Fortuitous Find

This last week of October, Jon drove me to yet another eye appointment. Neither of us are very good with directions and in spite of having them in front of us, we missed an exit. To be fair, we were listening to A Year Down Yonder and got distracted! No matter how often we listen or read that book, it is always fun. Anyway, we ended up near the Umatilla River and opted to return after the appointment was over. It was a bright and breezy day with little wildlife and a lot of pretty!!! The main area we visited had a tiny pond on the trail. From there, we walked to the river. A perfect place to loll, if we'd had more time! 

The gulls were stunning. Their white wings against the blue were beautiful. They were the only birds out and about, showing off their dips and twirls against the wind. 

We found a few unusual things on the sand. I fell in love with this odd bit of driftwood. It didn't come home with us, though!! 

Jon found a wooly bear. He left it in some vegetation on the river bank. 

This is an interesting tree/bush. It looked like a willow, but it had long thorns on the branches. Haven't been able to identify it yet! There was also a great many of an incredibly fragrant bush. Reminded me of one of the spices in the cupboard, but wasn't sure of that either! Probably sage. 

We'd like to go back in early May, when the water fowl have their babies. And we'll bring boots! 

Mtn Ranch in late April

 Jon went up to the Mtn Ranch the last two weekends in April. The first one was for fun, the second was for hunting with more than his camera. He took pictures of quite a few birds, a couple are ones not usually found in this area, so that was super exciting. We'll start off this mountain visit with a game. 

                                                                        Duck, Duck, GOOSE! 

These ladies reminded him a bit of the two geese from Disney's Aristocats. They were high stepping and walking with a stately bustle. 

This Tom was hanging around near them. Oddly, even though he has all the lovely feathers and struts around like he owns the place, it is the hens who appear to defend their Tom. 

Up above, Jon found this hawk. The video he took was really good, but haven't yet figured out how to upload videos from him into blogger. 

There were some younglings out snacking, too. So many four footed creatures look terrible in spring. Their fur is shedding and they look as if they could eat an entire field of wheat! 

Sandhill cranes migrate north each spring and return in the fall. They are often so high overhead you can't find them. Sometimes, however, you sight their dark 'V' against the bright blue of the sky and are amazed. Amazed at how far away they are, how loud they are, and how crazy it is they exist. They are definitely an oddly shaped avian.  

The next weekend Jon was up there, it was raining. From his camp he was able to look out on the pond over the fence and he found these absolutely bizarre birds. On All About Birds, a website I have used often, it shows these shore birds are not in this area. In a larger map, it shows they might be. I'm having some trouble understanding the map feature!! Anyway, these are black necked stilts. They have an interesting call and were very busy wading on their long pink legs and foraging for whatever might be edible in this small bit of water. Jon also noticed some other birds in with the stilts. The bird below is probably a snipe, it did have long legs when it was not swimming. 

A bowling pin..or is it a penguin? 

Look at those legs!!!!! This link will take you to All About Birds. :o)  They have the second-longest legs in proportion to their bodies of any bird, exceeded only by flamingos. 

Jon also found a very brown duck on the pond. It was cinnamon teal and his mate. Like the rest of the teals, you can't see the green bit on the wings unless they are in flight. They will nest in EO, so perhaps the pair will stick around! 

Jon had gone up on Friday night to hunt for turkey. He heard them calling and anticipated an easy day on Saturday. It didn't work out that way, though! After a day of rain and not rain and using his hen call, he was about to pack up and return to the house, when he decided to call once more. This time, he had an answer. The story is a lot more interesting in his own words, but I'll sum up. A hen came out of hiding to see about the 'calling hen' and Jon waited and waited. Eventually, the prominent tom strutted forth and Jon was able to take a shot. Looking at the variety of birds Jon found on the ranch these last weeks, the turkey is by fair the oddest. They have scaly long legs, incredible soft and stiff feathers full of stunning colors, a rather creepy lizard like head and neck in several mismatched colors, formidable beaks and talons, and something called a beard that is made up of actual hair jutting out of their chest! No one could come up with all those elements if they were given a skeleton and had no knowledge of this sort of fowl. 

I'd add a photo of the feathers and another of Jonathan, however, it appears the new Chromebook isn't compatible with my cell phone. Compatibility is a typical problem! 

      We had a half of the bird for dinner on Wednesday and it had a great flavor. It had been brined with a lot of water, about a TB of brown sugar, and a good deal of garlic salt with parsley. When it was cooked, I added most of a sliced apple and an eighth of a cucumber. I didn't know exactly how long to cook it, so parts were overcooked a bit, but overall, it was a good first time from the hunt to the oven. 

More Snow and Snow Creations

A lot of pictures- it has been wonderful having so much winter! 

This little hole is now a tunnel under the feeder and out into the yard. 

More yard. There is a path to the feeder and now an open spot. 
 

The roof holds a lot of snow and when it melts enough to fall off, there is a bit of a mess. The porch was mostly cleared til this load landed. As you can see from the glove, the piece of ice under it is pretty thick. Several inches! 

Above is the alley and below is third street. AFTER Jon had already plowed on the weekend. (This is Monday, President's Day) 

Tuesday was Shrove Tuesday. Finally managed to get outside and look around. Jon's cages are a tad snowy!!! 

Also realised the snow was not soft and fluffy. Being a bit sticky, it could be used for making. So, below is Mrs. Whatsit. 

I was in the front yard making more snow people and Jon decided to make a rabbit. There is another photo at the end of the rabbit. It is eating sticks, because the sticks looked awful as whiskers!! 

Snow man.

And a Peep!! This was colored with food coloring and water in a spray bottle. 

Another snow lady. 

And a last view of the rabbit Jon made. 

Not sure what will happen in the rest of the week. There may be more snow, but the forecast is also calling for warmer temps and rain. Jon's pretty sure his rabbit will be around longer than my creations, but I can always Calvin and Hobbes mine and knock them over when they start to melt. 

A holiday weekend of winter

 Dear Polar Vortex, thank  you so much for the snow you have dropped on Eastern OR. Not everyone is as thrilled as they might be. However, we do thank you for keeping us from the crazy freezing temps. Scooter (the dragonfly) is having enough trouble under snow! 

Even the pond is still burbling under the layer of white. 

Jon spent the weekend taking care of his rabbits. This is from Friday when we had a nominal amount of fluff. It got deeper, but wasn't wet. Just nice and pretty. 

On Saturday there was a stunning sunset. 

Tried to capture the lights on the icicles, because pink ice was so different. Alas, just managed to get pretty lights instead of colored ones. You can sure tell how old and uninsulated certain houses are in town by the amount of ice festooned across the roof edges!! This one is definitely in that lineup. 

Steve and Jon spent Saturday working on several different things (Steve had to go to town) and moving snow. 

This is about the only cat who was outside- The vortex coated the lawn sculpture with lovely ripples and shades and layers. 

 Schultz was hidden until Monday. It seems a squirrel tried to land on him and took off the very tall layer of snow blanketing him! 

Godfrey was doing fairly well, he's in the way of the ice falling off the roof on Monday. Hoping he doesn't get wiped out! 

Buford Buckshot provided a lovely spot for the birds. He, too, was finally brushed off on Monday. He was also quite a bit closer to the snow around his legs, so perhaps the squirrel jumped on him, too! 

Meepette was completely covered by Monday. Up to the tip of her curved tail!!!! She does look a bit disgruntled in this photo. 

Sunday was spent cooking and moving snow. Steve had a chance to take me for short drive and it was so beautiful! The locust trees were gold and black calligraphy on the parchment skyline and along the banks of the creek, those trees wrote stark lines about the hardship of winter's storms. You really couldn't see that much, there was so much white for miles and miles. We spied a few magpie and a ring tail hawk, and cows! 

These two bulls made us laugh for quite a while. Steve thinks the only not snowy bit on their pelts was where their foreheads were meeting. They scooted each other all over in the field while we watched. True stubbornness!! 

Rain is expected, hopefully the snow you dumped won't create flooding like last Feb. That was really horrid! The snow and ice falling off the roof today (those photos are still on my camera) are a bit startling from inside, am sure it would be impressive if I was on the sidewalk. Had to move a great pile of snow from the porch, there is a lot still left. As I type, can also see there is a wind picking up. Drifting snow isn't as much fun as plain fluffy stuff, I'm just thankful we aren't in OK or places where you have dumped severe winter storms. Thank you for the brief visit with winter and next time  you visit, well....I'd rather just have a normal winter of snow and not a from a vortex!