Hike At Night
August 26th, 2008
Or hike at sunset, anyway, and bring along a good pair of low-light-tolerant binoculars.
I went out to Old Quarry Trail today around 5:30PM. I hiked around for an hour, didn't see much (other than the usual deer and a few common breeding birds), and went back to Hazeldean Mall to have dinner. After dinner I was going to head home, but thought "well, marsh birds are often more active at dusk, lets give it one more try"--and went back out. Which is when all the cool stuff happened.
At 8:00PM, after creeping back and forth on the boardwalk for about fifteen minutes, I saw a medium-sized bird silhouetted behind the cattails. I very slowly and quietly sat down cross-legged, lifted my binoculars, and watched as it came out into the open: my first Virginia Rail, a shy and secretive marsh wader. This made my day. And my week. And my month.
At 8:15PM I saw a Snowshoe Hare on the path ahead. Rabbits are ubiquitous in a number of places in Ottawa, but this is the first time I'd ever seen a hare. I didn't realize how different they looked: this one was standing half-upright, and his posture reminded me of a kangaroo. At 8:20, a pair of porcupines--mother and child, I think--ambled by in the woods. Shortly thereafter a third porcupine began to come down out of his tree for the night. Said tree was about five feet away from me.
For obvious reasons, I didn't stick around.
August 26th, 2008
Or hike at sunset, anyway, and bring along a good pair of low-light-tolerant binoculars.
I went out to Old Quarry Trail today around 5:30PM. I hiked around for an hour, didn't see much (other than the usual deer and a few common breeding birds), and went back to Hazeldean Mall to have dinner. After dinner I was going to head home, but thought "well, marsh birds are often more active at dusk, lets give it one more try"--and went back out. Which is when all the cool stuff happened.
At 8:00PM, after creeping back and forth on the boardwalk for about fifteen minutes, I saw a medium-sized bird silhouetted behind the cattails. I very slowly and quietly sat down cross-legged, lifted my binoculars, and watched as it came out into the open: my first Virginia Rail, a shy and secretive marsh wader. This made my day. And my week. And my month.
At 8:15PM I saw a Snowshoe Hare on the path ahead. Rabbits are ubiquitous in a number of places in Ottawa, but this is the first time I'd ever seen a hare. I didn't realize how different they looked: this one was standing half-upright, and his posture reminded me of a kangaroo. At 8:20, a pair of porcupines--mother and child, I think--ambled by in the woods. Shortly thereafter a third porcupine began to come down out of his tree for the night. Said tree was about five feet away from me.
For obvious reasons, I didn't stick around.
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