Looking for Ducklings

Small Pond in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. (MAP)

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and since it's the right time of year we decided that we would go see if we could find some ducklings.

I remembered finding ducklings and goslings in this nearby pond last year so I thought it would be a good place to try.

Close-up of far end of pond.

When we first arrived we saw three mallards nearby and several baby ducks off in the distance.

While we were sitting there watching (and Sami was sending out duck ESP messages) a wood duck flew in.

It was then that I noticed the wood duck house there to the left of the picture.

Baby Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos

The ducklings were incredibly fast and zipped all around the pond. They were so fast it was hard to keep them in the frame to take a picture.

Male Wood Duck - Aix sponsa

These are probably the most colorful ducks we have here. They're also quite interesting because they're the only ducks that hang out up in the trees.

Female Mallard and Duckling.

We thought the female duck and ducklings might be wood ducks too. The ducklings were following the wood duck around. When I got home I looked up these birds in the book and realized that these are just regular mallards.

Nutria - Myocastor coypus

Lots of people mistake these animals for muskrats but unfortunately they are not. Nutrias are a non-native species introduced from South America. They do quite a lot of damage in some areas by eating sensitive wetland plants. They are cute though.

Here's the nutria scratching his head, and getting back in the water.

Black-Capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapilla

The wood duck swam over to a corner of the pond where we couldn't see him anymore. We tried to follow, but didn't find him. We decided to go over to Commonwealth Lake to see if there were any ducklings there.

American Wigeon (m) - Anas americana

Unfortunately we didn't see any ducklings at Commonwealth lake. Maybe it's still too early, or maybe the ducks don't lay eggs here because there are so many people around. I don't know.

We saw lots of people fishing for trout there this afternoon and lots of wigeons. Aside from mallards and domestic ducks, wigeons are the most common type of duck at Commonwealth Park.

Goldfinch

Not sure exactly which one this is - he was way up in the tree. I didn't even see him 'til Sami pointed him out to me.

Domesticated Swan Goose - Anser cygnoides

These geese are totally fearless and came right up to us looking for food. Unfortunately a lot of people feed the birds in this park even though it is not allowed.

Another Domesticated Swan Goose - Anser cygnoides

Freaky Ferns and Fungus in Forest Park

My route though Forest Park - 6.6mi

I planned to meet Aaron at the Saltzman road entrance. He got stuck in a meeting though, so I decided to start without him. I figured I'd walk slowly and take lots of pictures and he could catch up.

Fungus near the Saltzman road gate.

I went down firelane 5, but parked my truck in the direction of Saltzman. I figured Aaron would start that way, and meet up with me on Wildwood trail.

He did go down Saltzman, but walked all the way down to Leif Erikson - so we ended up hiking the loop in opposite directions.

Banana Slug

Not sure if this is the regular Pacific Banana Slug (Ariolimax columbianus) or if it's the Slender Banana Slug (Ariolimax dolichophallus)

Unidentified Mushroom

Very similar to the one I saw in Tualatin Hills nature park on Monday.

Backside of an old trillium.

Trillium ovatum starts out white but turns purple as it ages. It's very pretty

Another old trillium

The forest is just full of trilliums this time of year. They're everywhere along the path.

Unidentified fern on firelane 5

Sword Fern - Polystichum munitum

Norhern Maidenhair Fern - Adiantum pedatum

I just love these delicate ferns with their distinctive blue stems.

Here's another maidenhair starting to unfurl.

Unidentified fern on Wildwood trail.

Another unidentified fern on Wildwood trail.

This one looks very similar to the last, but with dark brown hairs.

Unidentified Mushroom

Magnificient Moss - Plagiomnium venustum

It really is magnificient!

Wildwood trail, east of Saltzman Rd.

Tualatin Hills Nature Park

Sitka Mountain Ash - Sorbus sitchensis

I was tired and the ground was pretty wet so I asked Aaron to meet me at Tualatin Hills Nature Park instead of our usual Forest Park.

Skunk Cabbage - Lysichiton americanus

This plant really does smell like a skunk. It also produces heat and will melt snow nearby.

Side view of skunk cabbage.

White Fawn Lily - Erythronium oregonum

This one was fenced off. I don't know if there have been problems with people picking them in the park or not.

Bigleaf Maple Flower - Acer macrophyllum

Deer Track

We also saw a raccoon track.

No birds here today.

Red-Tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis

Not a good picture, but that's what he was. We also saw a Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) but it kept hopping behind branches and I couldn't get a decent photo of it either.

Titus Canyon, Death Valley

Grapevine Mountains

We started driving on Titus Canyon road because we noticed there was a geocache on it. What we didn't know was that Titus Canyon Road is a 27 mile long one way street leading though an incredible canyon.

My pictures really don't do the drive justice. The colors were incredible. Blues, greens reds... I really need to get a polarizing filter for my camera. While this camera does great in the Oregon rainforest, it tends to overexpose things in the sunny desert.

We should have stopped to take pictures in Red Pass, but there were already a lot of cars there so we didn't. That was the main problem with taking photos in Titus Canyon. We felt like we couldn't safely park without preventing other cars from passing.

About halfway though our drive we stopped in the ghost town of Leadfield. The sign says it all.

I wouldn't want to live here.

Sami stands in front of the mine entrance with the GPS to claim a virtual geocache find.

The old outhouse.

I dont' remember if I've seen a lizard eating plants before, but this one was. He kept nibbling on this green leaf.

We saw a butterfly here too, although it was too fas for us to get a close up.

Petroglyph near Klare Spring

Click here to see entire lizard.

Interesting Rocks

Heading back to the car after investigating the petroglyphs and wildlife.

Entering the narrows of Titus Canyon

We passed a large group of Japanese tourists hiking through this part of the the canyon. They looked very hot and tired. I wondered how far they had to hike.

Video going though the narrows.

I apologize for bad video quality and the bird poop and glare on the windshield. It does give you an idea of our drive though.

We came out of the canyon just seconds before I stopped the video. I didn't know though, so I ruined a good shot by ending it too early.