Weekend Report

My weekend was fairly low-key. I took some photos during a walk that Keith and I took around Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge yesterday afternoon. We were mostly hopeful to see the Western Screech Owls that we’d spotted there several times last year. We knew the hollow tree where the pair would nest regularly. Sadly, that tree, which was along the edge of the trail, appears to have been cut down. It was a gnarly, old, hollow tree, and I suppose it was bound to topple eventually. It’s just sad to see another old tree be removed, since they prove to be such good owl habitat. We did not see the owls during this visit. I wonder where they will nest this year.

Birding was not too eventful at the refuge, mainly because we were trying to race around the 140-acre loop before darkness fell. We managed to spot some Green-Winged Teals, Widgeons, several Great Blue Heron, a Red-tail Hawk, a crowd of Bushtits, a few Black-capped Chickadees, a pair of Wood Ducks, a huge flock of American Robins. Heard, but not seen, were a couple Brown Creepers and several Red-Winged Blackbirds. As the sun dimmed, a large flock of Canada geese flew right over our heads. So close, we could hear the thump of the wind on their wings. It was so beautiful we had to stop in our tracks to be audience to it!

Yesterday was a typical winter day in Portland, cloudy and grey. But there were a few small patches of blue sky that appeared now and again.

As the sky darkened, there was an incredible blast of hot pink that splashed over the clouds, signaling a sunset, which lasted barely a minute. We were deep in a thicket when sunset came, and we were lucky to be in a spot just clear enough to see the horizon and also capture a nice image of the sky reflected on the silvery wetland.

After our time in the refuge, Keith and I had an intense sense of clarity and rejuvenation. There is nothing like getting outside to explore, even when the weather seems intimidating. After our stroll, we warmed up at the Oaks Bottom Public House over a hefty plate of Tatchos (nachos made with tater tots instead of chips – wicked good!) and extra spicy Bloody Mary’s.

And, I will close this blog with a sparce, wintery version of the ever-so-popular forest canopy photo. :o)

You know I’ve been out of Utah too long when....

I looked out the window this morning. Saw this:

And thought, “I’m not driving in THAT!” I actually considered whether the roads would be closed. No such luck. I braved the flakey frost and there was nothing particularly scary about it. No slips or slides. Just a typical commute to work. Boooo! I was hoping for a day off work .



Oh, and it's obviously garbage day, as you can see. Wow. I'm suddenly all self-conscious about the appearance of my front yard. Look at that scraggly bush in the lower left of the walkway that should've been pruned back in fall! Tsk tsk. Oh, but, hey, look across at my neighbor's yard. The purple house, not the white one. They've had that long rain gutter pipe sitting there for days, right in front of their front porch. What's up with that? And there appear to be other unidentifiable bits of yard debris strewn about. Ha! Well... this will have to be brought up at the next neighborhood association meeting! (Obviously, I'm kidding.)

I just love my neighbors. I love being a part of my neighborhood. I should do a specific piece here on my blog solely about my neighbors. First, I need to take some covert photos of them. Like of the tall, skinny, old guy down the street with the 3-foot long beard who walks out on his porch, coffee in hand, in just his tighty-whiteys, to bend over and pick up his morning newspaper. That would be an image worth sharing. Or maybe the written description is all you really need.

Mid-January 2008 Update

I made it through the first week of winter term. I spent seven hours studying chemistry on Saturday, while the in-laws popped up for a visit. They delivered a late Christmas gift - a fancy new KitchenAid mixer - from Grandma Sawyer.

Keith's parents left early on Sunday morning, and then Keith and I drove out to Brownsmead, which is just half an hour east of Astoria, on the Oregon Coast. What's in Brownsmead, you ask? Not much really. Except a single Arctic Loon that has been reported hanging out there for the past few weeks. It's an incredibly rare bird. No one knows what it's doing in Oregon, but I'm glad it was there, because we got a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see it. And fairly up-close, too! We took several photos of it, and just gazed at it for a while as it meandered up and down the river, fishing and preening. Keith and I, and about eight other birders, walked along the banks of the river, following the famous bird, gawking at the rarity with our binoculars and scopes.

It's so funny to be a part of this counter-culture. Birders are a strange bunch, willing to drive several hours to a random spot just to see a single bird. I took a few photos where the loon seemed to be glancing over its shoulder like, "Quit staring at me!" There was another photographer there with a really nice camera, so I will share his photos, since they are far better than my own.

We also saw a Red-Throated Loon, which was another "lifer" for me. It's another fairly uncommon bird to see, but not nearly as rare as the Arctic Loon.

After our little bird-nerd excursion, Keith and I had lunch in Astoria at The Cannery, which has large windows facing out to where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. We spotted a seal (which was my goal before we could leave), and then we headed back home, and I did three more hours of chemistry study and homework. That loon saved my weekend from being really lame. And it was an unusually beautiful day on the coast, too! Perfectly sunny and warm. I didn't even need a coat. I couldn't have asked for a better day for birding. My only regret is that we didn't spend more time trying to find the black phoebe that was also reported to be hanging out in the area. We just didn't have good directions to find it and gave up because we were a bit pressed to get back home.

In case you're curious, these are photos, taken by another birder that day, of the actual birds that we were all looking at while we were in Brownsmead.

http://www.birdphotographique.com/Temp/index.htm

And this lucky guy found the Black Phoebe and took some really great shots of it, too!

http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/mbalame/

Things I learned in 2007

On Nature:
That "young oak tree" at the end of my in-laws property is actually poison oak.
Poison oak is evil and will leave a scar.

On School:
Chemistry was and still is my least favorite subject.
Be wary of a lab partner with eyes that point in two different directions.

On Family:
Sometimes apples really do fall quite far from the tree.
Grieving is complicated. Frothy nectar makes for a feeble Band-Aid.

On Friends:
My greatest friends do not think, talk, nor act like me. They surprise me.
My true friends know who they are, and I love them for it.

On Life:
When the dryer breaks, the washer will break shortly thereafter.
The basement will flood. Ignoring that inevitability will not make bailing 500 gallons of water on Christmas Eve any easier.

On the Past:
History is just that.

On the Future:
I must be farsighted, because the closer I get to an end, the fuzzier everything becomes.