This was the first track that Trust has done since our "really, really, really close pass in the UTDX test"...ok, enough of that one...So, just a fun track, it was steady rain when she went on it and we were soaked. But we badly need rain here, so not complaining. Some pictures aren't very clear because of the rain. The hard surfaces were all gravel, 4 articles, aged only 1 1/2 hr.
She is on her second leg here and just discovered a plastic Tim Hortons' card in the grass.
She flipped it up, sat down, and yawned. So here's the choices! Is she saying "this is just too easy, stupid" or "boring, let's get going, I'm getting soaked sitting here"!?!?
Continuing on the second leg, she makes her next turn heading up to the gravel road and then a left turn. She fringed along the edge for a bit, checked out the other side, and ended up moving along near the middle where I had walked.
A left turn takes us through a short grassy area, (below) heading out onto the gravel road again as it curves around. There is another corner on a wider section of this road.
She was dead on this turn. I have let the line lie along the ground here as she was getting tangled in it when turning. It was wet and heavier and then picking up dirt from the roadway and not easy to handle. Trust is not a puller, so it was easier for her to walk over it. Note to me to check her harness as it was twisting, whether because of the rain, or it needs adjusting.
After this turn, she continues on the gravel towards a fenced in area where soccer nets are set up. She is coming up on her second article, a very small plastic tube that I left a few inches beside a rock.
She made a slight detour to the right before heading back to the article. There was a drainage ditch that needed checking. You can see the rock (above) but her nose is on the plastic article.
She headed right for the opening, was dead on the track. Trust often "marks" her track when she's confidently right on it, rather rude and lifts her leg, but she's quirky. However, in this instance, she turned around to smell something....and then didn't want to go over this spot again. She spent a bit of time circling around three times, and finally decided, like it or not, she'd better continue on over it. Next article is the "x" ahead.
Steady up this leg to the cloth article and sits for her indication.
She's made her last turn and is on the last leg here. We are heading towards a narrow opening in the fence at the corner.
Of course, "something" needs sniffing at the edge here before we can just continue on our way!
Her final article, glove, is shown by the arrow. Her start was on the other side of the drainage ditch, so we've come pretty much full circle on this track. It was a good (wet) track after a short layoff.
I "thought' I was taking a picture of a Wood Thrush, and realized later this was a Brown Thrasher. I believe we have both as we are certain we hear the melodious singing of the thrush in the evenings. Both of these pictures were taken through the living room window.
The most noticeable difference is the thrasher has two white stipes on its wings, as clearly seen in both these pictures. Considered a 'secretive' bird, this one was perhaps the exception. They like to nest in thorny bushes, so we believe they are nesting in one of our hawthorn bushes.
