ILIOTIBIAL BANDS

       Have you ever heard of iliotibial bands? No, I'd never heard of them either.

       Do you have iliotibial bands? I didn't know I had any until today. 

       Iliotibial bands are huge tissue bands that run from the outside of the pelvis , over the hip and knee and attach just below the knee. It's one of the bigger tissues in the body and keeps your knee in alignment. 

       I found out that I have one of these, well, actually two as you have a band on both legs. I began having pain in my hip, knee and the muscles from my hip to the knee. At first the pain was intermittent and not too severe. It's worse at night and is not very noticeable in the day time. 

      Iliotibial syndrome is caused by overuse of the tissue. Many athletes and runners have iliotibial syndrome. 

     So to treat this syndrome you have to give it some rest. There are many stretches that can be used. Google iliotibial stretch and you'll find many websites with recommended stretches. treatment takes a long time and you have to be patient. 

     I got my problem when I first raked  grass this spring. I could feel the discomfort that day. I rake my grass twice so that I get rid of the thatch and then the grass has a better chance to start growing. I then proceeded to dig my garden by hand with the fork. By the time I'd finished these projects, I was in trouble. 

     So I will be on good behavior for the next while trying to rest and stretch so the the iliotibial band recovers. 

LUCK

        I've had a good string of luck lately. If I talk about it will the run end? 

        Well I've just got to tell you my luck anyway.

        A few months ago the bank made a boo boo which didn't  lose us any money but created a headache for more than just me. My tax man had to find out why I got several thousand more of a refund from income tax. The tax dept. had to discover what was wrong and how to fix it. So the bank came up with several treats for inconveniencing me.

      Then I told you abut my find of  wheel chair and walker. That makes three instances of good fortune.

     Well it went on to four pieces of good luck. When I was on my way to the birding walk last Sat . morning, I found a nice crisp 20 dollar bill on the curb. I looked around there was no one in the area. So I guess the 20 dollar bill is mine!

     So onward and no issues of superstition of talking about good luck. 

    Funny how luck runs in streaks. 

SATURDAY MORNING BIRDING

       Our birding group met promptly at 10:00 AM and spent 2 1/2 hours in an area called Bower Woods. It's essentially a creek with a width of 2 or 3 hundred meters. However , it's heavily forested with mostly spruce and some poplar. It's just an excellent habitat for boreal birds.

      The pioneering Bower family gave this land to the city for parkland. The city has put in an excellent trail system

      My house is about 500 meters away from this stream . I've lived in this area since 1970 and have made great use of the area. Many photos I show have been taken in this area. 

      So here is the description of what we saw today. 

Bower Woods, Red Deer CA-AB 52.25039, -113.80132, Red Deer, Alberta, CA
7-May-2022 9:49 AM - 12:17 PM
Protocol: Traveling
4.138 kilometer(s)
17 species

14 observers

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  4
Franklin's Gull (Leucophaeus pipixcan)  10
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  4
Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia)  1
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  8
Common Raven (Corvus corax)  2
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  18
Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus)  8     Excavating a nest near the top of a 2 m poplar snag
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula)  2
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  6
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  7
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  4
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  6
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  4
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)  7
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  2

I did get one bird photo and a few of the birders.

       

YOU MIGHT NEED IT!

      The other day the Micro Manager came running out of the house in a state of high anxiety and yelled, "Red it looks like there is a wheel chair and a walker on the other side of the street by the curb and I think it says FREE on them!" 

     Well, finally I was persuaded to peak through the fence and yes the  said items were out there. I couldn't see if it said free. The Micro Manager said, "Well , hurry up let's get over there."

     Over we went and yes they were free. She said, "Hurry up some one might come along and take them," as we stood there with our hands on the said items. 

    She said let's take them. You might need them.

    So off we went for home with one of us pushing the wheel chair and one the walker. Fortunately, no one came by to see us and we got the two items into the back yard.

    We took a minute to inspect our treasure. The walker looked as if it just needed to be wiped off. Guess who got that job because "you might need it." The wheel chair was in good condition but was quite dirty. It had been kept in the garage so there was dust, leaves, saw dust and other dirt and stains. 

    So the wheel chair will be cleaned up because, "You might need it. "

    Thinking a little more seriously you see people every day on the street and in stores and they are using a walker. In senior residences a large percentage of people use wheel chairs. 

     So as one of my friends commented, " I'm glad you have them but I hope you don't have to use them. "

THE BIRDING PLACE

       Saturday morning we went to a 300 acre area that was at one time farmed. The farmer ran some cattle and had about 90 acres cropped and also sold some timber. In the end he sold gravel, so much of the property had been dug up for gravel.  A  large part of the property is river escarpment. Then there's valley floor and there are a few acres above the escarpment. The valley floor has been flooded many times so there are many types of soil. Therefore there are many types of plants. You see very large spruce and poplar. Then you see areas of scrubby trees and brush. So there's a variety of habitat so we end up seeing a number of bird species. 

       Messy little spruce trees that barely survive.

                An old road used to mine gravel.

             The 90 acres that was crop land and has been sown to grass.

              Horse trail for wagons and sleighs

                 Mixed spruce and poplar.

                      Good bike trail

          Good bench with some tired birders.

     The province took this property and set it aside for park space. Very little has been done to change the property except to put in some excellent trails and a few benches. There is a pond that has been stocked with trout. The Red Deer River Winds along the property so there's more fishing and bird watching activity.

     One thing that was emphasized is that the area have an equestrian presence. 

     There's a large corral and stable for horses. You can rent horses to ride or get rides in various horse drawn vehicles. Some wedding parties get pulled down into the valley and have their outdoor wedding ceremony and reception. 

GOOD BIRDING THIS MORNING

       We had an excellent bird walk this morning. It was plus 12 C, calm and partly cloudy. 

     We went to a place called Heritage Ranch which was set aside for parkland and developed in the 1970's . Part of it was farmed and used to raise cattle. A large part of it was taken for gravel pits. Trees shrubs and grass have come back to these areas and it makes for some good birding habitat. 

     We had 16 spotters of various ages, shapes and sizes.

 We saw 22 species. More of the spring migrants are starting to show up. 

Protocol: Traveling
5.416 kilometer(s)
Checklist Comments:     RDRN Bird Focus Group outing
22 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  5
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  10
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  1
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  2
Franklin's Gull (Leucophaeus pipixcan)  5
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)  2
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)  1
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)  2
Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus)  1
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)  1
Merlin (Falco columbarius)  1
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)  2
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  4
Common Raven (Corvus corax)  1
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  55
Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus)  3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula)  1
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  2
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  4
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  4

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S108501732

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

     Now I am not a bird photographer. I may be able to give some links tomorrow for photos. 

     But to show you my lack of skill here are my two bird shots. Nuff said!

 

A SURPRISE

        Sometimes small unexpected things surprise me. Maybe it's not so much surprise but something I hadn't thought about.

        This morning we went to look at another seniors living facility. We've been looking at places for the last three months. No, we're not moving. Looking , just in case.

        No doubt about it the people who show you around are sales people. The more they know about you , the more successful their pitch can be.

       So they want to know what some of my interests are. I told him I blogged. He seemed surprised. He said, "I've never met anybody who writes a blog.

       I was surprised. I guess if you're in the blog world you think blogging is common. I talk to my friends about my blog and they know about writing blogs. They read me sometimes and are quick to make a comment. 

     I also look at blogs and see that they have many followers. Some blogs have thousands of followers. 

     So I was a little surprised to meet someone who wasn't very familiar with blogging.

     Do you find that people are familiar with blogging?