Dec 30
Listening to a Screech Owl in the yard. Anything I may be doing, even sleep, comes to a halt when I hear the owl call.
It seems to come and go throughout the year. Always a pleasure to hear it visiting.
If you are curious, you can learn more about Screech Owls and listen to their call.
Dec 22
It continues to snow here in Portland. There is probably four to six inches of new snow this morning and it is continuing to fall. The latest forecasts look like it is cold throughout the week.
In-laws in Corbett are snowed in. The long drive to the house is always a snow drift drop-off point. In the front yard they have a large fountain that is probably 3-1/2 feet with only the top 5 inches is visible. Christmas in the country may have to be delayed.
We haven’t made it to the Christmas lights at Peacock Lane but we can all enjoy the bicycle of lights.
Dec 22
Our veil of white survived for yet another day. Yesterday afternoon and evening saw powder drifting everywhere in the wind. Last night all the powder was frosted with 1/4″ of ice.
(For the valley this is quite a scene, but it is still mild compared to the Christmas we spent iced up in Corbett. At that time 4-5 inches of ice covered everything. Explosions were heard as icy limbs plummeted to the frozen earth.)
Dec 20
A wintry week in Portland is capped off by a true winter storm. All week has seen snow off and on with school closures all week, although a couple of days probably should not have been called off. Today, though, we have really been hit.
We started the day off with a beautiful quiet snowfall in which we delivered food to the needy. This was followed by a trip to Sellwood to pick up the little girl from a sleep-over. The snow continued lightly the entire time while we visited. Upon leaving the snow continued but we found conditions worsening as we approached home. The winds picked up, snow deepened, we followed a snow plow, drifts in Portland accumulated. The thermometer in the car read 20 degrees and it was now quite windy.
We made it home to find drifts of powdery snow in the yard. I stayed out for a while letting the dog take care of business. Of course she loves the snow so it is hard to get her mind off playing in the snow. I shot a few photos to share with you.
Jun 16
A few more shots from the garden taken this past weekend.
Jun 16
A few shots posted to flickr of clouds gathering west of Portland before an evening of thunderstorms on May 24. We didn’t get much of the storm near our house but some rain after a walk to pizza and ice cream. Nice lightning show for the way home.
May 12
The Evidence of Spring gallery documents blooms and growth blasting our half-acre with color. The tour includes photos taken over the past two weeks. Unfortunately some early bloomers were missed: Damson Plum and other plum blooms. There are more blooms awaiting the camera, they’ll be added if time permits. Enjoy your spring tour of our yard.
Mar 6
Pruned the apple tree and had to do something with all the debris. A cute little fence was erected that at this point is not too sturdy but it is pleasing to the eye.
The Apple Fence gallery shows a few images from different angles with a close up of the fence support also from yard debris.
Mar 5
The evening of March 5, 2007, brought about conditions apparently ideal for earthworm mating. Our dog noticed first, when walking her in the yard she seemed overly interested in something in the grass. A little later I noticed that there seemed to be worms out on the yard all over. Closer inspection near a light uncovered a common theme outside — worm reproduction. Yes, night of the worms.
The Night of the Worms gallery shares a few of the images captured. I’m no worm expert but know a little about them from studying and practicing worm composting, but I had no idea about seasonal or mass simultaneous worm reproduction. Perhaps tied to moon phase, it was full on March 3 and on this night I believe was a waning gibbous moon. Of course it could be simply based on current weather, first warm days after a stretch of rain. A single night does not make science so be cautious with anything stated here. If this peaks your interest in earthworms, go learn more about these garden masters and their reproduction.
“The early bird gets the worm,” but on this evening the late bird would have feasted.
Update: Apparently the March full moon is also sometimes called the Worm Moon. This signifies the thaw of the ground and the reappearance of worm castings which means worms are active again. I didn’t see anything noting reproduction associated with this moon.
Feb 12
We ran across this dragonfly at Willamette Mission State Park near Waconda, Oregon, this past June 2006. I’m saying that this is a dragonfly but the wing structure is different than I would normally expect. I did find some similar wing structured friends on the Asia Dragonfly site. Hope you enjoy this little creature, it was quite a sight.
Enjoy the larger image to see more details, and let me know if you would like the original larger view to be posted. I’ll update this entry when I have a chance to get an identification.
13-Feb Update: The dragonfly has been confirmed. The Slater Museum of Natural History at the University of Puget Sound has a page of Odonata photos which includes an image of pairs of Coenagrionidae Argia emma. Based upon coloring and, um, positioning, I would guess I digitally captured a female. I’ll leave it to you to verify my finding with the field key for Coenagrionidae (pond damsels). The range map for my little friend matches my suspicion, you may want to check out the other range maps as well. Last, but certainly not least, we have specimen images which hold no weight against the free and living beauty. You’ll find other Western Odonata specimen images that may help with your identification research.
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