The pace of our lives is not brisk and our days of multitasking projects is long past.
That’s not to say we’re idle. Quite the opposite, as summer gets up to full blast our weekly schedule fills up.
Along with more excursions, come early starts. It’s all part of getting into summer.
The High Desert in this season can be oppressively hot from noon to sun down. To counter this, we are out the door at first light . . . conversely, back in the house by mid-afternoon.
This week’s trip to the river was highlighted not by fishing, though that was good, but by a proliferation of fledgling sightings.
A young Osprey was getting a lesson in Magpie gang warfare.
There were moments when we thought the Magpies would succeed in getting the young Osprey’s meal.
In the end, he finished the fish and brought back another.
A group of Western Tanagers were also spotted. Likely a stop on their migration to either the Cascades or Ochoco range.
The sighting is a rare treat, not only because of their brilliant colors, but also they only spend a few days in the canyon on their summer jaunt to the mountains.
We also got treated to a family of Redwing Blackbirds.
It appeared to be flight practice. We observed the family hopping along the tops of willow bushes at the river’s edge.
Often these trips are filled with long stretches of sitting quietly, watching the natural world move around us. Morning hours seem to be a good time to get the most of that activity.