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Birding While Jogging- Bridgewater Edition

It's been a while since I've blogged about birding while jogging. This was one of my favorite things to do when I lived in Watertown, MA and had the beautiful DCR Charles River trails at my disposal.

Here are a few of my "Birding While Jogging" posts from 2007-2008:

http://birdinggirl.blogspot.com/2008/01/birding-while-jogging.html
http://birdinggirl.blogspot.com/2007/08/birding-while-jogging.html

Since moving to Bridgewater, MA I haven't been as inclined to go running because we lack scenic trails like the ones on the Charles River. However, there is a nice route I like to take that crosses the Taunton River and its off-shoots in a couple of places. Naturally rivers and streams are a jackpot when it comes to birding. So, since I've picked up running again I've also been trying to get in some birding while I'm out there.

Here's what I've seen so far in my jogs this week and last:

Yellow warbler
Pine warbler
Rose-breasted grosbeak
Tree swallows

Here's to hoping I'll see more! It's definitely the motivating factor when I get out there to run. I like having nature and birds to look at to pass the time. This is a great time for it too since there are so many flowering trees and bushes along my route that they're attracted to.

Comments

meg said…
ohh running, i miss it sometimes. especially the trails we had in newton. are you guys still planning on doing falmouth this year?
Dawn Fine said…
Cool! I have a hard enough time seeing birds while doing a fast walk..I would be hard pressed to see any birds while huffing and puffing..hee hee
Nice sightings..
David said…
Are air quality has been very bad lately here in Denton, TX so I run indoors on our treadmill while leaving my bloggie camera filming birds outside to watch afterwards :-)

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