Smilin' Jack: Chapter 18 - Going to the Birds

Cuz the birds ain't coming to us.

No, really, we got a notice of a Photo Shoot at the Talking Water Gardens in Albany and so we were off on an early morning jaunt.

But what trip doesn't need a little nourishment along the way to sustain you as you make your weary way to adventures over the horizon? Our trip sure did and so at Zero-Dark Early hours, 0702 for all you non-retired workin' folks, we were over at the local Old McDonalds for grub. Hot coffee and some Bacon/Sausage Cheese and Egg McMuffins.

Mmmmmmmm, what a good way to start a great day.

And now you know the reason for the grinnin'...

...Let's eat!!

The wonders and delights of living in Oregon. We were driving out Rte 18 when we spotted this small herd of elk grazing in someone's yard. This is the second time we've seen this elk herd there, in the same place.

How cool is that, eh?

Don't worry, we'll get to the birds. First, though, we have to get from Point A to Point C with a stop at Point B just for fun.

Sipping my coffee and toolin' down Rte 18 in the early morning fog.

There's been a lot of morning fog lately. I'm not complaining, mind you, simply observing. If I weren't such a totally lazy man, I'd be up and out at some photogenic place here or there to capture these moody scenes.

Like this early morning scene

Or this one. I still enjoy this drive. I've been down this road over 20 times and it is still interesting.

Especially in the fog.

We made it to Route 20 towards Salem and had crested the small hill overlooking the Baskett Slough which is about a mile or so ahead on the left.

I wasn't expecting much, stopping at the Slough. I thought we'd see a lot of water, some ducks and some early morning mist being burned off by the rising sun.

I wasn't quite prepared for what I did see. The Canada Geese were filling the skies.

I know it doesn't look like much with these individual pictures but you have to think in a 360 degree circle and there were geese in every portion of the sky. Why? Because it's hunting season; you could hear the shotgun reports coming across the lowlands.

The geese were reacting to the danger and circling around the slough obviously waiting to come back when the hubbub died down.

I was trying to zoom in and so it only appears to be a small flight. Believe me, if I had used the wide angle there would have been more birds in flight.

Hahaha, I saw this and thought, "This will be a card with a pithy quote on it!!" Trying for that good shot.

Here you go. I widened the lens a bit. Lots of activity because of the hunters. Here you can see the birds silhouetted by the rising sun reflecting off of and through the clouds.

I had noticed some large birds moving around on one of the small islands in the distance and had dismissed them as just some Turkey Vultures. They're common here and, because of the number of large birds on that small piece of land, I just assumed they were vultures.

Carol had remarked on the activity and so I pointed the camera that way and got off a couple of quick shots never giving it another thought. I couldn't really see what they were on the small camera screen and so I just moved on with shooting pictures of the swarming geese.

Imagine, if you can, my chagrin when I downloaded the pictures and realized what I had seen, and not photographed adequately, were FOUR immature bald eagles on that small piece of land!!! There were at least four. I remembered not worrying about getting them all in the picture because they were, after all, stupid ol' turkey vultures.

There were FOUR bald eagles there!! At the same time!!

What. The. Heck.

There are times when I just shake my head in disbelief...of me.

Well, that will never happen again in my lifetime. And I sorta blew it.

Here's a view of the valley. We're looking almost due north here. The eagles are just to the west, to the left, in this picture.

And I hadn't noticed the eagle roosting in the tree on the left. I was shooting at the more important birds, the egrets. Hahaha, one of them was flying, Man!!

Ah, well. This is this.

There's Ol' Mr. Sun, coming up for another day of adventure. The slough also has some working farms within its boundaries.

We could still hear the shotguns and the birds were still trying to find someplace safe to settle. They were so loud that at one point the noise from the honking geese almost drowned out the street noise from Highway 20.

But from where we stood, there wasn't much happening as witnessed by the lack of activity among the egrets and coots.

But it was time to go. This was just a small detour on our Road to Adventure at the...

...Talking Water Gardens in Albany, Oregon.

Fun Facts: In 2010, the cities of Albany and Millersburg joined with metals manufacturer ATI to create a new kind of water reclamation system inspired by the surrounding environment: an engineered treatment wetland that mimics the cleansing and cooling characteristics that occur in nature.

The Albany-Millersburg Talking Water Gardens is the first public/private engineering project of its kind in the United States: a constructed treatment wetland designed to provide an additional level of natural treatment for a combined municipal and industrial wastewater flow. It will be the final step in returning this treated water safely to the Willamette River - a treatment option its designers say has more than twice the natural resource value of conventional alternatives.

It's not all that large but large enough to get lost in (as in having a lot of fun and lose track of time lost) for a couple of hours.

I believe this was once a Lumber Mill. There are still a lot of industrial buildings surrounding the Gardens and the railroad borders its northern boundaries.

And I learned this is a Peking Duck. I always just thought of them as ducks. Plain ol' white ducks. Live and learn!!

Fun Facts: When I was a wee squeaker, my family went to a fair and I won a baby duck by tossing a nickel onto a plate.

Surprisingly, my parents let me take the duck home. The poor thing bonded to the family dog, a cocker spaniel named Corky. Corky wasn't too keen about being a duck's Mommy and, when her patience ran out would nip at the duck's bill.

We kept the duck until she grew up and, being so big, really began to pester Corky...to the point where one or the other had to go - or die.

We loaded the family and the duck into the car and drove over to Hansen Dam. The plan was, we'd all walk down to the water's edge, say good-bye to the duck and then set her loose with the other ducks in the dam. Hey, it was the 50s so lighten up, 'Kay!?!

We put her in the water and she swam out a ways and we began walking back to the car...and she followed us. We tried it again and, again, she came back with us.

This went on several times until my Dad told us all to get in the car. He took up the duck and walked down to the water's edge and gave her a mighty throw into the water and then he beat feet as fast as he could back to the car, hopped in and we raced out of there.

We came back to the dam some time later just to see, if we could, how the duck was doing. And, thank goodness, she was doing well. We found her as we fed the ducks along the shore by her bill which still bore the marks of Corky's irritated nipping.

This guy reminds me of my pet duck from long ago.

Everything's ducky!!

For a reclaimed wetland, they've done a good job. They made a point of mentioning that all the plants are native to the area. Not like the yahoos that landscaped a section of The 101 and put in some long blade grass that isn't native to the Great American Pacific Northwest.

Duh!!

There were plenty of these Redwing Blackbirds. And I caught this silhouette and then rendered it in a B&W. I really like this bird's name. It's kinda like the same lazy guy that named the 'fireplace' (think about it) also named the 'redwing blackbird'.

As far as parks go, this one isn't all that large. But for a reclaimed wetlands garden, it's huge. And it had a pretty active avian population, too.

Like this Black Phoebe.

And this Greater Scaup. Look at that!! I'd not seen a duck with a blue bill before.

And mallards.

But the big excitement for us was seeing this guy.

A Green Heron.

Fun Facts: Green herons are one of the few species of animal known to use tools. In particular, they commonly use bread crusts, insects, or other items as bait. The bait is dropped onto the surface of a body of water in order to lure fish. When a fish takes the bait, the green heron will then grab and eat the fish.

What also made this special is that these birds aren't normally out and about in the day time.

More Fun Facts: This small heron is solitary at most seasons and often somewhat secretive, living around small bodies of water or densely vegetated areas. This bird is also nocturnal but will adjust to a diurnal schedule when needed to feed.

It sorta looks like he is wearing a sash, doesn't it. He's a classy little dresser. Female adults tend to be smaller than males and have duller and lighter plumage, particularly in the breeding season.

A bird with an attitude...and a 'mohawk'.

Homie don't play that game!!

For a relatively new garden, they've done a good job of establishing the fauna native to Oregon.

And, in the middle of this peaceful place was this small reminder that there are others who have stood up to protect America and given their greatest prize for us.

Thank you, Spencer.

Semper Fi

As you look back at the map you can see the many trails through this garden. Each area is also named and, I believe, serves a different purpose in the water reclamation process. We saw the Green Heron in the Beaver Marsh. Didn't see any beavers there, though.

Then we saw this Great Blue Heron. We'll see him again later.

It was fun, seeing all these different birds. Plus, this garden is set up so that you can get relatively close to everything...which helps with taking pictures.

A Scrub Jay.

OK, we'd been having fun and seeing birds and felt really good about being able to see the green heron. Then Carol spotted this guy up a tree over in Simpson Park, which runs parallel to the Garden.

We thought it was another hawk until I zoomed in on it and realized it was a bald eagle. And it wasn't just one bald eagle, either!!

There were these two!!

Hahaha, my first thought was this was like the eagles we'd see in Renton, Washington.

Another Scrub Jay.

And then we got to see, and hear, a bunch of redwing blackbirds.

They were making a joyful noise.

And lookin' good, too.

A thistle, a thastle, a green and yellow baskel.

It was colorful...and it had some cobwebs.

It was around 1116 when I took this picture and you can see the morning dew was still hanging around.

And we got to listen to the songbirds, too.

We met several dogs. A large Akita, a steel-gray Weimaraner and this guy, who easily won the "Personality" contest.

Hands down!!

What? What'cha doin'??

C'Mon, tell me! Wha'cha doin', huh!?!

C'Mon!! Tell me. Do I get a treat!?!

A redtail hawk.

And some of the talking water. All part of the reclamation process.

Then we saw this guy again. It's kinda sad how blasé I've become about seeing blue herons. Used to be a big thrill because, well, you don't see them all that often in El Monte or Seattle. But since I've been here, I see them often. I work at keeping that sense of awe. It's a conscious decision to not become jaded...to keep the sense of wonderment and joy.

Like when we spotted these eagles. Carol had called out to me and pointed out the large raptor in the tree...off in the distance. I had zoomed in and then realized it was a bald eagle!! Not only that, but there were TWO of them up that tree!!

Hahaha, I was so excited I started yelling at Carol "There's two of them up there!! Bald Eagles!!"

I was like a ten-year old let loose in a game arcade!!

I got maybe 30 or so pictures. You're welcome.

I mean, why wouldn't you keep on shooting. But they were a good distance away. I was pushing the lens out as far as it could go.

See what I mean!?! You can just make out a dot at the top of the tree. That's the eagle Carol spotted. We're shooting into Simpson Park and there's a lake, First Lake, between us and the eagles. Beyond the eagles is the Willamette River.

From large eagles to this beauty, a Yellow-Rumped Warbler. I was really happy with way the birds would sit and pose for me.

He's backkkkk....

Coming around the garden and getting a new view of another wetland.

And we were getting a great concert!!

Another Yellow-Rumped Warbler.

We were back at the beginning and ready to hit the road back to LCO. You can see the industrial park just beyond the Gardens. There's a railroad line that runs along that part of the Garden.

And, after a short look-around Albany we were on the road back to LCO. With a planned detour to the Baskett Slough for another look-see.

I do enjoy driving the less traveled roads in the backcountry of Oregon.

Life on the highway, goin' my way...all day long!!

Oh, yeah. You'll see this one again with a quote slapped on it somewhere!

Promise!!

When I'm on the road there are times I like to stop at Small-Town America diners. I enjoy the out-of-the-ordinary appearance of these small places. Each one is unique and has a personality of its own.

As did this one. And the personality was friendly. That's Rachel there. She was our waitress and works at the diner on weekends. And, when asked, she had no good explanation for why so much of Oregon prefers Pepsi over the much better cola, Coca Cola.

She couldn't explain it.

And there's Larry. He comes in just about every day for lunch. As he was leaving, he stopped by and asked if he could get a copy of this picture and we had a chance to talk to him. I gave him my card but he doesn't have access to a computer. We arranged for Rachel to contact me and I'd send her the picture and she'd get it to Larry.

The building has been in use for a long time. There it is as a Sportings Good Store.

Did you notice the name of the city? This photo is of Main Street, Philomath, Oregon. Rachel told us that the city had a school once that concentrated on teaching Philosophy and Mathematics and the name is a contraction of the two.

Fun Facts: Philomath was named after the Philomath College that was founded in 1867 by the United Brethren Church. The name of the college and city was derived from two Greek words meaning "lover of learning". The city incorporated on October 20, 1882. the college closed in 1929 due to a dramatic decline in enrollment.

I don't know. I like Rachel's explanation better than the one from the 'Net.

The picture below was taken in 1948. I just checked the 'Net and that was the year when 'Indian Agent' was released.

What great neighborhood diner. Look at the table top in the foreground. See where the formica has been worn away from the dishes served there over the years!?! Cool!!

We both got cheeseburgers but I had mine with bacon. You'll see why in a minute.

And they was good!! And the fries were tasty, too!!

But the best part was the ambiance of the place. The food was good but the atmosphere was better.

And, when we were ready to leave, we learned that Larry had paid for our lunches!!

WOW!!

What a nice thing to do!! I've never had that happen before!! How cool was that!?!

I left $20 for Rachel. Part for her tip, part to pay to get the picture printed for Larry and the rest to buy Larry lunch the next time he came in.

And, of course, I got a picture of Carol and Rachel.

Not a lot to it but it was good food and good people. A potent combination.

And now you know why I had to have bacon on my cheeseburger.

It were ga-oood!!

Thank you, CD & J Cafe, Rachel and Larry.

If we're in the area again, we'll stop by for another go at some good bacon.

Main Street, Philomath, Oregon.

And then we were back on the road, again. Heading north towards the Baskett Slough.

Country roads are infinitely better than Interstates. Just not as fast.

We came in on the Colville Road into the Baskett Slough.

As we drove in, we had to wait for some pedestrians to cross the road. The hunters were still out and about as we continued to hear their shots while. Now that I think about it, I can understand why these guys were hiking.

But the Egrets weren't fazed by the noise of the shotguns.

And we saw this, it's an eagle sitting up high in a tree. For a while there had been two but one flew away before I pulled over and got my camera ready.