Far Better than a Workout at the Gym

Nothing much happening since our California trip. More often than not, the highlight of our day is our 3 1/2 trek down to the beach and back, a significant step up from walking two miles on a round track at the YMCA. I do think both Leslie and I are in better shape than we were at the beginning of summer, but it’s hard to put that into pictures.

Luckily, we continue to walk weekly at Theler Wetlands where we spot enough birds to make the four mile walk a delightful experience.

One Sunday we sighted this Red-Crossbill, a bird I’ve only sighted three times in all the years I’ve been birding.

16RedCrossbill

The next Sunday we sighted a Black-Headed Grosbeak,

BlkHddGrsbk

a bird I’ve seen occasionally at Theler, but still rare enough I consider it a treat.

The real highlight of the day, though, was while watching large flocks of American Goldfinches,

GldfnchFlk

we noticed a Cooper’s Hawk (I think) intently watching, too.

CprsHwk1

Once Leslie sighted the hawk, I immediately shifted my focus to the hawk as I tried to capture a shot of it in flight.

CprsHwk2

This might have been a young hawk because it seemed awfully inept at chasing the Goldfinches.

Birds or no birds, walking the four miles at Theler is a real treat as I get in my exercise without every feeling like I am exercising. I even get in a walking meditation at the same time. Can’t beat that. If I lived closer I probably wouldn’t need a YMCA membership.

One thought on “Far Better than a Workout at the Gym”

  1. Yep, Loren: walking, hiking, hoisting, hacking, mowing, weeding, hauling, cycling & swimming are all infinitely preferable to the last resort of a gym and those dreaded machines going nowhere…

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