St. Louis Ponds Photowalk - March 4th, 2014

The other day, we had some sunny weather, so I went to a Marion County Park that I had not yet been to, known as the St. Louis Ponds. The sky was perfect for the outing and as usual, my favorite photos are posted below. I heard from some of the regulars that were fishing that Beaver were often seen in these ponds, although there was no dam or lodge to be found.

I normally wouldn't take pictures of exotic species unless I wanted to talk about their invasive nature on my other blog, Oregon by Nature, but at the time I took the picture below, I had no idea it was the exotic species from Europe known as the House Sparrow.

 

Oregon Coast - February 27th, 2014

As much as I had fun at the coast, it was a big learning experience that I hope to never repeat again. After eating lunch at Mo's along the Taft Waterfront in Lincoln City, I went outside and just started snapping pictures of wildlife-mainly seagulls-without first checking my camera settings and making sure the lens was perfectly clean. What resulted was many photos that were extremely overexposed, and when I finally got the exposure to a good-but not prefect-setting, there was too much fuzz or salt spry on the lens that any that could be saved had too much spots on them that they were doomed to be trashed - or at least put on my external hard drive to help me remember to check my settings before taking pictures. Once at Depoe Bay, however, most of the stuff on the lens, whatever it was, had blown off, and I got better pictures. Below are some of my favorites from that day. The first two were salvageable photos that were taken at Taft, while the rest are from Depoe Bay.

 

In the next photo, I ended up spotting something in the picture that I have never seen before--a waterfall and fish ladder behind the wharf. The next time I go to Depoe Bay by myself, I will have to drive to the back of the bay to get not only a different perspective, but a closer shot of that fish ladder and waterfall. 

Ankeny Wildlife Refuge Revisited - February 25th, 2014

The Willamette Valley has been getting many sunny days lately, so I have been busy outdoors. On the 25th, I made the trip back to Ankeny NWR to see if I could get better pictures. What you see below are my favorite from that day. The first two include three birds known as a Northern Shoveler.

"Ready to Fly"

 

"Low-Flying Zone"

This next one actually was taken east of Salem the following day, but I am including it as well since there were Red-tailed Hawks at the refuge, and while I did get photos of them, they weren't as good as this one.

"Watching for Prey"

Wildlife Photo Session at Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge.

Since the weather was nice and sunny yesterday, I decided to drive out to the closest wildlife refuge to see if there were any thing worth taking pictures of. Unfortunately, while I did get a picture of Northern Shoveler, my lens could not zoom in far enough to clearly see it. So as soon as start getting more hours at work, I will start saving money for an even better lens. Another photography class can wait until the next school year, I need something that can give me the great shots I am looking for. Anyways, below are my favorite pictures of the day:

"Riding the Thermals"

The goose that is looking for a landing site in the picture below had came in for a landing, turned 180 degrees when it realized there was no place to land, and after hovering for a moment, took off in the direction it came. The photo shows the moment it was hovering and looking for a new place to land. One of the geese below seems to be telling it that the sand bar was full.

"No Place to Land"

Unfortunately, most of my bird pictures, especially the ones that turn out good like the one above, are still a bit too far for that perfect image. Each picture posted from yesterday had been cropped out--the picture below is the original image of the landing goose.

Finally, I stopped by at Aumsville Ponds County Park. Even though it was closed, I noticed there were three people that were taking wood from the park and a fourth that was finishing his hike and on his way home (which must have been close enough to walk to).

"Two Buffleheads Are Better Than One"

Pioneer Park Photowalk

I decided to go to Pioneer Park in Stayton yesterday to get a few pictures since I would be in town. While there, I discovered a pair of Mallard Ducks diving for food below the water's surface.

"Double Dipping"

From time to time, I may use the same title with a different picture. Such is the case with this next photo having the same title as one that was posted back in January

"I'm Watching You"

 

"Ducks and Raindrops"

February Photodrive and South Falls Revisited

Whenever I am driving to a place to take pictures, such as Silver Falls State Park, I also look around me when I am driving to see things that most travelers miss--such as a barn peeking out of some trees, or a bird sitting on a fence post. So yesterday, I left the house earlier than usual with three locations that I wanted to drive to before I had to get to class at the local community college. The first site was a revisit to Silver Falls, this time with a tripod to get the photos I couldn't get several days ago, though it was pretty much the same. On the way to the waterfalls, I found a nice red barn to photograph. Lust like some painters love to paint barns, I love to get pictures of them, especially the older ones that have been well-maintained.

As I started taking pictures, a Northern Harrier flew right in front of the very barn I was photographing.

 

After visiting Silver Falls State Park, I headed towards the Silverton Reservoir. This was a section of road that I had never drove before, and as I was driving along, I saw yet another barn playing peek-a-boo behind some trees...

"Silverton Reservoir"

"The Power of Gravity"

After leaving the Silverton Reservoir, I headed to the Pettit Reservoir that is hidden from sight across the road from Rogers Wayside County Park. Unfortunately, the lake was not as pretty this time of year, so I will have to visit it in April.

South Falls February Photowalk

The other day I went over to Silver Falls for two reasons: first, to turn in an application for the interpretive naturalist position; and secondly, to go on a small walk to the base of South Falls with my camera in hand but no tripod. as a result, some of the pictures I wanted to capture were blurry. Below are a few of the photos that I took that day.

"Winter Cascade"

"Silver Falls"

 

"The Power of Water"

 I liked the texture of the moss on the maple trees. The moss in the photo below is just one of many that live in the temperate rainforest that stretches from northern California to the Kenai Penninsula in Alaska,

"The Waterfall Trail'

The flower below is known as a Spring Queen, but also known as a Snow Queen because they bloom just after the snow melts. The whole region of Northwestern Oregon was hit by a snowstorm that started melting four days before I visited the park.

"Flower in February"

"Falling Water, Rising Mist"