Tag: Video

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Winter’s Return

 

Winter’s start is always messy. The warm days of fall still linger and melt early winter snows. This week we’ve had a mix of weather … most of it wet … much of that snow.

The week ended with a winter storm watch for the Cascades making passes un-passable. We’re not looking to get far. At present we will enjoy a crisp morning stroll that includes untracked powder.

The snow fall we got at the beginning of the week came under a cold front and frocked pine bows.

However, by the end of the week the temperatures warmed and the snow it brought was deeper but also heavy and hard to shovel. By afternoon the city plows were clearing the rutted streets of a slushy mix.

 

The shift to consistent cold is coming, but for now we have to contend with this snow and rain mix.

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A Quiet Day

 

This week, with constant din on social media and political static on email we thought it would be good to take a break. Phones were turned off and we headed to a favorite stream bank.

The days are cooler but not cold and there is the threat of ‘first snow’ in the forecast. But the Crooked River offered a quiet pause before dropping back into the media storm.

The turmoil surrounding us right now will ease. There is a new challenge ahead, but for now we’ll stay safe and hunker down against the storm.

We hope you’re able to do the same.  As for next week, well we plan on going back out into the world … just not any place with lots of people.

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Morning Light

This week we headed back to Odell Lake. We made it there at first light and were able to get some amazing images . . .

 

There were lots of eagles flying about. But fewer Kokanee in the creek, so it must be at the end of the spawn.

The campground was shuttered, so we had it to ourselves.

This morning we were mostly focused on the ducks as they landed, took flight and just paddled around. A calm day left the lake with a mirror surface.

 

We are starting to get familiar with the new camera kit, but there is still a learning curve with the system.

I hope the snows hold off for another week.

We had such a great time hiking along the edge of the lake, we may try to make it back again.

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Kokanee Adventures

Signs of fall are in the air … cool, crisp temperatures and autumn color.

Leaves aren’t the only changing color. Landlocked salmon, Kokanee, are a blazing red as they start to spawn.

Oregon’s Trapper Creek, feeding Odell Lake. is one spawning site that attracts scores of Bald Eagles feasting on vunerable salmon.

Not too far north, as the eagle flies, is Wickiup Reservoir, which also has a population of Kokanee. We try to get to at least one of these two places every year just for the spawning event.

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A Summer Morning Walk

Summer with all it’s heat has decended on Central Oregon.

What this means is we’ve shifted our outdoor activities to the morning hours, and if we are out in the afternoon heat its near a stream with plenty of shade.

While it might approach 100 degrees by midday, it has dropped to a  refreshing 45 by the next morning.

This week we decided to explore a spot on the western edge of Crane Prairie Reservoir. There is a short hike to a birding spot on the reservoir’s banks that typically we drive by on our way to favorite fishing haunts on the upper Deschutes. This morning we started there.

Osprey Point is an interpretive trail, no camping and only one picnic table. This day there were no cars in the parking area, but the path is well worn so it’s not always so private.

The trail winds through lodgepole pine forest with twists of blowdown that would make off trail walking difficult.

Nesting platform for osprey

At the end you breakout onto the southern reach of a broad marsh. There is a crescent shaped area with willows, grasses and lots of snags for nesting that runs for half a mile of shore line and is about 500 feet deep.

There are osprey, as well as other raptors and a variety of shore birds. The middle of summer isn’t the best time to observe nesting birds. Plus, we weren’t equipped to slog across wetlands to the shore to get a closer look at a flock of pelicans. That said it was a beautiful morning and JQ did manage to find some subject material for her camera.