Sandhill Cranes and Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge, January 2022

Our first outing of the new year was to the Vancouver Lake Lowlands for a tour of the Sandhill Cranes wintering habitat, given by the Columbia Land Trust. Accompanied by the intrepid Rosa, we stayed with the cranes as long as we could in the cold wet weather, and then headed up to the Ridgefield WIldlife Refuge for a circuit around their auto-tour before the early winter sunset. Four days later Nancy and I returned first thing in the morning, to find the river socked in with fog. We sidetracked for a walk along Vancouver Lake, and then returned to the river to spend the rest of the cold sunny morning with the cranes.

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Fernhill Wetlands – December 2021

In December I spent a long morning with the new camera at Fernhill Wetlands, a part of Clean Water Services in Forest Grove, where they use wetlands to further improve water quality after normal treatment. The many environments they have created support a wide variety of birds and mammals. Click on any image to go to the full gallery.

Snowbirds

After a late December snow, we set out some birdseed for our familiar backyard crew of Western Scrub Jays, Dark-eyed Juncos, Song Sparrows, and Spotted Towhees, and watched the show.

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Fall Colors 2020

The pace and process of photography was well suited to the timelessness of lockdown and solitude of social distancing. (Click the photo to visit the gallery.)