No school + Migration = Running

School is officially done for the year for me and I'm so relieved that I can't stop rubbing it in everybody face. I decided to celebrate not having to wake up early and do school with waking up early and going running/birding. I've been operating off mostly sugar and lack of sleep the for past month. As Delmi can attest, I get extremely talkative and hyper without enough sleep. I started off down the nature path close to my house, which has been getting a surprisingly good migration the past few days. Almost immediately I mopped up most of the common warblers that were not on my SWSA list because of my sad lack of running during the migration.

Soon I had three vireos, nine warblers, two flycatchers, and one cuckoo among other birds. Tomorrow I'll be heading out to the country to run around some flooded fields, so hopefully I will get some shorebirds, ducks, and the second county record of a Wilson's Phalarope.

New SWSA birds = 15

SWSA total = 137

Warblers (and such)

Spring is awesome. On Tuesday, I decided to warm up for my bio final by doing the five-mile Reed's Lake loop. Fifty-seven species, eighteen warblers, and one very frightened young mother with a stroller who I nearly ran down because I was overly focused on a singing Canada Warbler.

Yesterday, I put in another run and added a few more SWSA birds, including Yellow-breasted Chat, Bell's Vireo, and Black-chinned Hummingbird. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, there was a flight back home to California between those two runs...

SWSA= 174

Sorry CO boys

Respect your elders, or be obliterated.

I went out running for the first time in almost two weeks last night. Since my last run, a LOT of new birds have come in, and I scored nineteen new SWSA birds. Goodies like Veery, Barred Owl, Common Nighthawk, Chestnut-sided Warbler...SWSA = 153

Panting as I finished off my seven miles, I tried thinking of how different SWSA would respond to the situation. If BR was with me, he would have been like, "Ahhh nice little warm-up, now let's put in fifty miles!" Masai would have said, "I've been waiting here for you for two hours. You're slow. Hey, where's Welch, let's beat him up!" Pippin would have drawn upon her vast reserves of power hidden in her hair and punched a random passerby in the face. Delmi probably would have tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. Osama bin Laden would be like, "Oh man...wait nevermind I'm still dead."

Oh, and Rosy would look puzzled and say, "Huh? What's the Sweaty Sanderlings?"

Spring Migration So Far

I guess I should actually post something about all of the stuff I've been seeing on my recent bi-pedal exploits, instead of running the risk of banishment. We're sorry to hear about the Skinky's recent injury, but I am happy to report that my knee hasn't bothered me at all for the last week. It seems as though I've left that regrettable experience in the past (*knocks on wood*).

On a five-mile run this afternoon, I saw an incredible total of thirty species, of which three were new for my SWSA list . . . Yellow Warbler, Lazuli Bunting, and White-throated Swift. Those first two were new for my regular, non-running year list, and the swift, well, they’ve been around for a few weeks, but they’re kind of hard to spot while running. On a six mile run yesterday afternoon, I saw my first SWSA Bullock’s Oriole. On May 5th, I had my first Broad-tailed Hummingbird of the year. On May 4th, I had my first Colorado and SWSA Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

Previous to that, though, I’ve lost track of the dates. The new SWSA birds that I remember are Vesper Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, White-faced Ibis, and Barn Swallow. Adding everything up, my species tally currently stands at 135, one more than the crippled Skinky. Welch is unsure of his exact total, but I believe that it is at least half a dozen ticks longer than mine.

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2011 SWSA Totals

Miles Run: 400!!!

SWSA Species: 135

Injuring

I've come to the conclusion that the central aim of running is to injure yourself; it seems that I'll be fit to run for about a week before incapcitating myself for another three weeks. This time, it's something with my right foot--possibly a stress fracture. It's slightly swollen and hurts to walk on, but it seems to be getting better. I've been out of the game for a week, and probably will be for a couple more, which means I'll miss out on a lot of migration. [insert a few more paragraphs of whining and complaining]

Before my latest accomplishment, I added a few more, the highlights being Rusty Blackbird, Pileated Woodpecker, Virginia Rail, and Yellow Warbler.

Total=134

Thank goodness for swimming.