The Suburban Wilderness

Today as I was biking around the loop in the nature preserve near my house, I encountered some incredible and surprising wild life. There is yet to be a day when I ride through there that I don't see a rabbit or deer...or tons of cardinals and red-winged blackbirds. This afternoon was a different experience though. At the beginning of the loop I came around a corner and there was a HUGE bird crossing the path, it took me by surprise (I was worried I might hit it). I later realized it was a wild turkey, though it looked quite different from the ones we have in Southern Ohio. I didn't notice if it had a gobble or not.

The best part of the ride was when I came to the top of a climb and thought I saw a dead animal on the side of the bike path. It turned out to be an owl sitting on the ground with its wings spread completely out. I was amazed; the wingspan was huge! It watched me as I passed and turned it's head all the way around...it was unbelievable to be that close to an owl. After talking to my dad about it, we decided it was a barred owl (pictured below). Our guess is that is was probably guarding food on the ground, though it was strange to see a nocturnal animal is broad daylight.

In other news, I learned how to change my tires on the bike. Now I have great durable tires to biking thousands of miles. I also figured out how my new bike pump works and how to clean my gears and chain. At the end of the work session I was thoroughly covered in grime...just how it should be.

I've got three more days until I depart for New Hampshire and things are a little hectic. I have spent the past week moving out of my house, back to my parent's house where my stuff will live this summer. On top of that I've been packing for the trip, biking more, and doing my sweat equity with Habitat. I look forward to the simplicity of my routine this summer.