Should these be my New Glasses?

Mr. & Mrs. House Finch

House Finches - Carpodacus mexicanus

This cute little couple was having a nice breakfast of Ash seeds - Fraxinus sp. this morning in our back yard.

A Good Day for Driving Around

We went to Oregon City today to pick up some furniture from Aaron's parents house. On our way back to Aaron's new place we stopped at Shiraz Restaurant where the guys ate Giros.

BTW Aaron's parents are very nice. They gave us a bag of peppers from their garden and tried to give us a dog as well.

On the Wings of an Eagle... literally

After ordering their food, the guys went next door to get some coffee. I noticed these little birds (unfortunately invasive European Starlings - Sturnus vulgaris) on the top of the flagpole. I thought it was funny so I took a picture.

Aaron's new apartment is pretty nice. It's in a nice location near Rock Creek and it and has some interesting architectural details.

After doing a little unpacking at Aaron's place, Sami and I went geocaching. We had good luck today and found 3 of 3. The first cache was 10 feet up in a big tree. But Sami didn't want to attract attention to me finding the cache so he took a picture of this pretty red tree instead. Just as we were leaving the park, we saw this nice sunset.

The Largest Organism in the World

What is it?

Well... It's not a worm, although I found a foot-long earthworm on my walk yesterday.

Actually, we're not talking about large animals like blue whales or elephants either.

(Oh and it's not a dinosaur because those are extinct and this thing is still living).

It's not the Coral Reef because that's a superorganism made up of tons of smaller organisms.

If you're talking largest in terms of weight, it might be a clonal colony of aspen trees named Pando weighing in at over 6,000 tons.

BTW, the largest single tree is the General Sherman located in Sequoia national park - Agnes and I visited it a few years ago on the "Coolest Trip Ever".

Have you guessed it yet?

No?

Here's a clue: It lives in Oregon.

What? That doesn't help?

Well, I guess I'll have to tell you. But first, let me tell you how I came to know the answer.

After work yesterday, just before I entered the powerline park and saw the birds, I saw what looked like a path going into the woods behind some houses. I decided to check it out. I found some interesting stuff there but no path. I took a few pictures and left. Just as I came out, a man that lived in one of the houses drove up to his house. He got out of the car, waved and asked me if I was looking for birds back there.

I showed him and his wife my pictures and the man's face lit up. He asked me if I knew what the largest organism in the world was. Well, I had a pretty good guess based on the subject of the photos, but I had no idea that it lived in Oregon. His wife laughed and said the man had only learned of this organism two days ago and that's why he was so eager to share his knowledge.

Are you ready for the answer?

It's a humongous fungus.

Yep.

An Armillaria ostoyae AKA honey mushroom found in the Malheur National Forest in Eastern Oregon.

If you haven't had enough of my mushroom pictures yet: here is one that looks like a hamburger bun, one that looks like a moldy tomato, a spiny puffball, some chunky brown mushrooms, and some bright orange fungus.

I'm a Bad Birdwatcher

As y'all know, I've seen a lot of birds lately and I've been taking plenty of bird pictures (some more successful than others). On Monday, I did some research online to identify the Gulls, Geese and Ducks I saw on Sunday in Commonwealth park. While I was browsing, I came across some book reviews for How to Be a (Bad) Birdwatcher. It sounded interesting so I checked it out from the library.

I've never considered myself to be a birdwatcher of any sort. In fact, I was never particularly interested in birds until recently. It's Sami's fault. He loves birds of all kinds, especially ducks and penguins. His love for birds has rubbed off on me and now I find myself fascinated by them.

Red-Tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis

Yesterday after work, I walked though the powerline park and saw this hawk. I know the picture is a little fuzzy, but I just loved how he was perched above the "danger" sign.

Danger is right. A minute or so after I first saw him, he screeched and dove after some unfortunate little critter. I think he missed the first time, because he repeated the scene a second time a few minutes later.

Spotted Towhee - Pipilo maculatus

These cute little birds are very common here, but I have a very hard time getting a picture of one. They seem like they're always hopping around in the shadows inside a blackberry bush or something.

Anna's Hummingbird - Calypte anna (f)

Doesn't everyone love hummingbirds?

Somehow it surprises me that these little birds can survive here in the cool rainy winters. But they do, and you can see them out in the tops of the trees far away from any feeders.

Another picture of the hummingbird here.