Lewis Woodpecker

Recently while on a photography outing in the Columbia River Gorge we spotted a bird that we had never seen before, a Lewis Woodpecker. This got me thinking of starting a life list.  Most serious birders compile a life list. It’s a list of all the bird species they’ve identified with absolute certainty during their lifetime. Being “serious” implies knowing about look-alike species and subspecies and the breeding/ non breeding plumage states.  …

hmmmm Are we that “serious”??
For some of the serious birders that I know their life lists takes on all the character of stamp collecting.  Just get a name, add it to the list  and move on, ignoring the beauty of the birds and their habitats…. I guess we are more photographers than birders.

I found a definition of life lists… A life list is a list of goals you are fully committed to accomplishing before a specific date.  This is different from a bucket list which is a list of things you would like to do before dying.  The biggest difference between the two is the end dates, one you set  the other you are never sure of.  As I grow older I’m not sure which list to add things to but more of them seem to be ending up in the bucket list

Just for fun …How many lists affect your life?

•  The honey-do list
•  The Grocery list
•  price list
•  someone’s shit list

We were invited to go on a photo walk with our good friend/ photographer Ken Powell.  We chose the Eastbank Esplanade and spent an enjoyable early afternoon shoot.

Named after Mayor Vera Katz,  The Eastbank Esplanade is a 1.5 miles long, floating walkway on the Willamette River, extending north from the Hawthorne Bridge, past the Morrison and Burnside Bridges, to the Steel Bridge with connections to east-side neighborhoods as well as across the river to Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park. At 1,200 feet, the floating walkway is the longest of its kind in the United States.  Construction of the Esplanade began in October 1998 and was completed in May 2001.

It provides unique views of downtown Portland and the Willamette River in all seasons and is a must if you enjoy photographing cityscapes.

For more photos from this walk …

Our first stop was Sauvies Island, which is just outside of Portland as you head west. We have visited Sauvies Island many times before and this is a favorite spot for us to photograph. Almost immediately upon arrival we spotted a large flock of Sandhill Cranes …. and what is that large flock of white birds in the distance …and… and …
Sauvies Island is truly amazing this time of year, we spotted Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese, Common Mergansers, cormorants, Bald Eagles, Canadian Geese and Red Tailed Hawks within the 90 mins or so that we spent on the Island and we only traveled on the south dike road. Because we knew we had alot of spots to photograph ahead of us we returned to Hwy 30 and headed west.

Next was the Trojan Ponds, home of the now mothballed Trojan Nuclear Power plant. Usually the ponds are a resting spot for Canadian Geese, Ducks and Tundra Swans that migrate through the area this time of year. We saw a couple of the Swans at a distance but the only thing close enough to photograph were three domestic geese…they were so tame that they would practically climb into your car if you would let them … oh well, on with the trip.

Next on the agenda, A little more than four miles past Rainier, just after you cross Beaver Creek, you stay to the right and take the old Hwy, now called Beaver Falls Road. This old winding two lane road crosses Beaver creek several times with lots of scenic old bridges. Keep your eye on the left side of the road and you won’t miss the upper Beaver Falls. It is a small waterfall, only about 10 feet, but its right off of the road and easy to take pictures of.  A couple of miles later is the main attraction, Lower Beaver Creek Falls, a beautiful fifty foot curtain fall. I took this shot while standing on a 4 foot, frost covered guard railing, shooting over an eight foot chain link fence.(probably not the smartest footing to take with expensive camera gear) I could see no way of getting down to the base of the falls and I was glad that the foliage was gone from the trees or a large part of the falls might have been covered. All in all a pleasant side jaunt… Thanks Grant ;^)

The last suggested stop on Grant’s tour was 11 miles east of Astoria, the Twilight Eagle Sanctuary. With a name like that you would think it would be a haven for photographers. We have stopped by this place several times and have never seen any wildlife. Perhaps early in the morning or late in the day there might be more activity but it has never shown anything to us.

Astoria – not part of Grants tour but it turned out to be a fun end to our day. We stayed at the Best Western Lincoln Inn. Right outside of our room was a nice paved walkway along the Columbia River. on the land side of the walkway was an old boatyard with lots of old work boats in various stages of disrepair. After making sure there were no “No Trespassing”  signs we spent the last hour of light wandering around these old boats taking pictures of them. If they could only tell their stories I’m sure that it would be fascinating.

The next morning we crossed the Columbia River and headed home on the Washington side of the river (HWY 4)…. But that’s a story for the next blog entry.

 For more photo’s taken on this road trip