While driving home from Bradley Palmer State Park a little while ago, I came across a flock of about a half-dozen wild turkeys off Burley Street in Danvers, near Beverly Airport. I think it’s a resident flock, as I’ve seen turkeys in the area before. I grabbed my iPhone and took some picture of the birds, whose skittishness seemed to diminish after I had been there for a few minutes.
Category: Outdoors Page 4 of 5
As Easter was one of the first nice days we’ve had this spring, I thought I would head over to one of my favorite stomping grounds — Willowdale State Forest in Ipswich — and have a look at what the winter had wrought.
At first the trail seemed unusually dry (this is mud season, after all). Soon, though, I ran into washed-out paths that forced me to change my route and put in more miles than I’d planned on. There were a few bugs, though nothing like what will be buzzing around in a couple of weeks.
All in all, a great walk, and I was back home before the first quarter of the Celtics-Knicks game had ended.
Went for a two-mile run at Bradley Palmer State Park this afternoon. The pond at the entrance on the Topsfield side (above) is still iced over, and there was a lot of slushy ice along the roadway heading out to the kiddie pool. Just goes to show that melting lags in the cool woods.
Not thrilled to be doing all the pre- and post-running stuff for just two miles, but I’m glad to be moving again.
Centennial Common at Northeastern University, right around 9 a.m. today.
The view from our back porch, minutes ago.
The temperature on Mount Washington at 9:30 a.m.: 19.4 degrees. Wind chill: minus-5.4 degrees. Cog Railway in foreground; Northern Presidentials in background. Visit the Mount Washington Observatory, from whose webcam I downloaded this image.
Saw this while riding my bike along Route 1A in Ipswich earlier today. I’ve probably passed by it hundreds of times over the past 25 years, but this time it caught my eye.
I’m not running because I’m trying to recover from a heel injury. I’m not riding because my bike’s in the shop with a snapped gear cable. So this afternoon I hiked through Willowdale State Forest in Topsfield (this link says it’s in Ipswich, but I stayed on the Topsfield side).
Because of the unusually dry summer, I was able to walk along trails that are almost always off-limits, including a particularly nice path that bisects a swamp. The horseflies and mosquitoes were obnoxious, but not overwhelmingly so.
Despite the dry weather, we’ve had some wild storms. Because of flooding damage, the footbridge that connects Willowdale with Bradley Palmer State Park is out — from the serious-looking chain-link fence that’s been built around it, I’d be surprised to see it reopen any time soon.
Anyway, hope you enjoy the photos.
Click on image for larger size
I just got back from a 20-mile bike ride in the humid North Shore air. My route took me past Gordon-Conwell Seminary in Wenham, which I had never seen, even though I’ve driven by it many times. So I explored the grounds and got this shot with my BlackBerry of the chapel (which is at the summit of a rather brutal hill). It would have made for a better picture if the cars weren’t there.
*Correction: A friend who attended Gordon-Conwell tells me that the chapel is actually behind this building.
I took a walk this afternoon along the abandoned railroad tracks in Danvers from Chestnut Street to Topsfield Road (Route 97), which is supposed to become part of a North Shore bicycle trail. For more information check out Danvers Bi-Peds.
Since I forgot to bring my camera, I took these with my BlackBerry instead. I’m astonished at how good they came out.