George Doc Cavalliere Park – Page 4

As the Phoebe Flies

In February I was headed up to an interesting saguaro in the last light of day when I stopped as I saw a bird flying straight towards me. I was a little surprised as I was wearing my bright orange jacket and easily visible on the trail though I had just rounded a bend. I feared I had inadvertently strayed too near a nest but the bird wasn’t agitated and landed so closely in the tree above I almost dared not look up. I walked back down the trail as quietly as I could until I got a better view of what turned out to be a Say’s phoebe, a bird I first identified last June at the house but hadn’t seen since. It hung out in the tree for a while before it flew to the saguaro that had been my original target, trying a few perches before flying off for good. Pleased to meet you little one and thanks for the introduction.

Open Late

Even though Cavalliere Park is the closest to us I didn’t initially think I would visit as my favorite trailhead lies further up the street with a diversity of trails beckoning. But my mind changed when I discovered the small multi-use park has an advantage the other local parks don’t have: you can stay through sunset (and even later). Probably not something I’ll take advantage of during the high heat of summer but on this winter evening it let me photograph some birds in the last light of the day. I took this quick picture of the car as the light was rapidly fading, I was always happy to see my Subaru after a long day at work or a tiring trek on the trails and thankfully I quickly came to feel the same way about the Lexus.

If I Could Drive 1000 Miles

After a month of ownership the Lexus tipped past the 1000 mile mark on the way home from work yesterday. Life is different here, there were occasional times in Portland that would have been a year’s driving for me (most years I drove double or triple that). I upgraded the car for several reasons but I hoped to improve my fuel economy in the process, which was harder than it sounds as my Subaru was getting 32 MPG (about 30.5 in the summer). I expected the little hybrid to beat that but I wasn’t sure by how much given the nature of my commute, but thankfully it’s improved my fuel economy by about a third. This picture is from Saturday, we got heavy rains in the morning but it began to clear in the afternoon so I paid a quick visit to a little city park near our house I hadn’t visited yet, George “Doc” Cavalliere Park.