Neighborhood Walks

Thanks to COVID-19, my hikes have been confined to the surrounding neighborhood these past few weeks.  Although I'm sorely missing my Gorge wildflower jaunts, I have found a few silver linings.

Trillium

For one, I'm getting reacquainted with my neighborhood streets.  Discovering new walking routes, some that lead past interesting homes, or beautiful flowering landscaping.

Trillium No. 2

I'm fortunate to live within walking distance of two local parks.  In late March, one of the natural areas had loads of trilliums blooming deep in the woods, just beyond the path.

Pink dogwood blossoms

Another positive - the quarantine began during spring, which in the Pacific NW is prime blooming season.  Over the past several weeks I've watched different trees, shrubs, and flowers bloom in turn.  Gives me lots of pretty things to look at while I'm trekking around the 'hood.

Camas

During late April, another nearby park had fields of lovely purple camas blooming.  Perfect for an after work photo session.

Camas

Right now the rhododendrons are in bloom.  They come in many colors, but the reds and pinks seem seem to be the most popular.

White rhodies

These lovely ivory-colored rhodies were my favorite.  After walking by this bush for several days, I finally thought to grab my camera and capture some images for myself.

Pink rhodies

Pale pink rhodies with darker pink spots - ah, so lovely!

Lilac

When the lilacs bloom, who can resist taking a whiff of their heavenly scent?  Or, if you're me, you can't resist taking some photos.

Cherry tree

Even when the blossoms begin to fall off the trees, they create beauty.

Fallen blossoms

Bluebells, I think

My favorite spring blooms are the dogwoods.  I so enjoy seeing all the trees erupt in color - especially the pink dogwoods.

White dogwood

More cheery cherry blossoms

One of the nearby homes has a little free library.  I've often admired the colorful, well-built box that resembled a little house.  However, the virus put a stop to this neighborhood book exchange.  The people who owned the library removed all the books and put a note outside informing everyone of the closure.

Little neighborhood library - now shuttered

After a couple of days, I noticed the note had been changed.  The closure notice had been replaced by an inspirational quote.  I really liked the quote - it's a good bit of motivation to get us through these crazy times.

Hang in there, everyone!

Hope you've enjoyed this sample of flowers from the past few weeks of neighborhood walks.  Stay busy, stay positive, stay healthy, and we'll all get through this.


AND....stay tuned for my next post when I finally get to go hiking!

Tulip Time

One of the best things about spring in the Pacific NW is all the beautiful flowers that start blooming. The colorful show begins in March and continues until nearly June.  One of my favorite perennials is the tulip.

Several years ago, my hubby and son planted a wonderful flower garden in our backyard.  Although several different varieties of bulbs were buried, it's the tulips I love the most.

Beginning in mid-March, they pop their heads out of the soil and rise up to show off their vibrant colors.

The tulips in my garden are staggered to bloom at different times.  First to pop open are the red ones, closely followed by their yellow cousins.

When the red and yellow start fading, the pinks and purple striped tulips take over.

We even had a few fancy red tulips with ruffled edges bloom.

One of the joys of working from home has been observing the progression of my tulip garden through these past few weeks.

And when the light hits a bloom just perfect, I'm able to take a break, grab my camera and capture the beauty.

Morning dew on the petals is especially photogenic.

Sadly, my tulips are now done blooming for another year. 

In these uncertain times, this lovely backyard garden has given me something beautiful to look at while I'm working away at my dining room table.  I hope these photos bring you as much happiness as my tulip patch has given me.

Spring Babies

Ready to be overwhelmed with cuteness?

Spring means rebirth - new leaves on trees, blooming flowers in gardens, and best of all - baby animals!

Mama goose tending her goslings

My neighbor recently visited one of our local parks and came home with some wonderful photos of newly-hatched baby goslings.  Of course I just had to check things out for myself.  So one sunny evening I recruited my hubby to join me for a photo walk.

The happy family

Our timing couldn't have been better.  As I walked towards the pond, the first thing I spotted were the baby goslings all lined up, swimming after their parents.  Cuteness overload!  Even better, the family floated through a sunny spot in the pond, casting them all in wonderful soft evening light.

"We want some too, mom!"

The goose family then paddled to shore, marched up on the bank, and proceeded to forage for food in the nearby grass.

Adorable fluffballs

They gave quite a show for all of us bystanders with cameras!  However the family quickly grew tired of all this attention, and the parents steered their offspring towards a quiet, but swampy corner of the park.  Never one to let a little mud stop me, I followed along.

Snuggling up to mother goose

I had my 150-600 mm lens with me, so I was able to observe the goslings from a non-threatening distance.  The babies wandered around in the grass feeding, until some of them became tired.

Naptime!

Then a few of the goslings cuddled up next to their mother, and dropped off to sleep.  So sweet to watch!

Crossing the path

After trailing the goose family for a good half hour, the light began fading, and I decided I'd bothered the brood enough for one evening.  However, after capturing such wonderful images I yearned for another chance, which prompted my return a couple mornings later.

"Now kids, behave!"

Luck was with me once again.  Not only were the geese out and about, the entire family was spread out directly adjacent to the paved walking path that circled the pond.  Time to warm up my big lens!

Copying mother's walk

This time I was able to get even closer to the babies.  And neither parents nor kids seemed to mind.  The entire family was so intent on getting breakfast, they didn't even acknowledge my presence.  So I hung around, snapping away.

Looking for goodies in the grass

Even thought it had only been a few days since I'd first photographed them, the goslings seemed to have grown bigger already.  I'm sure to ensure survival, these little ones need to develop quickly.  I loved their soft, fluffy feathers, miniature beaks, and tiny, flightless wings.

"What's that weird lady with the camera doing?"

So, despite the quarantine situation, I'm finding new opportunities to get out and photograph nature.  It might not be the vast fields of wildflowers from past spring hikes, but these newly-born goslings are just as wonderful.

River Scenes

Stuck at home with nowhere to hike, I was getting desperate.  So desperate in fact that just to have an outing, I agreed to go fishing with my hubby.

Moon and Bridge pier

It's not that I hate fishing.  It's just that fishing involves sitting in a boat for hours on end and I like activities with more movement.  My hubby loves this sort of thing but I, well, I find it kind of boring.

But - these are unusual times - and sometimes that means keeping an open mind and trying new things.  So in the very wee hours one early April Saturday I found myself at a boat ramp just north of downtown Portland helping my hubby launch his boat (well, technically he was doing 99% of the work......and I was just holding the ropes).

St Johns Bridge before sunrise (cell phone shot)

We launched at one of the few City parks still open underneath Portland's iconic St Johns Bridge.  The moon shone brightly in the pre-dawn sky, lighting up a bright halo around the clouds and illuminating the bridge.  Hoping for some wildlife shots, I'd only brought my long lens and had to rely on my phone's wide angle camera to capture the full scene.

Sunrise river reflections

After loading everything we'd need into hubby's boat, and parking the truck and trailer, we slid out into the Willamette River.  (And for those of you not from around here it's pronounced "will-AM-it" as in, Willamette, dammit!).

The riverbank here is far from pristine.  Lined with industrial docks, warehouses, huge cranes, rotting pilings, tank farms, and huge ocean-going vessels, this portion of the Willamette has been tainted by commerce for well over a century.  Still it was cool to cruise by gigantic docks with the corresponding large ships as we motored to hubby's favorite fishing spot.

Bright morning clouds

In this era of social distancing, fishing was one activity still allowed by the state of Oregon.  With everyone in boats, it's easy to maintain that 6 foot distance, I guess.  But neighboring Washington state apparently didn't agree, and closed their fishing season due to the virus.  Of course this caused a great migration across state lines.  My hubby said last weekend over half the boats on this river were from out of state, mostly Washington.  Since that didn't jive with the "stay close to home" spirit of social distancing our governor then declared only in-state residents would be allowed to fish from the following weekend on.  

Daybreak

Despite the lack of out of staters, there were still quite a few boats floating in the river as we approached the designated fishing spot.  Hubby rigged his pole and began the slow troll up and down the river, hoping to lure a fat, spring salmon.  I readied my camera to capture sunrise from a shore lined with utility poles, buildings, and huge metal towers.  A bit different from the mountain scenes I was used to capturing.

Sauvie Island Bridge

Sunrise was a lovely golden orange, providing a warm glow to the surrounding riverbank areas and fisherman's boats.  I glanced over at nearby Sauvie Island (a huge island where the Columbia and Willamette Rivers meet) and captured a nice shot of the Sauvie Island bridge basking in soft morning light.

Looking back towards the bridge

After that, my hubby kept trolling up and down the river, in a set pattern.  The number of boats increased and I entertained myself checking out the other fisherman (and some women) in boats of many different shapes and sizes.  There were huge cabin cruisers and tiny metal dinghy's with putt-putt motors.  Some boats had just one occupant, while others were crammed with people (no social distancing happening there - hopefully they were all from the same family).  A couple of the fancier boats belonged to professional fishing guides.  Painted with bright colors and decorative logos, I was surprised to see these boats full of fisherman (and they were less than 6 feet apart).

Osprey perching on a piling

Besides sunrise, the highlight of my day was cruising by an osprey nest.  Perched on top of some rotting pilings, an osprey couple had built a huge nest of sticks.  Each time we passed by, I'd ready my camera and big lens, hoping to catch one of the birds in action.  The advantage of being on the water - we could get really close to these magnificent raptors.  With the moving boat, however I soon discovered it was extremely difficult to hold my lens steady enough to get a clear image.  But our trolling route took us past the nest several times, so I got many opportunities to practice.

River view

Fishing was slow.  My hubby had one bite, but quickly lost it.  We saw a grand total of two salmon caught the entire morning (among 71 boats).  Spring salmon are extremely difficult to catch.

I'd hoped to see more wildlife, but besides the osprey the only other action was a flock of Canadian geese.  After a few hours, boredom set in, and I reached for my Kindle.

Osprey in nest

With my Kindle to read, I was entertained and would've probably lasted longer if it weren't for the call of nature.  Although I'd rationed my water intake all morning, by 10:30 my bladder began telling me it needed some relief.  I didn't want to try and go on the boat.  We were surrounded by other fishing vessels - full of mostly men - so I wasn't about to drop trou over a bucket in front of them all.  And there wasn't a good place to tie up on the adjacent shorelines, nor anywhere I could go even if we could.  Luckily hubby took pity on me, and said he was ready to quit anyway.  So he pulled in his line and we headed to the dock.

St Johns Bridge in daylight

One advantage to finishing early - no one at the boat dock, so social distancing was easy!  While hubby took care of loading the boat, I made a beeline for the restroom.  (It wasn't the cleanest but at that point I didn't care.  Luckily it had a good supply of soap and water)  While my hubby readied the boat for our trip home, I grabbed my camera for a couple of daylight shots of the nearby St Johns Bridge and it's gorgeous steel span and towers.  One of Portland's local landmarks.

So that's the story of my first salmon fishing trip on the mighty Willamette River.  It really wasn't that bad - I saw a lovely sunrise, got close to an osprey couple, and got to learn all about what my hubby does on his spring and fall weekends.  Would I go again?  Well, yes probably if this quarantine keeps me from hiking for awhile.  But next time we'll have to figure out a new "relief system!"  :)

Backyard Birding

Confined at home for the past 6 weeks (has it been that long already?) I've taken up a new hobby - birdwatching.  Yes, it's true.  I've become a "bird nerd."

Northern Flicker

My hubby maintains two bird feeders in our backyard.  Before the quarantine I'd had passing interest in them.  If I happened to catch an unusual bird visiting, I'd grab my camera and attempt to photograph it.  But now that I'm working from home, my seat at the dining room table gives me a continuous front-row view to all the backyard bird happenings.  It's a wonderful distraction.

Male Northern Flicker

There's a Northern Flicker couple that make daily visits to the feeders.  The male loves pecking on the metal top of our chimney - it makes such a racket! 

Two flickers on the bird feeder!

One day I even was lucky enough to catch both the male and female flicker on our bird feeder at the same time.

Female flicker checking things out

I've taken to keeping my camera with its long lens close to my working area just in case an interesting bird happens by.

Hawk

One Sunday morning, my eagle-eyed husband spotted a hawk perched on our back fence.  I'm sure he was scoping out the bird activity in our yard, hoping to catch himself a snack.  Look at those huge claws!  I was so excited and eager to capture an image of the hawk before it flew away, my photos didn't turn out as crystal clear as I'd hoped. 

Wood duck

There's a small decorative pond in our backyard, and every year a few mallards drop by.  This spring, my hubby and I were surprised and pleased when a wood duck couple decided to visit.  The male wood duck is so colorful - and his red eyes look so otherworldly they're kind of spooky.

Peek-a-boo!

One day the male wood duck made a trek around the backyard, and hid out in our tulip patch.  I loved this image I captured of him peeking out from the blooms.

Spotted Towhee

The final unusual backyard bird I spotted one day was a spotted towhee.  This gray bird with an orange breast (and also weird red eyes) landed on one of our feeders and I luckily had the camera handy. 

So, as you can see, my life isn't the most exciting right now.  No cool mountain vistas to share....no fabulous fields of spring wildflowers......no hiking trips along amazing trails.  Just me and my backyard feathered friends.

But my hubby and I are healthy (so far no COVID) and we both still have our jobs, and for that I'm extremely thankful.