Hikes

Eighteen hikers set out on a hot spring morning. Thank goodness for sun screen and mosquito spray!

We hiked across open meadows and fields, through shady trees and over many stiles.

We enjoyed our lunch on a small hill with a slight breeze. View the photos on Flickr.

Thirteen people came out to hike the Saunders Lake trail. After negotiating the electric fence in our unique ways, we marched forward along the lake.

Saunders Lake is a great place to see birds. Besides the ubiquitous red-winged blackbird along the shore, we saw different kinds of ducks, perhaps mergansers, a grebe, and coots in the water. Swooping over our heads were swallows and chickadees.

We also saw a pair of bald eagles settled into their nest across the lake—perhaps the same eagles we spotted last year. Definitely it’s the same nest.

Yellow warblers were also spotted, but alas, no pictures.

And then there was an interesting pair of birds that we could not identify. This species is somewhat larger than a robin. Do you know what this is?

The weather was warm, sunny, and quite humid. The breezes kept the mosquitoes at bay for most of the walk. There were a few types of wildflowers.

Total distance covered was almost 10 km. View more pictures on Flickr from Seonhee, Stella, and JoAnne.