Thanks to hearing device technology from Central Oregon Audiology, I am acutely aware of the cacophony of hundreds of male Pacific tree frogs in Central Oregon’s irrigation ponds, decorative water features, and drainage ditches that are making their presence known to one and all. They are gleefully summoning their lady-friend partners to come join them […]
Natural World
Posted inOutside
The Perfect Day
Breakdowns, books and baby eagles in the Oregon Outback
When my wife, Sue, and I start out each morning to conduct our golden eagle survey for the Oregon Eagle Foundation, we never know what the day will hold, except that it will be a wonderful adventure, and at some point we’ll end up lost in Oregon’s Great Sandy Desert, and we’ll be very happy […]
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Woodpeckers of North America
Present-day birders will certainly recall the name, Roger Tory Peterson, as the leader in nature field guides. It isn’t just birds that made up his list of interests, but subjects covering a wide area of natural history, from birds to edible plants. Today, the Peterson Field Guides continue to proliferate, and thanks to local birder, […]
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The Last Golden Eagle in England Has Vanished
Federal Eagle Protection Act ignored in Central Oregon land sale
England: Birthplace of Shakespeare and The Beatles, home of Parliament and the Tower of London, but there are no longer any golden eagles living there. Who’d have thought, with all the hard work of the Royal Society for the Preservation of Birds (RSPB), that they’d lose the magnificent bird of prey so steeped in the […]
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The Monarch Miracle, Part Two
Since the recent story I wrote on the plight of the monarch butterfly in which I encouraged the residents of Central Oregon to create monarch waystations, I’ve been reminded by more than one person that I left out a couple of salient facts about the life history of monarchs: time and metamorphosis. Thus, regarding the […]
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Coyote Summer Safety
Coyotes are back—or always seem to be—in the news. One tried to run off with a small dog out near the Sisters Airport a while back, but the owner's big dog changed the coyote's mind and it dropped the little dog. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has, over the years, really tried […]
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The TVs are baaaaack!
One of the most wonderful things I enjoy about writing this column is all the help I get from friends who enjoy the wild things around us as much as I do. The great American writer and illustrator Maurice Sandak used the title, “Where The Wild Things Are” for his delightful 1963 children’s book. This […]
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Spiders in the Northwest
Revisiting hobos, widows and violins
Judging from the phone calls, emails and text messages, things have gotten out of hand in the spider world, especially regarding those thought to be dangerous. Hence, right from the get-go, let’s put the real “Bad One,” the brown recluse, also known as the violin spider—behind us. One, it does not and cannot live in […]
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Bee Well
Backyard beekeepers buzzing along
Tumalo Bee Academy is led by long-time local beekeeper Stephen Harris, who has been working with bees in Central Oregon for about the past 40 years. His business card reads, “Saving the honey bee one new beekeeper at a time.” The goal of the bee academy is to educate and encourage as many new beekeepers […]
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Oregon’s Moose Count
Every time I drive over the Ochoco Forest summit I start looking for a moose. The willows along the banks of Marks Creek and quiet switchbacks with the deep forest close by give one the impression of really great moose habitat, and, if that were in the Umatilla or Wallowa-Whitman forest, there would probably be […]