Bend to Boise - Day 3

I woke up today with my left hamstring quite sore and one of the tendons behind my left knee very tender. After today, I have are 5 more days of riding on this trip, then I am going to South Dakota for another 5 days of cycling. While my leg was certainly not terrible, I decided that taking a rest day today would serve me much better for the remainder of my trip than pushing through the pain. Today’s ride was a loop ride so we are not moving our lodging. This meant that I could spend the day in town rather than taking a rest day by sitting in the support van.

Not surprisingly, I quickly determined where I could photograph birds nearby. I headed out right after breakfast towards the John Day River which was about 6 blocks from our hotel. About a half mile down the river was a small pond with waterfowl. Above is a photo of a Cinnamon Teal. The Cinnamon Teal was both a new species for me and was the 500th species of bird that I have photographed and recorded on eBird.

This is the male Northern Shoveler, another new species for me. It was not my 500th species because at first glance from a distance, it looked like a Mallard while the Cinnamon Teals were clearly something new for me. As a result of that quick judgement, the Northern Shovelers became species #501.

Here is the female Northern Shoveler.

There were also Mallards in the pond. I like the color of the early morning sun on this female Mallard.

At one point, this Killdeer flew over the pond and I was able to snap this image.

After photographing the waterfowl for a while, I wandered towards a second pond perhaps 3/4 of a mile away. This second pond was smaller, and there did not seem to be any activity when I arrived. However, shortly after I arrived, this Belted Kingfisher showed up.

Without any additional action I headed back through a bit of town towards the river. On the way, I saw this California Scrub-Jay fly by.

As I got near the river close to the first pond, this Red-Winged Blackbird flew straight towards me.

As I crossed the river heading back towards the hotel, I noticed this Say’s Phoebe on a rock. I first photographed the Say’s Phoebe when visiting Sedona Arizona in 2022.

In addition to the birds, I also noticed a couple of gecko like reptiles. This one was on a rock along a path on a hillside.

This one, was on the path by the river.

Tomorrow I am back on the bike as we ride about 80 miles from John Day to Baker City. But I will sign off with this final shot of a Cinnamon Teal.