My favorite creature in the Pacific Northwest is the rough-skinned newt. I used to see them frequently at the places I hiked when we lived further south in Oregon, this one is from 2002 at William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge near Corvallis.
Author: boolie
Oregon in Oregon
A dark-eyed junco visits the dogwood next to the bird feeders in our backyard. She is a female of the Oregon race.
The Eastern Gray
An eastern gray squirrel eats an acorn in our backyard. The eastern grays are not native to Oregon but are common in city neighborhoods.
Crossing Over
When car shopping a couple of years ago, I only considered cars where it was easy to cross from the driver’s seat to the passenger’s seat. I was specifically thinking of situations like this at the auto tour at my local refuge, where I saw a family of river otters to the right of the car and the best views were from the passenger seat. Thankfully crossing over is easy to do in the Subaru Crosstrek we bought and I was able to watch the otters for quite a while as they groomed and played and ate. I was struck by how, even in the midst of vigorous play, the siblings would catch a fish when the opportunity presented itself and enjoy a quick snack before resuming play.
Floating
A male bullfrog floats in quiet contrast to many of the others nearby that were either wrestling with males or mating with females.
Let’s Face It, I’m Adorable
No argument, Boo, no argument. Taken last year after his second month with us.
A Doe, A Decade Ago
A white-tailed doe grazes in a meadow late in the day at Shenandoah National Park. Taken a decade ago during my last trip to Virginia, a state where I lived for 10 years while in school.
Sol Duc
One of the branches of Sol Duc Falls in Olympic National Park. I was struck by how the little yellow flowers had found purchase and were able to grow on the hard rocks.
Horse Thieves
Visit Ridgefield during the winter and nearly every body of water will have American coots on it. I spent a good deal of time this past winter photographing coots at Horse Lake, a seasonal pond at the start of the auto tour, trying to capture different aspects of their lives, such as how American wigeon will dash over to eat the plants a coot has worked loose from the lake bed.
The wigeon will swim over after a coot dives and try to eat what it brings up when it surfaces. Many times it seems to me they spend more energy chasing after the coots than if they had just dabbled in the shallow water to feed themselves. Other ducks like gadwall also participate in this thievery – as do other coots as well – but the wigeon are relentless. For their part, the coots put up with it without much fuss. Here, a male and female pair come at the coot from each side.
South Quigley Sora
Sometimes I like to just sit beside the cattails at the edge of South Quigley Lake and wait. Most of the time nothing will happen, but sometimes a bittern or rail or, as in this case, a sora will pass silently by.
Boolie 