Get Thee to a Rookery

The route I regularly use to bring friends to the rookery was not ideal for my weekly riding companions. I mapped out a shorter, pavement-only alternative, and today we took it for a spin.

I'd explained that binoculars weren't really needed, which they understood once we rolled in.

My feathered friends did not disappoint, though for the first time in so many visits a flying egret nailed me on the shoulder (splat)! (Hit one of my buddies, too.)

The birds have been nesting in this area for many years (decades?), despite the trees being surrounded by office buildings (currently, a Google campus). They're accustomed to coexisting with people: workers strolling from one building to another, birders equipped with serious camera gear, and ordinary gawkers like us. By not interfering with them, we are privileged to observe them at close range. Snowy egrets feeding chicks, fledglings testing their wings, well-camouflaged juvenile black-crowned night herons eyeing us through the branches.

Once I'd settled on where we'd start the ride, the rest was easy: I had honed much of the route through so many bike-commutes over the years. Although some of today's route didn't exist when I'd needed it, I found one stretch through a neighborhood that I should have discovered long ago. [Will use again.]

We paused for pastries (of course!) on our way back to the park where we'd started; from there I pedaled home, giving me a healthy 42 miles and some 1,400 feet of elevation gain for the day.

Next order of business: wash that jersey!