If you haven’t seen them, you’re either not paying attention, or you’re really busy doing something else. It’s really hard to miss them, especially if they’re pooping all over your deck like they are at my place, or on your car if it’s parked under the juniper tree at the edge of your driveway. Robins! […]
Jim Anderson
Newts Deserve Respect, or Else…
Victor Berthelsdorf, who lives over in The Swamp on a farm near McMinnville, recently sent me an email with a photo of a great egret posing with a mouthful of rough-skinned newt. Berthelsdorf’s note read: “I was wondering what your take might be on this. Taken Dec. 13. Dazed & confused? Washing it off? Flipping the […]
Where Have All the Insects Gone?
I‘m not a pessimist, at least I try not to be one. But… Early last summer, I noticed something that really bothered me. While driving between Riley and Sisters on a warm, early summer day, I noticed I didn’t have as many smashed insects on the windshield of my 4Runner as I did earlier that […]
A Brush with a Papa Owl
I once had a sheep-raising palโone of the Shumway boysโlead me to an active great horned owl pair that was using an old red-tailed hawk’s nest in the top of a juniper that had been blown over near Alfalfa. Telling this tale, you have to realize that old pals have different ways of looking at humor, […]
The Notorious Nest-Stealers
Well, it’s that time of year (again). If you’re fortunate enough to have a home close to the same habitat great horned owls need to make a living, you’re also hearing them now as they cuddle up and sing love songs to each other. The owls usually begin their courtship in November, about a football […]
The Unicorn of the Cascades
Wow! A “unicone” on the cover of last week’s Source, and no one told me!
Knapweed, the Persistent Pest
The photo seen here was taken just last week on private ground adjacent to Hwy. 20 east of Sisters. It’s spotted knapweed gone to seedโone of the three species of knapweed, pushing too many of our native plants aside, using precious water and nutrients doing so, and generally becoming a huge nuisance. They gotta’ go! […]
The Black Widow’s Sister Arrives
Let’s begin this story with the high points regarding the spider genus, Latrodectus and the family Theridiidae, most of which are commonly known as widow spiders. (If you visit Africa, however, you’ll find they have the common name of button spiders.) The accompanying drawing by my son Caleb is an African brown widow recently reported […]
Sydney the Cygnet Lives On
Eloise, the surviving trumpeter swan from an original pair brought to Aspen Lakes, has lived quite a life. She survived the death of her early partner and has lived long enough to gain some friends among the residents. It was love at first sight for Robin Goldโone of the residents at Aspen Lakes in Sisters, […]
Coyotes: Clever Rebounders
Way back in the ’50s and ’60s, I was a thorn in the side of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Predator and Rodent Control programโa misnomer if there ever was one. Their main target was the coyote. The trappers thought they could eliminate the coyote on the “open range”โas they termed the millions of […]

