Fern Ridge Reservoir: Fisher Butte Unit

It was a beautiful fall day as I drove toward Fern Ridge Reservoir. The sun shining through the leaves created a glowing yellow tunnel as I drove down West 11th out of downtown Eugene. Even though it was mid-November -- Veteran’s Day to be exact -- my car thermometer said it was 59 degrees and …

Siltcoos Canoe Trail: Florence

I have been intrigued by the Siltcoos Canoe Trail ever since I first heard about it. There is something about canoeing all the way to the ocean that fascinates me -- I'm not exactly sure why -- and experiencing the Canoe Trail has been on my mind for a couple of years. Of course, I …

Long-billed Dowitcher

Every spring my challenge with this blog is to not geek-out too much on the beautiful wildflowers. My year-round challenge is to not geek-out too much on the birds, especially during fall migration. This year has been especially hard as I have been tracking the types of birds I see throughout the year (my "big …

Frog for lunch, anyone?

With our summer heat, the water in the ponds at the Row River Nature Park is very low. I know from our dog walks down there that the Canada geese, coots, and other paddling birds have pretty much disappeared, while the wading birds are more noticeable. The other morning I loaded up my camera and …

Up close and personal

Last month I borrowed a very nice camera and an equally nice macro lens, then headed out to Bake Stewart Park to get up close and personal with the wildflowers out there. Actually, I took many trips to the park and spent numerous hours squatting and lying in the fields with the wildflowers... I still …

Log Roll – Turtle Style

Last weekend as we were walking with our dogs at the Row River Nature Park, I noticed that one of the turtle logs was wet while all the others were dry. We stopped for a second to observe and saw this: I've never seen anything like it before, and hadn't really thought about how the …

Padding the Nest

The past several weeks, I've loved watching as spring has set firmly upon us. The trees have turned a chartreuse green and their leaves glitter in the morning sunshine. The wildflowers are beginning to polka-dot the forest floor as well as the oak prairies. Canada Geese are honking their way north, usually I hear them …

A Townsend’s Warbler: My winter delight

Townsend’s Warblers usually spend their winters along the Pacific Coast or in Mexico and Central America. Typically, we’ve seen them in our yard only fleetingly as they migrate through. However, this year we have been fortunate enough to have one winter over with us. Seeing its bright yellow face and chest as it peers out …

William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge

Between Corvallis and Monroe off of Highway 99W sits the William L. Finely National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge was established in the 1960s, primarily to provide wintering habitat for dusky Canada geese. As an added bonus, it now gives protected habitat to many endangered plants and songbirds making it a great place to visit year …

A tap on the window: Anna’s Hummingbirds

It was bitter cold this morning; somewhere around 19 degrees when dawn finally broke. It was just beginning to get light out, and I stood in the kitchen sipping my coffee. Suddenly, there was a quiet tap on the kitchen window. I went to investigate and found a hummingbird flitting around looking for our hummingbird feeder. …