From Fern Ridge to Battle Creek

It was a nice day today sunshine and warm weather (by Oregon standards) so we headed out to a spot a friend told me about at the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area maintained by Oregon Fish and Wildlife. The spot we stopped at was the Coyote Creek Nature Trail. Coyote Creek was up and flowing with sedimented water and a few fallen trees in the creek.

"Fern Ridge Wildlife Area was created in 1957 under a license agreement between the Corps of Engineers and Oregon Game Commission (now Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife- ODFW). The agreement provides authority for the state to "develop, conserve, and manage all wildlife resources on a 5,010 acre portion of the 12,716 acres owned by the USACE around the reservoir.

Management emphasis on the wildlife area centers primarily around waterfowl and wetlands habitat management to provide food, water, and sanctuary for wintering waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wildlife. The expansive marsh and flyway proximity in the southern Willamette Valley are ideally suited for support of many wetland wildlife species. Active management techniques are combined with protective measures to provide a habitat base that supports a diverse array of wildlife. Bird life is particularly rich on the area with over 250 species of birds utilizing the area at some point in their life cycle either as resident and nesting birds or as seasonal migrants."

Fern Ridge got its name for a reason and here is one. Ferns are all over this wetlands area.


Between the ferns and moss there are places you can't even see the bark on the tree branches.


The second stop at Fern Ridge Wildlife Viewing area was this open wetlands.


This was a very marshy area with lots of croaking frogs and reeds.


I liked these cattails that were a little distance away but thanks to Isaac's telephoto lens they were in photo reach.


There are canals in the area I suspect the are used to carry overflow to Fern Ridge Reservoir a short distance away.


I did find this mushroom that was a deep purple or possibly brow that appeared black when I first spotted it.


We took a back road home through the town of Crow and along the drive we spotted this covered bridge on Battle Creek Road. The creek it crosses is the same Coyote Creek we visited at Fern Ridge Wildlife Area.


It was a nice bridge in a beautiful setting and away from traffic.


There was a pond near where we parked and again it was brown this time of year with silt and tannin from the leaves that fell in the fall.


Can you find the bark on this tree?

Scrabble Score - Sharyn (Scrabble Queen) 350 ~ The Contender (Paul) 319

Quote of the Day

"Democrats never agree on anything, that's why they're Democrats. If they agreed with each other, they would be Republicans." ~ Will Rogers

Hendricks Park a Bit Early but Nice

Today was a nice change of pace from the cold rains of the last few days so we headed to Hendricks to see if anything was blooming yet.


All I know about this plant is that its white, beautiful and not a rhododendron.


There is a great view of the city from Hendricks Park this is looking northwest toward another hill called Skinners Butte.


Sharyn pointed out this very healthy grey squirrel eating a nut on the back of the park bench.


The walks around Hendricks Park are very nice even when all the Rhododendrons are not blooming.


Sharyn also pointed out this burl and the very red rhododendron blooms.

Okay I found this yellow Rhodie on my own.

I love the pink blooms on this rhododendron also.


I was surprised so many rhododendrons were blooming, not many compared to a little later in the spring but enough to make it feel like Spring is here.


Well surprise this is not a Rhododendron it is, however, a magnolia tree with beautiful hot pink blooms. We have one of these colorful magnolias in our yard but ours has yellow blooms.


I have no idea what this tree/bush is but it makes for a great picture.


If you have time to kill and enjoy counting rings try and figure out how old this tree is - oops was.


Trees do the darnedest things - weird!


Check out the beautiful colors on this plant and the pattern.


Well I finally got Sharyn to stop and smile. Hi Cutie!!! (waving arms)


How in the world can this limb be still attached to the tree it must go for twenty plus yards straight out and parallel (roughly) to the ground.


One last look back at a portion of this beautiful place - you can be assured I'll be back for the full blooming time. I suspect in 2 or 3 weeks.


No this is NOT Hendricks park it's a huge dumpster near the U of Oregon Research park. I've seen a lot of graffiti in my day but never have I seen "Alice in Wonderland" as graffiti before.

Also behind the Research park was this glass building that looks like a greenhouse but it appears to have machinery inside. "No Admittance" signs kept me from exploring further.


There was a huge flock of Cormorants in this and another tree behind the research park overlooking the Willamette River. It was a very cool sight to see so many large birds in one spot. I haven't see that since visiting the Aviary at the San Diego Zoo.

Scrabble Score (new format) Sharyn 338 ~ Paul 342

Quote of the Day

"Many an opportunity is lost because a man is out looking for four-leaf clovers." ~Author Unknown

The Long Tom Grange and Daffodil Drive

Today was a partly sunny, partly rainy and mostly cloudy normal Oregon day. We decided to get out to the Long Tom Grange and the Daffodil trail drive for a nice change of pace.

Disclaimer: Persons living in Sunny California should avoid Oregon like the plague and move to Arizona, Texas or Florida

It was really a nice country drive and I finally stopped to get a picture of one of the thousands of School Bus Stop Shelters that dot the rural road landscape all over Oregon and I suspect most rainy or snowy parts of the country.


What would rural Oregon do without the unpainted barns and blackberry brambles.


There were plenty of daffodils blooming along the lightly traveled road.


Even better were the beautiful countryside views.


I even appreciated the fences without barbs.


One road we found have hundreds of alpacas.




I was quick enough to catch this red truck driving along the road.


This home wasn't moving as fast as the truck so it was much easier to get this picture.




I guess turkeys are also grown in this area.


It was mostly an alpaca area though and this white (well mostly) alpaca was beautiful...

...so was his girlfriend and the little teenager alpaca...

...but the baby of the family was the cutest with the white neck band and white leggings.

The alpacas and turkeys were on Jaeg Road but at the end of the road was The Pfeiffer Vineyards and their boxes caught my attention since they have my initials all over them.

The Pfeiffer family moved to Oregon in 1947, (four years after my birth) purchasing the 80 acres that currently serves as Pfeiffer Vineyards.

Initially, the property functioned as a sheep farm and the Pfeiffer's children (Robin, Conrad, Eric, and Karen) assisted their parents with raising and marketing lamb, sheep, and wool.

After struggling for 30 years, the grown children decided it was time to change industries, sold the sheep, and planted grapevines. "The only thing we knew about wine grapes was that we liked wine and dried grapes were called raisins," noted Robin Pfeiffer. However, they learned after careful analysis that their site was ideal for grapes.

Going back on Jaeg Road we stopped for a picture of the "Iron Alpacas" decorating one of the homes.


I love the teardrop camping trailers and on the way home stopped to get this shot of one for sale in Eugene.

Above the lot with the Teardrop T@B was is Oregon Lottery billboard touting the good use our Lottery funds support (they go to the parks system) and the informative and humerus disclaimer "Lottery games should be played for entertainment only" I like the other disclaimer even better it states "Lottery games should not be played for investment purposes"

Scrabble ~ Scrabble Queen 323 - The Contender 306

Quote of the Day ~

When you work really hard for something for a long time it's almost impossible to believe that it's coming true. ~ Robert Crippen

Art Education

The first image here is mine and it's a much edited photograph and the product of my mind having changed background and tone and even the how the pixels line up. There is a place where art is taught and learned by avid students who I find smart creative and eager to make a mark on the world and even on themselves. This is a small sample of the creative mind of the art students of this world.

Her daughter likes gold fish and her boyfriend likes alligators and this artist combined both in this colorful piece. I didn't get the names of the artists but they were kind enough to allow these photographs.

This "Mountain Lake" is an image that took me a moment to adjust to the dimensions of depth across the land to the lake and peak beyond. Once I took it all in it reminded me of a photograph that just won a contest in the photography group I participate in on Facebook.

Color plays between light and dark black and white and everything in between in this beautiful creation called "Turbulence at Sea." These two pieces are by Renee Manford

Shelly did the next few pieces of work and this one was patterned after a Renoir and it was breathtaking. I also should tell you all of these pieces we photographed at an angle and are not exact in proportion.

The same artist produced this wonderfully bright image of her mother as a young woman and includes a muted overlay of the artist's face over her mother's

The next two prints show the creativity in production of a print. In this one she used lace to create the patterns in the dark plum colored ink...

... and in this print she used a smoother medium.

I had a great time learning that creativity cannot be taught and that art is really the history of the experiences of the artists. When I say experiences I am not referring to experience although that is a result of practice and repeated execution and the refinements that go along with time.

I just know it's rare to find a sincere artist that doesn't evoke thought and enhance my world.

Scrabble Score ----- I didn't ask the score but I think The Contender lost big time.

Quote of the Day ~

"And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything." ~ William Shakespeare