This morning I took off on the motorcycle and headed toward Carlos Avery Wildlife Refuge. This refuge has miles and miles of dirt roads that wind past ponds, lakes, woods, prairies, and swamps. I've been through it a couple of times before. I wanted to go on my own. Navigating on a dirt road can be tricky so I kept to a steady 12 mph speed. Any slower and I would have gotten bogged down in the sand. Any faster and I might have lost control on the washboard segments. I had my eyes on the road searching for the best route. Some spots of the road were completely washed out. Other parts were in pretty good shape. I went into the refuge off of Co. Road 18 like I had been shown before. I got lost right away. I never went past the big pools. I recognized one pond because it has an island in it and it was on the opposite side of the road. I'm not sure how I did that. When I got out, I came out on County Road 22, and I didn't even know that was possible. I stopped by one pond to enjoy the scenery, look for birds, and relax. I saw a momma duck and her family. She had 9 little ones. I'm pretty sure she belonged to the common merganser family. I saw morning doves, crows, red-winged blackbirds, grackles, goldfinches, robins, thrush, and bluebirds. I discovered it's pretty hard to birdwatch on a motorcycle. The helmet gets in the way. And I can't hear. Hearing the birds sing helps you find them. Even though I didn't see many birds besides the merganser family, I had a wonderful trip. I was in the refuge for an hour and never saw another vehicle or person.
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