Category Archives: Birding

And I rode an alligator home

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Months ago, I saw that one of my favorite artists, Lesley Humphrey, was doing a workshop January 15-17, 2024, down near her home in Texas. The instant signups became available, I bought my seat, my plane tickets, and my hotel. At the time, I noticed that travel would be over the MLK holiday, a weekend that has traditionally been terrible. An ice fest. Not the week before, or the week after. Something about THAT weekend brings out Nature’s desire for ice cubes. But I told myself it would be fine.

Ten days before I was due to head off, the weather forecasters started chanting the word: “SNOW”. I scoffed. But as the days moved forward, some kind of cold weather event seemed guaranteed. The last couple days before I left, I checked forecasts and eventually decided to take an additional day off work to drive up to Portland to stay at an airport hotel. This turned out to be a good decision.

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I got to the hotel and even the airport without too much drama. But just as the plane was about to take off, it began to sleet. The plane was grounded for four hours waiting for enough break in the weather for ground crews to apply deicer within the takeoff window. The flight that was supposed to leave at 12:40pm and arrive in Houston at 6:40pm ended up arriving some time past 11pm. This, of course, meant I couldn’t pick up my rental car. So, I took a Lyft to my hotel.

The next morning I got up very late (past the hotel breakfast) and went into an increasingly frigid world to forage for food. Houston was also on the cusp of a polar vortex, and like Oregon, they were not prepared. After lunch, I decided to bundle up and do a little birding. It really wasn’t too bad, and because of the weather in Oregon, I was prepared. Also, it was sunny, so no rain would spoil the fun. I went out to Brazos Bend State Park, which was 17 miles away and a 25-minute Lyft ride.

At the park, I had the BEST time. Quite by accident I fell into a companionable walk with a couple of ladies who chatted amongst themselves and helped me identify all the little brown birds.

I nabbed 44 bird species, walking three miles around the forty-acre pond, 17 of them new species.

And I saw an alligator.

Even the trees were wonderful.

It was getting dark, and we heard Barred owls as we were leaving the trail to make for the front entrance. They told me that a Great horned owl pair had set up camp the last several years in a large oak by the front entrance, and I heard one as I was passing by. We said our goodbyes and I called a Lyft, hoping the wait wouldn’t be terrible. Two hours later, no one had “picked up” my request, it was pitch-black dark, and the temperature was dropping. It was starting to dawn on me that I was in trouble. (Note: I also used the Uber app with similar results.)

I began to use my phone to find a transportation alternative. I called the hotel; they recommended Lyft and Uber. I started calling traditional taxis; they refused to come get me due to distance. location, and/or my inability to give an exact address. I called AAA. They wouldn’t help me without a vehicle. So, I decided to hike a mile about the road to where Google assured me a business existed. With an actual address, maybe I could get a ride. I began to walk.

I will also mention that my phone was QUICKLY running out of power.

I arrived at Brazos Bend Powersports/RV Park/RV storage about 7:30. It was not the well-lit destination I was hoping for, but I began begging for a Lyft ride again. As nothing continued to happen, I began to seriously question my options. With tears. And more than a little hysteria.

It is at this point that the angel appeared. Her name was Marissa and she lived in the RV park. She offered to drive me back to the hotel, refusing all offers of payment. (Note: I sent her a thank you note and gift card upon my return home.)

The next day was Monday. The workshop was starting at 1pm, but there was an additional crisis brewing. The polar vortex had hit Houston, and the roads were increasingly slick. Many people started sending word via a group email that they weren’t coming. I began to worry that they would cancel the workshop. But Lesley is a sturdy soul, and the workshop went on. (Note: That post coming tomorrow.)

Wednesday I had to leave the workshop about an hour early to catch my plane home, and I am delighted to report that this leg of the trip went off almost perfectly. Upon arriving in Portland, however, it was obvious that chaos had descended. I had a lot of trouble getting a Lyft back to my car at the hotel. When my car did arrive, the driver barreled down the streets as though not noticing the ice, all the while eating chips and talking to a friend in the front seat. She tried to drop me off a block from my hotel, and if the parking lot hadn’t been an ice-skating rink, I might have let her. Once at my car, I had to let everything warm up for about 20 minutes and spent that time chipping the windshield out from about 3/4 of an inch of ice.

Once out of the parking lot, the main roads were not bad, but it was bitingly cold. I drove very carefully (slowly) home and made it home at 4am, with the day clocking in at 23 hours awake. I fell into bed. I got up long enough to go fetch Key at my friend’s house, came back, and took a nap. I had a (work) meeting that afternoon, so I worked for a couple hours, then a full day on Friday.

I need more naps.

Paris! (Part 3)

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I thought I covered three days in my last post, but the next day I realized I only got to two. This coming back is hard work! There are numbers and things one must get right.

October 2 – L’Orangerie & Jardin des Tuileries

Monday, I had reservations at L’Orangerie. For those who don’t know, the arrangement of art museums to a historic timeline is approximately:

Inadvertently, I went through the museums in this order. L’Orangerie covers a period that is not my favorite period, as it showcases a lot of artists that really had a grim outlook on life (in my opinion). Dispite my vague distaste for Picasso, Modigiani, and Cezanne (on the grounds that I think all of them were demonstrably abusive to women), walking through the collection was simply amazing.

Upon leaving the museum, I decided to explore a big part adjacent to the museum. It was the Jardin des Tuileries, which connects to the Louvre. Essentially, it was a royal garden.

I was lucky enough to see beekeepers working the beehives. This is gonna be a painting!

After touring the museum, I ended up walking back to the hotel, hitting the Jardin du Luxembourg, Parthenon Pantheon, Church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont and a few other highlights.

It was a good day, but quite a hike when all was said and done. I was glad to return to the hotel and get dinner! As I alluded to in my last post, I was also starting to feel the effects of a cold and the general jet lag. I was also having some difficulty with my blood sugar and stomach. I spent that evening plotting how to beat a cold and find some healthier food options for myself.

October 3 – Versailles

Taking French in high school, my teacher made the class promise that if we ever went to France we would visit Versailles. So, for me, not hitting this site was not an option, in spite of the various reports I had heard about overcrowding. I had purchased a museum pass which included Versailles and had booked an early entry time into the palace. The metro ride to the site was a pleasant 45 minutes or so, but upon stepping outside again, I discovered that southwestern Paris had decided to rain. Eastern Paris hadn’t breathed a word about this plan, so I hadn’t taken my coat. However, I am an Oregonian, so I trooped to the entry, ignore the dozens of umbrella vendors.

Once inside the courtyard, the French line system was in its full glory. I will spare you the details, but being out in the rain, crying, in the midst of a huge, uncaring crowd is NOT the experience I hoped to have. In the end, though I could have gone into the palace, I was so utterly miserable that I elected to just tour the gardens (for an additional fee). The rain had stopped, so I was able to sit down and figure out a game plan. I definitely had a cold. I gave myself permission to take care of myself, and in the end, I only spent a couple of hours at Versailles before returning to the hotel.

That evening I did laundry and simply got some bread and cheese for dinner.

October 4 – Cold

I barely left the hotel this day. I went to get a Covid test (negative) and some decongestant. But other than that, I stayed in my hotel room. I was so miserable that I actually called the airlines to find out the cost of getting a flight back home. It was… a lot.

October 5 – Bois de Boulogne

The next day I didn’t feel great, but I had basically decided to stick out the trip. So, I got a late start leaving the hotel and decided to go to the Bois de Boulogne, a large park on the western outskirts of Paris. I hoped to do some bird watching and sitting on benches. I took my big camera, and on exiting the Metro, learned the Longchamps and Auteuil racecourses used the same Metro stop. As I planned to go to the steeplechasing on Sunday, this was excellent information to have.

I wandered around the park well past lunch, trying to find the “lakes” that were mentioned as a hot spot for birds. Unfortunately, in the end, I did too much (on too little food) and ended up activating an “emergency plan” of calling an Uber to take me back to the hotel. It was a bit of a demoralizing day.

Also on this day, I had the most bizarre experience I would have in France. The park was full of various users, including lots of dog walkers. I was taking pictures of various dogs, thinking I might do a painting about how dogs were universal.

I had taken a photo of a particularly cute terrier when I caught a woman glaring at me. It was obvious that the terrier was her dog, so I said, “J’aime vous chein” (I like your dog). Anyway, I hope that’s what I said. She began to talk, obviously upset, using words like “interdit” (forbidden) and “police” (self explanatory). I sat there looking confused. She came over to me and began saying, in English, “It’s easy” and gesturing to my camera. I won’t swear to my translation, but she wanted me to delete the photos of her dog. I let her look at my camera while I did just that. She looked as though she wanted me to delete the photos of the other dogs, but instead just marched away grumbling the word “interdit” over and over. I sat there on the bench until she had left.

When I posted this little story on Facebook, a friend suggested that maybe she was worried about dog napping. Another friend looked up French laws and told me that the French actually do have pretty strict privacy laws around taking pictures of things without permission. Having just come from a variety of museums where people did nothing BUT take selfies with the paintings, this seemed pretty confusing to me.

October 6 – Antibiotics

Friday morning, I realized that “this” was not working. I no longer had a cold, I had a sinus infection. With close to a week to go, I couldn’t just ignore the situation until it went away (favorite coping mechanism). If I wanted to have the faintest chance of enjoying the rest of my trip, I needed to figure out a way to get antibiotics. This is another day that I will be light on the details. While it was a struggle, many people did help me. And one didn’t. No, the French are not rude. Certain people, however, are bitches. After acquiring my treasure, I spent the rest of the day napping in my hotel room or sunning myself on the hotel’s rooftop terrace.

October 7 – Bois de Vincennes

Antibiotics are a miracle. The next day I didn’t feel great, but I felt able to try an outing. Returning to the plan of staying outdoors and not infecting people, I decided to go to the Parc floral de Paris at the east side of the Bois de Vincennes. As it turned out, this was an excellent plan.

First, delightfully, I was able to see a great many birds.

The second bit of happiness was lunch, complete with a peacock.

 

Finally, I toured the permanent Bonsai display.

It was a lot, but I was able to do it by moving slowly and deliberately. I still returned to the hotel in midafternoon all tuckered out, but feeling like things were on an upswing.

It’s all art supplies

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The grumbling began when I began the decennial pruning of my mom’s rhodies.

Dad and some small person. Taken at the Beach House in 1976 by Mom.

Mom loved rhodies, particularly the big red-flowering ones that bloom spectacularly each May.

I like rhodies, too. They are a fine plant. But let’s face it, they are not without maintenance requirements. Mom never liked to prune back a plant, so they were overgrown when she died in 2018. In the intervening five years, they have grown leggier. They are also in desperate need of fertilizing and some pest management. This year my big job was to prune and fertilize the MANY rhododendrons around the yard (16, but a couple might have slipped by me).

One side of the yard. Mom REALLY liked rhodies.

We get yard debris pickup only every two weeks and my pruning soon outpaced the pickup. I began chopping the leaves of the rhodies into the bin, and piling the bare branches up nearby, thinking I could get those out in the winter. Then I got to thinking about how nice they looked all stacked up. I began an edging fence.

But the sticks remained.

One day, a spotted towhee landed in the pile, and it got me thinking. A few years ago, this cedar died. I asked the company to leave it up as a snag, hoping a bird family might nest in it someday. To be honest, I overestimated the appeal of this snag.

Alright, it’s just ugly. So far, no bird families have taken me up on my offer of housing. But flickers often perch on the top and survey their territory. Wouldn’t a sculpture of a big flicker be funny?

I’m not sure I’m done, but I’m not sure I’m not. Also, I haven’t figured out the logistics of mounting “King of the Flickers” on the tree. Originally, I thought the biggest branch in what is now the center would be used to mount him, but that doesn’t appear to be working out.

We get pretty big winds here, and there are power lines very near the tree, so continuing to hang KOF isn’t the most practical option.

But going back to grumbling. I feel like the neighbors are starting to worry about my sanity. First, I defoliated the rhodies to bare sticks. Now I’m standing in my front yard with sticks, wire, and a mini chain saw.

Promise me that if the authorities come and take me away, you’ll campaign for art supplies. Obviously, I’m not too picky.

Repair

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This weekend I had a lengthy list of various tasks and repairs to finish. I think a lot of people start out their weekends like this. The hardware stores and plant nurseries are certainly busier! Unfortunately, between my “I-don’t-have-a-honey-so-I-do” list and an expectedly prolonged period of goofing off, I have no paintings to show this week. As I am assuming my home projects, no matter how impressive, won’t be very entertaining, I guess I’ll tell you about the Northern Pygmy-Owl adventure (does the name give the ending away?)

I do not have “traditional” television. In the evenings I watch a combination of YouTube videos, PBS streaming, and a few movies on Tubi. (Note: I used to have Netflix, but was fascinated to learn that the last time they raised the monthly cost, I was part of trend that ultimately has cost them millions of viewers. Who knew I was trendy?) The thing I enjoy about the YouTube videos is that the ones I find appealing are so often the ones I have no interest in doing. I’ve gone through phases of watch repair (Wristwatch Revivial is excellent, no matter what your intertest), car detailing (got tired of that one), furniture repair (almost always fun), cow hoof triming (love the Hoof GP), and marble racing (who doesn’t love Jelle’s Marble Runs?) My favorite, though, is Baumgartner Restoration (I have such a crush on him… his voice is magnificent! And that vocabulary!)

Lately, I’ve been enjoying the topics of beekeeping (no) and bonsai (didn’t intend on it…). I was attracted, originally, by the videos of “Bonsai Releaf” which are beautiful and relaxing. In the way of YouTube, this viewing brought other bonsai suggestions, and soon I was watching Peter Chan at Hersons Bonsai. His appreciation of the topic got me to check out a couple of his book from the library, and lead to me decided to go out and find a couple of volunteer pine trees to get started.

So, Saturday, I headed up to the Siuslaw National Forest to drive along the logging roads, seeing if I could find a small volunteer cedar, alder, or maple. I had found a couple of volunteer shore pines around the neighborhood, but I wanted to try another other species to get a feel for the project. As I had a few extra pots and some potting soil, I thought this would be a low impact way to see if I liked it. (Note: There is a whole series of videos on Herons Bonsai about using low cost or free materials.)

It was a beautiful, foggy, misty, gray morning (my favorite) and as I drove up the Siletz, I saw a heard of elk lounging along the road.

After stopping for a few minutes, I headed up the logging road. Soon I was looking at cedar forests, alder thickets, and enough blackberries to clog any self-respecting meadow. It took a while before I found what I was looking for; an area where logging had recently cleared an area and a few younger plants had been left along the edges to fight it out. The crews hadn’t come in yet to replant and a specimen or two wouldn’t be missed.

I was finishing up my digging (5 minutes in a tire rut) to liberate a small cedar and what I hope is an ash, when I spotted a little brown bird. Up in the forests, it is POSSIBLE to see Saw-whet owls, and I had been told they were very small. About 7 inches according to the books, which is about the same size as a small robin (8 inches). So, when I saw the little brown bird I stopped to take a look. And then VERY SLOWLY went for my camera.

Northern Pygmy-Owl

“OMG!” I thought. “It’s a Saw-whet owl!”. (Note: It’s not a Saw-whet it’s a Northern Pygmy-Owl, but I didn’t know that until later.) My new little friend was on a tree beside the road, looking out over the valley below (valley shown two images up; owl is in the little deciduous tree next to the large spruce). It was completely unperturbed by me, the dog, the shovel, the camera, and even the tri-pod when I got that out. Fifteen minutes of me snapping photos did not phase it, and when I finally took off to go home, friend was inspecting the area for mice.

One of the coolest things, I noticed, was that the owl had black patches on the back of its head that gave the appearance of eyes. In fact, it took me several minutes to figure out I was looking at its back instead of its front!

Giddy with happiness, I trundled home, where I announced my find on Facebook, texted friends, and generally expressed my excitement. Then, I had a retract everything when looked up my friend’s true identity!

I then spent a great deal of the afternoon, when I could have been painting, playing with the “bonsai-to-be”.

I wasn’t surprised that it was harder than the videos made it look, but I was surprised how much manipulating the trees really made me look at their structure. I have found myself examining roadside trees for their structure ever since. Trees are really quite intricate.

While I am sorry for not getting to painting, it has been enjoyable and productive weekend. The house and yard looks good, and I’m finding myself more able to face the week ahead. There may be something to this “relaxing” thing. Like, maybe, that’s human repair?

Catch up is the only kind I play

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I’m sure everyone has felt this: the ship is sinking and you have to chuck things overboard to have a chance of surviving. That’s been my life the last few weeks, and blogging is the thing that went over the side.

Jan. 30-Feb. 6

I’m not sure how things got out of hand. On my calendar, this week, the only thing that shows up is a special dog training session. My birthday fell in this week, and I had a couple of friends over for birthday cake. But at first glance, I can’t figure out what broke. I think it was a combination of things. WSO website work has been intense, and my regular job has been busy. I think I just got to the end of this week and abandoned ship. Here are a few photos from my birthday cruise around Basket Slough to prove I did something.

Feb. 7-13

Now, I do know what happened this week. I went over to the Bend area (specifically Sisters) for a two-day WSO meeting. I went over Friday and then met the afternoon of Saturday and the morning of Sunday before returning home.

I decided to use the opportunity to work more on my 2022 goal of seeing the #1 birding spot in each Oregon county, and happily checked off Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties. Unfortunately, I forgot about the higher altitude, which tends to bother me, and by Saturday I was feeling “puny” (as my grandma used to say). This created a variety of issues, and I ended up calling in sick on Monday and half of Tuesday. Still, I did get a few nice bird shots.

Feb. 14-20

And really, that takes us to this week. As I mentioned, the first few days were rough, and then work. Yesterday I met up with my friend, Sandra Pearce, and we toured Sauvie Island for most of the day. I took about 200 reference shots, but my favorite is this short video of Sandhill cranes playing with a stick.

You may consider yourself caught up. Art has really not happened much, jettisoned in favor of various other issues. I have a short list of chores for today, then I hope to sit down for some painting. Those Sandhill cranes are calling!

Golden Winter

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I love winter in Oregon. While it doesn’t have the snow and low temperatures that most people associate with the season, for me, the cooler temperatures, ample rain, and return of green are just perfect. Other perks include the return of a high density of waterfowl to the refuges and slightly more convenient photo times.

While I miss the many hours of daylight of the summer and the ease of getting outdoors to exercise (without a flashlight and other gear), I love being able to get up and get to the trails while the best light of the day is still available.

Ankeny NWR

Please enjoy this photo essay of my morning.

Sunrise over Eagle Marsh

Duck, duck, geese, landscape

Shine

Breakfast meeting

Hooded merganser (female) profile

Trio of rudies

Gettin’ pretty

Water falls

Light on their wings

The synchronized Dabbler Teams

“Who let in the extra guy?”

“Swim THROUGH the lines”

“Fred, why are you out of formation?”

“Dang, it Fred! We were so close!”

“Here’s how it’s done, boys.”

Dunlins

By my favorite part of the morning, and my most exciting, as catching these photos of the dunlins doing formations.

Cascade Gateway

After the light got higher, Key and I hiked Cascade Gateway before returning home. It’s been more than a year since I’ve ventured to my former, almost-everyday stomping grounds. I was dismayed to see the park was closed, but I decided to venture in anyway. I review of the website indicated the park was closed for cleaning and renovations, which I will report are well under way and should be a big improvement when finished. I was surprised how much the species diversity has changed without the crowds of people and stocking of the lake. The crowds of widgeons aren’t there, though it’s possible they’ll show up later in the year. Still, I was a good hike.

I got directly below this bald eagle. S/he didn’t look amused. “Are you trying to peak up my skirts?”

Only one heron, hanging out on a post.

Counted five greater yellowlegs. I’ve only ever seen a single before.

While there were no widgeons, there were a lot of common mergansers and a fair contingent of these hooded mergansers.

Found a pair of red tails. One was pretty casual, but this one was shy.

Only the cackling geese were using the dog runs.

I hope you enjoy this post. I’m going to do some painting before I take the kittens to the vet for a shot. Don’t say anything, okay?

Well, there goes that plan

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This week I was talking to a friend about COVID-19. And I admitted to her that I am finding this “stage” of this–group project?– to be the hardest yet. She agreed and admitted she was struggling, too. As if the gods were listening, the next day the WSO convention–the first in-person convention in two years–was changed to virtual.

I’m going to pout now. I may even take revenge by shaving my head again in six weeks. We’ll see.

So, without this bright spot on the horizon, I spent most of the weekend cowering in the house away from germs (I’m already sick enough, thank you.) This means that a few things were done. A very few, but I’m going to count them in the win column!

Yesterday I sat down at my easel for the first time in several weeks. I contemplated starting a completely new painting, but I decided to clean up the general workspace area first, which led to deciding to finish (or at least change) these paintings.

On the gull painting, I added a wash of a new metallic paint I picked up. Extra fun!

When going through the images above, I realized I had never shown these paintings, so they must be fairly recent.

Black-necked Stilts (tentative present for friend)

Sunflowers

On the “Sunflowers” painting, I tried a new technique. Inspired by Leslie Humphrey I “pushed” the paint into shapes instead of trying to paint the objects. I like the effect and think I’ll work on it a little more.

This morning I took Key to nosework class (second week in a row, I am feeling better) and we stopped at Finley. The shorebird migration is going to start soon, and I was hoping to catch some of these hard to ID birds. Well, I didn’t catch them, but I did see some other birds that aren’t always easy to find!

And with that report, I’ll go back to life as usual. Sitting here at home. Doing nothing….

Sigh.

Western Adventure – Day 14

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Wednesday was the day I was scheduled to meet my friend and go birding with her in the Boise area. We met at 7am and went through Star Riverwalk.

From there, we went to a local country road hotspot, where we found a rookery containing cormorants, herons, and egrets. There was also a pair of foals and a bunch of swallows.

From there, we went out to the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA.

 

The scenery was gorgeous and I also saw marmots and got a photo of a lizard.

Though the morning had been pleasant, by two we needed lunch and knew that most birds would be hiding from the heat. We hugged and went back to our respective abodes. I walked into the hotel room and KNEW I just wanted to be home. Google said it was a 7 hour drive. It would make for a LONG day, but at the end, I’d be home. I threw my belongings in the car, turned in my keys, and hit the road. The drive wasn’t pretty. Two extremely short pit stops and cruise control set about 10 miles over the speed limit. But we rolled into my driveway just after 8:15pm (6.5 hours of driving, for those who are counting.) I took the bare minimum out of the car, stiffly limped inside, and collapsed.

Home. No place like it.

And that, my friends, is the end of this particular adventure!

Western Adventure – Day 13

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Well, I’m afraid there isn’t too much to show today. We left Salt Lake City and headed up to Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge before going onto to Boise. Once again, the maps took me down dirt roads, but this time it ended in a locked gate.

As I sat there, pondering what to do, a NWR employee came up to let some workers in. He told me that the refuge was closed and that I should go to Minidoka State Park instead. The park was lovely, part of a dam project.

There were a lot of American White Pelicans around.

And I got a picture of a black-chinned hummingbird.

But there just wasn’t as much around as I hoped. So, I headed off to Boise, got to the hotel early, called my friend, and took a nap. Tomorrow we’ll start out in Star (a town) and see where it goes from there! And then Thursday, I’ll take off for home!

To be continued…