It’s been a bit since our last post which is unfortunately due to a new (old) issue that I am now dealing with. While my PT has been seemingly progressing on my back, hip and left leg, my left heel suddenly decided to start giving me issues near the end of our hike to Bobby Lake (post) in August. The peroneal tendon, which I had an issue with back in 2017 (post). My heel stiffened up after that hike then improved through the week only to repeat the cycle over the next two weeks.
Following my outing to Minto-Brown Island Park on Labor Day (post) it flared up enough that I could not walk without a limp so I took some time off and worked on some exercises I was given at PT the day after that hike. While I took a couple of weeks off Heather was on her own and she made the most of it by heading out to Silver Falls State Park on 9/12 and to Duffy Lake on 9/19. I haven’t been able to convince her to write up her trips, and she takes about 1/100 of the photos I do but here are a few notable items from those trips.
Silver Falls 9/12 – She followed our 2025 route from the South Falls Parking Area (post) which was similar to a shorter loop she’d done without me back in March when my left leg issue kept me sidelined. In March she’d had to cut the loop short due to winter storm damage along the Rim Trail and returned via the Winter Falls Trail. This time around the Rim Trail was open but the Winter Falls Trail was closed due to a slide hazard.
South Falls in Sept.
South Falls in March.
Lower South Falls in Sept.
Lower South Falls in March.
Lower North Falls in Sept.
Lower North Falls in March.
Middle North Falls in Sept.
Middle North Falls in March.
North Falls (inaccessible in March)
Upper North Falls (inaccessible in March)
Repairs along the Rim Trail.
Storm damage
Looking down toward the Winter Falls Trail and the landslide.
Duffy Lake 9/19: Heather visited Duffy Lake then headed to Santiam Lake for a 10.8-mile out-and-back.
This was a shortened version of a hike we did in 2010 (post).
Vine maple in the colors of Autumn.
Duffy Butte from Duffy Lake
Three Fingered Jack from Santiam Lake.
California tortoiseshell joining her for a break at Santiam Lake.
Santiam Lake
It took until Thursday 9/18 before I wasn’t limping and a couple more days before I wasn’t feeling any discomfort on the outside of that heel. After a couple of days free from discomfort, I decided to try a short walk between an oil change and a PT appointment I’d scheduled on the first day of a staycation. After the oil change, I headed back to Minto-Brown hoping once again to find the otters that others have been sharing photos of. I parked in Lot 3 which is at the end of the park entrance road and headed left on the paved trail along Oxbow Slough then crossed the slough on a footbridge following pointers for the Blue Heron Trail. I forked right onto a dirt path when the Blue Heron Trail split.
Recent photos online had confirmed that otters had been spotted in the algae filled slough that some maps label the “Green Heron Slough” and this portion of the Blue Heron Trail offers a number of views of that slough. Before reaching those viewpoints though I turned left on a well-established but unsigned trail that appeared to lead into a meadow.
The path ended after a little less than 100 yards at Oxbow Slough.
There wasn’t a lot happening here outside of a log lined with wood ducks.
I headed back to the Blue Heron Trail and started checking out the various viewpoints in search of the otters. The first viewpoint produced nothing while the second provided various ducks, a belted kingfisher, a great blue heron, and a lone turtle.
American wigeons and mallards.
Turtle on a log amid the ducks.
I continued on and after a couple more viewpoints and crossing a dry creek bed spotted another blue heron, a greater yellowlegs, and a turkey vulture from yet another viewpoint.
Turkey vulture
Great blue heron
Geater yellowlegs
American wigeon
Another angle of the turtle.
More wood ducks.
Still no otters and I was running out of slough. I continued on hoping to get a little better view of the wood ducks at the next viewpiont.
Moments after taking this picture something took off from the log that was just out of frame at the bottom of the photo. I instantly recognized it as a green heron, a bird that we had yet to see in person.
The green heron flying away.
I thought I’d missed my chance, but it landed in a snag not far back up the slough. I tried getting a photo, but I was looking toward the sun so the lighting was no good.
I slowly made my way back up the trail hoping not to scare the heron off before I was able to put the sun at my back. I wasn’t entirely successful but in a fortunate turn of events it flew back the way it had come and landed on another snag that actually provided me a better view.
The green heron is on the snag in the slough on the left.
I was able to take a good number of photos of the bird and while doing so a great blue heron landing in the middle of the slough.
No otters but seeing my first green heron was probably more exciting as we have seen otters before. After watching the heron for a good while I continued on leaving the slough behind but not the wildlife.
Downy woodpecker
Northern flicker
Rabbit
I turned right when I reached a paved path sticking briefly to the Blue Heron Trail. I stayed on pavement when the Blue Heron Trail turned left. While seeing the green heron was exciting what wasn’t exciting was that I was starting to feel a little pain on the outside of my left heel again. I took a look at the park map looking for the shortest path back to the parking lot. I wound up taking a left back onto the Blue Heron Trail when the paved trail curved right then made my way to the Brown Island Landfill where I had been on my previous visit. This time I turned right instead of left on the gravel roadbed then took a right when I reached the signed Orange Turtle Loop.
There weren’t as many small birds near the landfill as there had been on the weekend. I suspect the noise from the nearby heavy machinery had something to do with that.
Juncos
Scrub jay
Spotted towhee
Sparrow
Orange Turtle Loop
I followed Orange Turtle Loop and Shelter Parking Lot #3 pointers back to the parking area.
Trail signs and map near the Willamette River.
Willamette River
Willamette River
The hike wound up being 3.3-miles due to the combination of side trips to viewpoints and backtracking to get photos of the green heron.
The “Green Heron” slough is the water north of my track near the bottom with Oxbow Slough to the south.
I went home showered, had lunch, and changed for my PT appointment where I got another set of exercises to try and help with the heel. As I am typing this up the next day it’s a little sore but hasn’t stiffened up. It’s clear though that I’ll need to be patient with it so the trip reports may be sparse for a while. I do have a couple of ideas for non-trip report posts and maybe a forced hiatus from the trail will bring one or two of those to fruition. Happy Trails!
Flickr: Minto-Brown
Hunting information kiosk across from the Turtle Flats parking area.
The Turtle Flats restrooms. (Photo from the afternoon.)
The entire Turtle Flats Trail in one photo.
Viewpoint at the end of the trail.
I turned right here following said map through a small section of trees.
Poison oak is hard to miss when it is sporting its Fall colors.
Emerging from the trees and staying right.
McCulloch Peak (
Mary’s Peak (
One of several raptors hunting over the fields.
Pigeon Butte to the left and Green Peak in the distance.
Fog and McFadden Marsh to the left.
Mallards
Geese flying overhead.
Egret and ducks
Egrets
More egrets
Heron with the egrets.
McFadden Marsh
Egrets and a murder of crows.
Great blue heron
Red-winged blackbird
Prairie Trail along McFadden Marsh.
I could just make out the railings along Bruce Road from here.
Nutria family near Bruce Road.
The nutria family.
The Prairie Trail at Bruce Road.
Northern flicker
Starling
Muddy Creek
Interpretive signs at the larger parking area.
California scrub-jay
Peregrine falcon?
Pigeon Butte across Cheadle Marsh.
While I was photographing this egret I glanced to my left and noticed a buck staring back at me.
Meanwhile a great blue heron decided it wanted the egret’s perch.
The heron and egret
American coot
The roof of the Cheadle Barn poking up from the hill.
California quail escaping into the blackberry bushes.
The small hill up to the junction below the barn. My legs let me know that even this small hill was more than they were interested in today.
Robin
Spur trail to the Cheadle Barn.
Spotted towhee
The pond and Cheadle Barn.
Ducks in the pond.
Pied-billed grebe. I also had a yellow-rumped warbler nearly land on me, but then it disappeared into the trees across the pond.
The gravel road that serves as the Pigeon Butte Trail ahead.
A successful egret and unfortunate rodent.
The junction is located at the crest of the trail/road.
Spur trail to the summit of Pigeon Butte.
The dry ponds hosted a good number of songbirds.
It appeared that there had been a number of controlled burns performed throughout the refuge.
The 0.9-mile section ended at a junction with the Cattail Pond Trail.
Viewpoint bench looking toward Cabell Marsh.
Woolly bear caterpillar sharing the trail.
Gray Creek
Mallards
More mallards
Maple Knoll on the far side of Cattail Pond.
I’m assuming nutria but am not 100% convinced on this one.
This section was a mixture of the edge of fields and wooded trail.
Follow the pointer.
A cedar waxing joined by a pair of finches.
I turned right at this sign onto the Beaver Pond Trail and followed it a half mile back to the gravel roadbed.
Just under 100 yards from the Cattail Pond Trail is this unsigned junction. The left is a half mile out-and-back spur on along the side of Maple Knoll. I stayed right this time having done the spur in 2020 with Heather.
The trail passes the Beaver Pond just before arriving at the roadbed.
The Beaver Pond was pretty well deserted given its lack of water.
I turned left onto the Mid-Refuge Connecting Trail.
Authorized personnel only on the right-hand fork here.
Arriving at the junction.
The right fork is the trail I came up. The center fork is the Mill Hill Trail, and the left fork is the Mill Hill Loop Trail which loops around Mill Hill in 1.7-miles and arrives back at the junction where I took this photo from.
There are several junctions along this stretch, most of which are well signed.
This junction marks the start of the Intertie Trail.
Crossing Finley Refuge Road.
Signage at the Woodpecker Hill Loop.
The Woodpecker Hill Loop is a well-developed interpretive trail.
Stellar’s jay
Each of these kiosks has an informational placard inside.
Near the crest of the trail.
The shelter on Woodpecker Hill.
Dragon fly
Signboard at the Woodpecker Hill Trailhead.
Yay, more uphill.
The back of a killdeer.
Bald Hill on the left.
Winkle Butte is the near rise on the left. On a clearer day Mt. Jefferson would be visible in the distance to the right of Winkle Butte.
Cabell Barn ahead.
Historic granary
The lodge in April, 2021.
Geese
Pigeon Butte from the marsh.
Great blue heron towering over the ducks.
An egret along the shore to the right.
The egret facing off with the heron. The mallard appeared to be ready to act as the referee.
After a brief face off the egret moved on.
Observation blind accessed via the Homer Campbell Boardwalk.
Signboard at the boardwalk trailhead.
Back on the refuge road.
Muddy Creek
The path to Turtle Flats on the left and the start of the Prairie Trail ahead on the right.
We were a little confused by the sign on the left here stating the trail was closed. The website and signboard had said nothing about a closure and the gate at the far end of the bridge was open and others were already out on the levee. We assume they just hadn’t taken the sign down after the seasonal closure period.
Pointers on the levee.
Nutria (sigh). We had hopped it was a beaver but alas the whiskers give it away.
Geese, several species of ducks, and some shore birds.
A great blue heron along Wapato Creek.
Great blue heron
Wapato Lake
Beaver lodge
Northern shovelers and an American wigeon
Of course we forgot to bring binoculars making it even harder to make out which types of ducks were out there.
Ring-necked ducks with an American coot in the background.
Ring-necked duck and northern shovelers
Reflections in Wapato Lake
There is virtually no shade along the lake which wasn’t an issue today but could be in the heat of Summer. There are however three benches along the levee allowing for a place to sit and watch the birds.
Lesser scaups
Ducks flying over the lake.
Old bridge over Wapato Creek. The gravel surface ended at this bridge.
The coyote running off through the brush.
Tundra swans
Tundra swans
We decided to turn around at this bridge even though the levee continued. It appeared that the water was further away from the levee going forward and we hadn’t planned on going much more than 3-miles today.
Northern pintails and some green-winged teals.
American wigeons and a pair of green-winged teals.
There were a couple of times that blue sky seemed imminent.
Buffleheads
Iowa Hill (
More buffleheads
Immature bald eagle
Sparrow
Horned grebe
Canvasbacks, another first for us.
Great blue heron on the osprey nest.
Ther heron on the nest.
Mallards
Red-winged blackbird
Bald eagle
Nutria
Gaston from the refuge.
Green-winged teals
Northern pintails
Mostly American wigeons and green-winged teals
On the paved path back to the parking lot.
The Mountain View Trail is named so because of the view of Mt. Hood, which on this morning was hiding behind the clouds on the left side of the photo.
Map and information at the trailhead.
View to the East.
Looking West toward Washougal.
Mallards
A duck and a goose sharing a log.
A mallard and an egret in a channel to the West.
Ducks flying over the wetlands casting clear reflections.
Water dripping from a mallards bill.
One of several rabbits we spotted to the West.
Deer across the wetlands. (The young buck may have been sticking his tongue out at us.)
Families of geese.
Wood duck mallard
Trail sign at the junction with the Refuge River Trail.
Sparrow
Coming in for a landing.
Red Tail Lake to the right of the Wildlife Art Trail.
Pretty sure these are the same three we saw from the Mountain View Trail.
This deer laying along the shore of Red Tail Lake was new though.
Common yellow throat
One of many great blue herons that we watched fly overhead throughout the day.
The Wildlife Art Trail passing around Redtail Lake.
Gibbons Creek is in that grass somewhere with at least one deer.
Killdeer along Redtail Lake.
Turns out the deer laying on the lake shore wasn’t alone.
Roses
Purple martins
Just beyond the Cottonwood Bridge the trail forks. To the right is the seasonal section of the loop open May 1st through September 30th. The left-hand fork dead-ends in a tenth of a mile overlooking the wetlands.
We headed left to the overlook before continuing on the loop.
Egret at Scaup Pond.
Egret with a frog meal.
Mushrooms
We got a kick out of the “Birds Only Beyond This Sign”.
Kingfisher
We’ve only seen two bitterns on our hikes and both times we only spotted them as they flew off from the grassy cover that they’d been hiding in so I was pretty disappointed when I realized I’d been duped, but kudos to the artist because it looked real at first glance to me.
You have something in your teeth.
Spotted towhee
At least two deer in the grass.
Another American goldfinch.
Spotted sandpiper
Oregon sunshine and yarrow
The Columbia River ahead.
Viewpoint along the Columbia River.
Approaching the Lampray Brdige.
Looking back from across the bridge there was a bald eagle in the dead snag along the river.
There were lots of geese along this section of trail.
Red clover in some Oregon sunshine
Another spotted sandpiper
Steigerwald Lake in the distance with a family of geese and crow on a log in the near channel.
End of the trail.
It was about 8:15am when we turned around and it was already feeling fairly warm, but there was relief on the way in the form of some clouds coming in from the Pacific.
Savannah sparrow
Here come the clouds.
Double the eagles.
For the second week in a row we got to watch an American Kestral on the hunt.
Arriving back at the Dragon Fly Bridge and the junction with the Wildlife Art Trail.
Red tailed hawk
Geese nesting atop a snag.
More deer in the grass along Gibbons Creek.
Egret at Redtail Lake.
Great blue heron at Redtail Lake.
Purple martins
When the light catches the feathers right it’s obvious where the purple martin’s name comes from.
Common yellowthroat
House finch
A mile from the Mountain View Trail we arrived at the refuge boundary with Captain William Clark Park.
The trail follows a dike to Steamboat Landing.
The Provision Camp Trail
Northern flicker
Flooded trail ahead.
Black headed grosbeak
Osprey
Back on the dike.
The flooded section of trail from above.
Turtles!
Another turtle
Common merganser
Great blue heron
Steamboat Landing
A family of geese out for a float.
The large “hump” ahead is Larch Mountain (
Grainy proof of Mt. Hood’s existence.
Silver Star Mountain (
The American bittern in the grass.
We’d been the first car in the lot that morning.
Hummingbird at Memaloose Hills in May.
Hummingbird at Upper Table Rock in May.
Black capped chickadee at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Yellow-rumped warbler (Audubon’s) at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Wren (marsh?) at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
White-crowned sparrow at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Sparrow? at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Common yellow throat at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Yellow-rumped warbler (Myrtle) at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Tree swallows at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
White-crowned sparrow and a wren at Miller Woods in May.
American goldfinch pair at Miller Woods in May.
Another sparrow at Miller Woods in May.
Hermit warbler? near Kings Mountain in May.
House finch? at Upper Table Rock in May.
Rock wren? at Upper Table Rock in May.
Ash-throated flycatcher at Denman Wildlife Area in May.
Unknown at Denman Wildlife Area in May.
Swallow at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.
Some sort of warbler? at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.
Purple martins at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.
Another wren at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.
Unknown at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.
Sparrow? at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.
Warbler? at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.
Black phoebe? at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.
Mountain bluebird near Union Peak in September.
Red-breasted nuthatch (best I could get) at Crater Lake in September.
Red crossbilss at Crater Lake in September.
Wren on the Eagle Creek Trail in November.
Dark eyed junco at Waverly Lake in December.
Canada jay (grey jay) along the Crown Zellerbach Trail in March.
California scrub jay along the Balfour-Klickitat Trail in April.
Stellar’s jay along the Hood River Pipeline Trail in May.
Female red-winged blackbird at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Red-winged blackbird at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Spotted towhee at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Starlings along the Hood River Pipeline Trail in May.
Brownheaded cowbird at Upper Table Rock in May.
American robin at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Tropical kingbird? at Denman Wildlife Area in May.
Black-headed grosbeak (also all I could get) at Applegate Lake in May.
Lazuli bunting at Roxy Ann Peak in May.
Cedar waxwing at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.
Western tanagers, Siskiyou Wilderness in July.
American dipper (Ouzel) near South Umpqua Falls in September.
Townsends solitaire at Crater Lake National Park in September.
Clark’s nutcracker at Crater Lake National Park in September.
Varied thrush along the Eagle Creek Trail in November.
Unknown at Cascade Head in October.
Forest Park in January.
Northern flicker at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April. We seem to see flickers on nearly every hike, but they don’t often sit still long enough for us to get a decent picture.
Pileated woodpecker at Chehalem Ridge Nature Park in May. We rarely see these but like the flickers, when we do they are very difficult to get a photo of.
Acorn woodpecker at Denman Wildlife Area in May.
Hairy? woodpecker near Twin Lakes in the Umpqua National Forst in June.
Red breasted sapsucker at E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area in July.
Either a hairy or downy woodpecker along the Eagle Creek Trail in November.
Unknown, Sky Lakes Wilderness in late September.
Crow along the Crown Zellerbach Trail in March.
Raven at Upper Table Rock in May.
Turkey Vulture at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.
American kestral along the Crown Zellerbach Trail in March.
Osprey along the Hood River Pipeline Trail in May.
Another osprey at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.
Bald eagle at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.
Eagle in the Sky Lakes Wilderness in September. Not sure if it is a bald or golden.
A bald eagle and hawk at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Pair of hawks at Denman Wildlife Area in May.
Hawk at Denman Wildlife Area in May.
Hawk at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.
Hawk along the Pacific Crest Trail near Carter Meadows Summit in August.
Hawk at Crater Lake National Park in September.
Barred owl at Noble Woods in May.
Great horned owl at Denman Wildlife Area in May.
Young great horned owl at Roxy Ann Peak in May.
Ring-necked pheasant
Silver pheasant
Near the breeding facility at E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area.
Mourning dove at Roxy Ann Peak a in May.
Grouse? in the Siskiyou Wilderness in July.
Grouse in the Mt. Adams Wilderness in August.
Grouse in the Sky Lakes Wilderness in September.
Long billed dowitchers? at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Killdeer at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Sandpiper? at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Great blue heron at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Kingfisher at Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge in June.
American bittern at Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge in June.
White pelicans at Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge in June.
Hooded mergansers at Yakona Nature Preserve in February.
Common mergansers along the Klickitat Trail in April.
American coot at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Cinnamon teal at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Ring-necked ducks (and an American coot) at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Northern shoveler at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
White-fronted geese at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.
Mallard along the Hood River Pipeline Trail in May.
Wood duck at Denman Wildlife Area in May.
Not sure if this is a ruddy duck at Waverly Lake in December.
Mostly American widgeons with a green winged teal and a female bufflehead or two mixed in at Talking Water Gardens in December.
Bufflehead at Talking Water Gardens in December.
Canada geese at Applegate Lake in May.
Domestic geese near the Klickitat Trail in April.
Domestic or hybrid? ducks at Waverly Lake in December.
A damp and cloudy morning.
Swallow
Indian Jack Slough and the garage from Refuge HQ.
Elochoman Slough
The first of many bald eagles we spotted (atop the dead tree across the slough).
Working on drying out.
Lots of non-native yellow flag iris in the area.
Little birds such as this sparrow were everywhere but rarely sat still.
A different eagle waiting to dry.
There are at least 5 birds in the tree including four goldfinches.
A male goldfinch takes off.
The morning clouds were starting to break up as forecasted.
One of many great blue herons.
A male wood duck.
Another great blue heron with the female wood duck on the log below.
The first of several osprey.
Cattle in a field along the road.
Geese
Snail crossing the road.
Maybe a yellow warbler. I had to use the digital zoom to get between the branches so it’s not the clearest photo.
There was a pole with a bunch of bird nests hung from it near the start of the trail. We’d never seen one like it before.
Bald eagle in the same area.
Slug on lupine
A different type of lupine.
Lupine, daisies and yellow gland-weed.
Bumble bee needing to dry out.
A look at the white tail. He gave us a better look but in that one he was also doing his business so we stuck with this uncentered, slightly blurry version.
Guessing marsh wren.
Ducks
Goose with goslings.
Common yellow throat.
Male gadwall?
There was pretty much non-stop bird song throughout the day.
Traffic on the Columbia River.
The Santa Maria on the Columbia.
Female brown-headed cowbird?
Flowers along the levee.
American robin
Red-winged blackbird chasing a heron.
Note the sign does not indicate that you cannot reach the HQ from the road, it simply says it is 5 miles round trip. Online it adds that hikers must exit the trail the way they entered.
Roses along the road.
Muskrat
Warbler
Osprey
Brooks Slough Road junction.
Another eagle sitting near the top of the first tall tree on the far side of the slough.
Interesting shrub along the road.
The partly sunny skies had indeed materialized.
Kingfisher
California scrub jay
White pelicans
Some sort of ornamental shrub/tree but it had cool flowers.
Turkey vulture
Couldn’t tell what type of ducks they were.
Alger Creek somewhere in the grass flowing into Brooks Slough.
Pond on the other side of the road.
Black pheobe?
Red-tailed hawk
American goldfinch
Swallowtail
Cedar waxwing with a salmonberry.
Goat lounging in a driveway across the highway. There had actually been a black goat in nearly the same spot on our first pass.
Caterpillar
The elk is in the center of the photo near the tree line.
Here is a not so decent picture of the egrets.
One of the bitterns in flight.
Heather spotted this garter snake along Center Road. Another animal to add to the days list.
Back at the White-tail Trail.
It had cooled down again which provided some relief as we trudged back.
A second turtle
Mallards
Way more water in the afternoon.
Another kingfisher. It was in the same tree as the heron had been earlier that morning when we were watching the bucks.
Family swim
By Steamboat Slough Road we had all kinds of blisters/hotspots on our feet.
Arriving back at the refuge HQ.
Camas
Black phoebe in the fog. It’s the only one seen all day so despite the poor quality I kept the photo.
Wet spider webs are the best.
There was a brief respite in the fog before it rolled in again.
The fog bank waiting to move back in.
Teal Marsh
Northern flicker
A very grumpy looking spotted towhee
I have a hard time identifying some of these little birds. This one may be an orange-crowned warbler.
A bald eagle that was across Willow Marsh.
Female red-winged blackbird
Buffleheads
A less grumpy looking spotted towhee
Here comes the fog again.
Black capped chickadee
Yellow-rumped warbler (Audubon’s)
Red-winged blackbird
Wrens can be tricky too, I think this is a marsh wren.
White-crowned sparrow
Song sparrow
Eagle Marsh, still can’t see much.
Bashaw Creek
Egret Marsh from the blind.
Lots of fringecup along the trail.
Purple deadnettle and field mustard
Common yellow-throat
Looking back along the eastern side of the marsh. There was a lot less water this year.
Water level on 4/13/21.
Seeing them was a lot easier than getting photos.
Canada flamingo?
American robin
Dunlin Pond from the boardwalk.
Egret Marsh
Ring-necked ducks.
Anyone know if this is a female cinnamon or blue-winged teal?
Another yellow-rumped warbler (Audubon’s) showing off its yellow rump.
Egret Marsh
The trail around Egret Marsh.
I think these might be long-billed dowichters. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Heading to the right turn. Egret Marsh is on the left and Mallard Marsh on the right. A huge flock of geese had just taken to the sky.
Killdeer
Today I realized that there are two yellow-rumped warblers, this one is a Myrtle, note the white throat compared to the yellow throat of the Audubon’s above.
Northern shoveler
Mohoff Pond and Mallard Marsh
Canada goose with various ducks in the background. At least one of the ducks is a ruddy duck which is one I hadn’t seen yet (that I know of). They were too far to get clear photos of though.
Canada geese and northern shovelers giving a good size comparison.
The black dots in the sky here aren’t geese, they are little insects that followed me along the dike.
Not Canada geese flying over.
Immature bald eagle.
Sandpiper
Greater white-fronted geese, another first.
Bushtit. Several flew in here but I couldn’t make them out once inside so I took a few pictures hoping to get lucky.
Can anyone ID the hawk? Another thing that I find difficult.
Swimming lessons, Canada goose style.
Buttercups
Meadow checker-mallow
Columbine
Yarrow
Possibly Nelson’s checker-mallow
Lupine that will be blooming soon.
Iris
Swallows
Mary’s Peak (
Permit info at the gate.
Looking back to the gate from Road 200.
It’s hard to get an idea of size here but the two trees growing over the large nursery stump were good sized.
Hooded Mergansers
Road 200 to the left.
Upper end of the 3rd World Trail.
Approaching the ridge top.
Heading off the main road.
Common goldeneye
Great blue heron and buffleheads
Rough skinned newt
Coral fungus
Northern pintail, heron, seagulls and some green winged teals.
American wigeons
One of a number of unique benches located along the trails.
Stone steps
A pair of footbridges.
Another rough skinned newt, there were many.
Mushroom
Another bench at a viewpoint.
Several benches were inlaid with rocks such as this which was a really neat feature.
Small footbridge ahead.
Yakona Bridge.
Informational sign for the wind phone.
This trunk had split into four.
Dropping down to another estuary.
Back up we go!
Found the road.
Bench on the far hillside above the clear cut.
Short path to the bench.
One of the trails.
A rather damp woolly bear caterpillar.
Back to Road 200 near Kings Slough.
