We are officially in bonus time ladies and gents. Not bad seeing as how it is only the 20th – no whining about being down posts this month. There’s more than one reason this month is special – I finally overcame my demons today and managed to knock out three loops during our weekly Sunday Springdale Run. That’s right, 20 miles in the books on the nasty hillfest we torture ourselves about every weekend these days. The third loop has been my nemesis for over a year now – every time before I end up begging for mercy at the end of the second loop regardless of how well I felt at the end of the first. This time we held back a bit on the second loop too keep from tiring our legs out. There is a theory that there was some help from the Girl Scouts but further testing is needed before we can definitely say we have found a running secret! Note, I was so happy I checked this life list item off I enjoyed a Shamrock Shake – a rarity based on the calorie count that decadent dessert possesses – figured with over 2500 burned off during the run I could spare a few to indulge.
20 miles also signifies something else – I’m gonna need some time to rest the legs. Not one to waste a perfectly good afternoon, figured it could be spent cranking out this bonus entry. Now I’d like to introduce you to the House Sparrow.
This happens to be one of the few Sparrows I can easily identify in the field. The black laced necklace of the male in these shots is easy to spot and distinctive enough to ID. At some point I’m going to distill all the key features of the various Sparrow members so my brother and I can quickly classify all the little brown jobbers that end up in the tin after any Midwest outing.
Hit the jump to see and read more about this common North American bird.
