That is the question, alright.  It’s one that’s been nagging at me for awhile, wondering if we should take the summer off after maintaining a non-stop series of posts ever since we decided to sell our home over five years ago.  Posting ‘real’ tours are a no-brainer, but what about these interstices between them when there’s a fair amount of biking going on but it’s pretty arguable whether it fits anyone’s definition of a bike tour?

There are good arguments both ways, but one in favor of posting is that we aren’t really home since we don’t quite have one of those any more, so in one way of thinking about it we’re still on the road even though we’re in a longer stay situation at the moment.  Also, there’s the fact that neither one of us has a memory worth much of anything any more, and if we hope to remember much of where these next three months went we’d better write it down somewhere where we can find it.

And, there’s the fact that we anticipate more than one or two CycleBlaze meetups this summer, and we certainly want to be reporting on that.

And then there’s this sighting from yesterday on our first bike outing together, which for me settled the deal.  The quest continues!

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marilyn swettNice pic! That is one wicked looking beak.
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1 year ago

Scott AndersonTo marilyn swettThis was really lucky, because he was just calmly perched on a wire near the road. I knew we’d be seeing one soon because they’re common here in the summer, but didn’t expect to get such a good shot.
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1 year ago

Kelly IniguezI'm happy you are continuing journaling - I have to give Jacinto the report each night what you are up to!
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1 year ago

Bill ShaneyfeltPost tour posts are good!
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1 year ago

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So that’s settled.  I don’t know how frequently we’ll tie up space here in the coming three months before we leave for Bilbao in September, but it will certainly be often enough to include any new birds that get listed.

And there’s today’s fun fact, which I realized I subconsciously knew but had never really thought about before.  Ospreys, which are of course fish-eating birds, have evolved a pretty remarkable adaptation to support their diet.  They have unusual feet - one of their toes is reversible and the soles are padded and barbed to help them get a grip.  Which is interesting, but the really fun fact is that they always fly the day’s catch head first because it’s more aerodynamic and reduces drag.  Once they’ve caught their prey they straighten it out to the correct orientation, something I’ll have to watch for the next time I see one haul a fish out of the Columbia.  Impressive feet, and an impressive feat!

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2023 Bird List

     161. Osprey