble finding
My goof – it was the Bicknell’s we were on the hunt for. I’ve had Swainson’s on my mind for a while (don’t ask). I had a friend in graduate school who did her master’s thesis on the Bicknell’s Thrush. She spent quite a bit of time in the Catskills, hiking mountains and listening for their call on various peaks. I haven’t gone over her – or anyone else’s – research to find out which peaks they’ve been located on in the past. I just knew that they have been heard not far from the mountain – North Dome – that our cabin is on.
It was a pretty long shot, at best. It’s a bit late in the season, and I had no real reason to believe they might be nesting on North Dome. It was as much an excuse to hike up there as anything else. 🙂 Have you had any evidence of Bicknell’s in your area in the past few years?
Sounds like it was a great vacation…love the photo….too cute…
Thanks, Michelle. It was a lovely vacation. I could have easily spent the whole time up in the mountains, but am really glad I got to see my friend.
Love it. Except for the throwing a baseball right-handed. Stick with the left side. We’re much more valuable in baseball than righties!
I have no doubt! It was fun to try, though. I don’t have a lefty glove, which is why I was trying right-handed….