Today I got up early to go with the Salem Audubon Society out to Ankeny Wildlife Refuge. I arrived promptly at 7:00. Not a single person was there.

Tturns out the hike is next weekend; they posted the scouting trip a couple days ago and I got mixed up. So I decided to tour the refuge on my own.

I saw a small variety of birds: Red tailed hawk, song sparrow, white crowned sparrow, golden crowned sparrow, savannah sparrow, kestrel, Great Blue heron, great egret, American bittern (a first for me).

Then, as I was rounding a corner, this young fellow appeared in my path.

He stayed just long enough for me to get a couple of good snaps of him, then…

After those highlights, I’ve spent the rest of the day tackling a lot of house chores and errands. Two trips to Goodwill, a trip to the library, bought some pants, cleaned out the closet, rearranged some furniture, fur management, a trip to the Humane Society to deliver some unused cat medicine, tons of emails, a load of laundry, a load of dishes… you get the idea.

I hope tomorrow to run a couple of errands up north (I’m in the last two weeks before the Watercolor Society of Oregon Convention I am chair of and it’s full-blown panic now) and then sit down and do some painting. I didn’t make it into the show, but I’d like to put in a painting for the critique session and I’ll be taking a workshop from the juror, so I should probably know what to do with a brush…