Tag: river

This Week’s Long Run: Sunrise Over the River

It’s that boiling hot and extra humid time of year, which means I hit the road at 5:15 today to get my 10k run in. It was dark when I set out, but I was awarded with this sunrise by the time I reached the park:

Is that not worth the early rise?

There was a convention of birds on the boat pier in the river: a pied kingfisher and two Egyptian geese were perched pretty close to each other (the kingfisher is the tiny bird on top of the pole in the centre of the photograph).

Then I saw a man paddling a blue kayak  down the river, past a flock of grazing geese, and even though I hadn’t planned on taking another photo stop, I just had to get this shot.

I ran a little over 10k, just before the heat started to set in, and then rewarded myself with two coffees for my pre-dawn effort 🙂

This Week’s Long Run: Parakeets in the Sunrise

The heat here is getting more intense, which means that I’m moving more of my runs to the mornings, and setting out earlier each time. It was completely dark when I set out on my long run today, and my running app (NRC) clocked my run as a night run. For some reason I found that hilarious.

There are green parakeets all over the park, but they’re usually too flighty for me to photograph them. Today they stayed and played a bit in the trees, so I got get a few blurry shots of their silhouettes. Yay!

My iPhone 8 had a much better camera, but I’m on an iPhone 6s now because my iPhone 8’s modem shorted for no reason and can’t be fixed. So for now, this is the best that I’ve got.

A night heron was also obliging enough to strike a pose on the river bank. I love how elegant they are.

There was a photographer on a nearby bench taking pictures of this fellow, so he must have felt popular today.

Another night heron had an even better perch, on top of the peddle boats pier.

And we end with a photo from the beginning of my run, with the sun rising over the river.

This Week’s Runs: Golden Jackal, Sunset, Sunrise and the Sea

On a midweek run I encountered one of the famous Golden Jackals that live in the Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv. As usual, he was more interested in keeping his distance than bothering anyone of the runners on the trail.

The first time I saw a Golden Jackal I was sure that it was someone’s dog let loose. They are the ancestors of many dog breeds, so I guess that’s not surprising.

Yesterday’s run rewarded me with a beautiful sunset over a pretty stormy sea.

Today’s long run started with a sunrise over a calm river, with a night heron…

… and some mallards dozing off on the pier.

Check out those waves! Not the best sea for swimmers.

This Week’s Long Run: Back On Track

After a long running hiatus, getting back to form takes time and patience. Your body struggles against you, refusing to accept that you really are regularly running, insisting that this must be a one time thing. Your feet feel heavy and sluggish, and it’s hard to push on, to put one foot in front of another.

Then, a few weeks go by, and your body suddenly decides to give in. It starts cooperating, and that makes all the difference. Today’s 10k marked that point for me. My run was faster, my body felt light and responsive. Things just flowed. It wasn’t the pure flying sensation that you get on a truly great run, but it was a good run nevertheless. I’m happy to be be back.

Set out super early, so the night herons were more out in the open, rather than huddling deep in the reeds on the banks.

Tried to photograph a pied kingfisher, but he saw me and flew off, skimming across the water, so you just get a nice picture of peddle boats.

Second night heron of the run, and one slightly bigger than the previous run. The glare is the reflection of the sunrise over the trees in the park.

A little over 10k on a really nice run. The Egyptian geese say hello. They’re done with baby geese rearing for now, and they seem relieved.

This Week’s Long Run: Baby Ducks, Baby Geese

First long run in over a month (I count only runs 7k and further as long runs). Set out a bit later than I probably should have, but the heat wasn’t too bad. This sort of mistake is not something that I’ll be able to afford in a few weeks, so I have to start getting used to getting up and out of the house in the pre-dawn again.

The Tel Aviv port almost always has something going on in the summer months, and this week was no different. A local gym chain set up a pop-up outdoor gym, which looked pretty impressive. I might swing by, if only for the experience of working out in this view.

 

I missed seeing the river in the morning: low tide, Egyptian geese, fishermen trying their luck. In the evening the swallows flit between you and any other passer by, but at this time of day they’re gone and even the geese are sleepy.

That is unless you’ve got a family to feed. Mom and dad Egyptian geese kept a close eye on the toddlers as they groused near the bike lane. There are very few bikes around at this hour and the two that passed them were very respectful and gave them a wide berth.

In the water two mallards were taking their family out for a swim. It appears that one of the little ducklings is a little adventurous.

That’s it, another week, another run. It’s good to be back.

This week’s long run: baby geese

I went for a long run yesterday, the first after a week an a half of hiatus due to muscle inflammation. It was good to be back, even if only for 8k, and even if this run was slower than my usual pace.

Caught the sun rising just over the river at ebb. The clouds made it particularly beautiful.

A little bittern and a night heron were fishing next to two fishermen as the sun rose:

I encountered a family of Egyptian geese both on my out and on my way back. The baby geese run out front and their parents follow, keeping an eye on them at a more sedentary pace:

The female is the lighter coloured goose, and the male is all decked out:

A little bittern was out hunting during the ebb tide:

Look at that sunrise. Is it not worth getting up early and going out for a run for that?

This Week’s Long Run: Evening Birds

Saturday was supposed to rain cats and dogs, so I pushed my Saturday morning 10K to a Friday evening one.

This is a terrible picture of a heron, but that’s what I have I’m afraid.

Momma Egyptian goose keeps an eye on her swimming little ones. Not pictured, the rat that was foraging for food a few meters from them.

Sea scouts out in their boats:

A pair of Egyptian geese watching over the river:

It was very windy, so the surfers were out in force:

This Week’s Long Run: Ducks, Gulls and Cafe Cats

This week’s long run was another one in perfect weather. Things are heating up though, so I’m savouring these as long as they last.

This little bittern basked in the morning light. You can almost hear him admiring his reflection in the water.

A gull was standing guard over a few rowboats at one of the river piers:

A mallard sunned itself at the riverside:

And a couple of ducks grazed together:

10k run done:

I went for a post run coffee and a sandwich and was greeted by the cafe’s cat:

This Week’s Long Run: A Day Early

It was supposed to rain heavily on Saturday morning (of course it only drizzled), so I pushed my weekend 10k from Saturday morning to Friday evening. There was a very brisk wind and I could see the storm clouds gathering as I ran (it did rain heavily throughout the night), but otherwise it was perfect running weather, not to hot, not too cold, and dry.

There were a lot of people out and about in the park, so I had less wildlife photo-ops than usual. An Egyptian goose taking a nap at the riverbank:

The “sea scouts” taking their distinctive green boats out:

Cormorants getting ready to sleep on a eucalyptus tree:

All in all it was a good run, even though I still prefer to get my long runs in in the morning. And to those who listened to this week’s “This American Life”: Tootles!

This week’s long run: baby ducks

Started out extra early today, so ran most of my run in the dark.

Two geese and a coot:

Mom and dad duck bringing their babies to the water’s edge:

Duck and egret ignoring each other on the exposed riverbed:

10k done, and my Egyptian goose friend approves: