Nature – Page 2

November 23, 2025November 21, 2025

It’s Gotten Cold

Winter seems to be upon us. This week was wet . . . and bone chilling cold.

Each year we seem to need more time to adjust to the season of snow. Usually the transition from fall to winter is enough, but for some reason this season seems particularly short.

Perhaps the days are moving faster?

Either way . . . here we are . . . well into November and still thinking it’s October.

The weatherman suggested that Wednesday would present some sun and perhaps be a bit warmer. So we headed up to the river.

The sun did not break through the overcast sky and it never got warmer than 37º. Thus we only spent a couple of hours on the river.

That said, our time was marked by the presence of a Bald Eagle perched in the Osprey’s snag. So fierce!

We pulled out the Drone for a water survey. The Crooked River is at it’s winter time low level.

Finally, when the chill became too much, we sipped on mugs of hot tea, enjoyed some roasted chicken, and shared a slice of delicious cranberry cake. So, all was not lost.

By December we should have acclimated to winter and be better prepared for frigid days on the high desert.

We know there will be breaks from these arctic fronts, where sun-filled days outnumber the dull gray ones. It’s just this week was particularly dull.

October 5, 2025October 5, 2025

A Short Trip

Lava Butte on the far side of a lava field

Sometimes there are things in your own backyard that should be explored.

Our intent has been to eventually visit all points of interest in the immediate vicinity. This week, one of the last unseen spots was our destination.

Lava Lands Visitor Center is just 20 minutes from our house. We pass it every time we take OR 97 north.

It’s been on the list for years, but there are some small obstacles. The center’s main attraction, a trip to the top of the cone, is closed from November to June.

There is also the added issue that to get to the top of Lava Butte you have to take a bus and we’re not ‘ride the tour bus’ people.

In 1990 a 50,000 acre area around the Newberry Crater was designated a national monument. Newberry is a Shield crater . . . a massive mound rather than the conical spires that are typical of Cascade Range Volcanoes.

The Lava Lands center sits at the north end of a series of volcano centric sites. This is perfect location for geology enthusiasts.

We’ve wandered all but the Lava River Cave (don’t care for caves) and of course Lava Butte.

There are a few weeks on either end of the season when you can get a free pass and drive your own car to the top. This was one of the last weeks you can do that, or so we thought. Government shut-down foiled our plans.

There’s always next June . . . though it was a nice fall day, so we walked the ‘Whispering Pines Trail’ and marveled at the ancient lava flow.

September 28, 2025September 27, 2025

Shifting to Fall

A Blackbird perches effortlessly on bare tree branches

It’s Fall. The equinox was this week and the weather has cooled. Just yesterday we had our first frost.

It’s not snowing, yet . . .

Mornings are still mild and we continue to have warm days ahead, but still, . . . it’s feels like Fall.

The trees around our house fill with a different species of songbird nearly every week. A gang of Jays has been stalking the area and V’s of Canada Geese honk their arrival overhead.

Before duck season fills the parking sites with RV’s, and chains close off loop roads, we like to make a seasonal visit to Summer Lake.

It’s just an hour’s drive, so if there’s no activity, we’re not giving up much of the day. That was not the case this day.

The refuge was filled with activity and a wide variety of birds.

Year around there’s a least one Squadron of Pelicans, a Great Blue Heron, some raptors, and a smattering of the hardier song birds to populate the marshes of Summer Lake.

Then, a couple of times a year, seasonal migrations bump those numbers and bring in a lot of different species. These are ideal times to visit.

Before we even got to the refuge, there were a couple of Sand Hill Cranes resting in a field along the road. We spotted a few more pairs at various points during our regular loop drive.

A pod of pelicans float by a Great Blue Heron

In managing the refuge there is a seasonal shifting to water levels in the various ponds. In the fall it seems the ODFW attempt to give hunters some easy access points, but also offer more protected spaces.

On this trip the pond on the west side of the dike loop road had just a thin layer of water. This seemed to be just what the shore birds wanted. The place was filled with a huge variety.

Refuge managment means shifting water levels

Once again we enjoyed the space without any other people. This makes it easy to stop on some of the narrow roads to get a photo or put the binoculars on an unfamiliar group of visitors.

We’ll be back, of course, but not before winter takes hold and then it will be a very different landscape . . . beautiful in a different way.

September 21, 2025September 20, 2025

A Patio Visit

It really felt like fall this week. We managed to get in a fishing trip, as usual, but the majority of our week was spent getting a start on winterizing.

Red Rudbeckia, aka black-eyed Susan, was a big success in this year’s garden.

Central Oregon winters can be fickle weather-wise, but there is the guarantee of one good snow dump. For that reason, you need to button up the exterior.

Petunias, a favorite of mule deer in our neighborhood

We’ve transformed the patio from a basic BBQ spot to a retreat, complete with a host of herbs and flowers. This has been a great place to share a morning coffee or evening cocktail.

The patio gets crossed by neighborhood cats and there is a resident family of chipmunks that skitter across. The chipmunks seem to be using the bottom of our grow towers as watering spots.

In recent weeks there has been a small clutch of Mule Deer Stags feasting on neighborhood greenery.

Interrupted mid-munch (petunias, strawberries, and cherry tomatoes are top contenders)

We’ve seen a decrease in foliage on flowers and trees. We watch them nonchalantly strolling through the neighborhood streets.

However, we’ve not been successful in catching these tree pruners in action . . . until this week.

Continue reading “A Patio Visit”

September 14, 2025September 12, 2025

Rainy Days

This week was a change. We went from “Red Flag” warnings and heat waves, to weather reminiscent of winter. It’s not unlike any late summer day in Central Oregon.

As this is getting written, the sun is beaming in my window and it’s around 70 degrees outside. But for most of this week we’ve been watching storm clouds roll in from the Southwest bringing down pouring rain.

We didn’t do any long trips, but we did get out a couple of times . . . driving through the storms. In the high desert you can see weather coming and watch thunderheads bring rain to you.