Owl Hunt

It was a "chamber of commerce" kind of day today. The temperature in the low 50's with puffy white clouds created a nice backdrop at the wildlife refuge. Of course nice weather brought a fair amount of people to the natural habitat. 

 

I didn't want to take up a parking space so I parked near the RV parking.

 

Hey wait a minute, what kind of natural habitat is this? The hybrids have their own spots and motorcycles don't?

 

A little beyond the curve ahead to the left is the old oak where Mr. Owl makes his home.

And here's his address but he wasn't home today. He must have been out getting "groceries" although I think they usually do that at night.

Even though I didn't see the owl it was a nice outing with the cameras and a nice hike through some interesting and beautiful terrain. 

Okay, enough with the owl hunt. I'll get back to posts that involve more riding. Unless of course I happen to see an owl hitchhiking... 

Late Afternoon Recon

I worked from home again today and it was sunny and beautiful all day.  By the time I could go for a ride it was late afternoon and the rain clouds were rolling in. I decided to go anyway because my destination was a place I want to frequent more often; the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge. It was so late by the time I got there the geese were lined up to come out of the water. Apparently even geese have to wait in line. "Everyone out of the pool".

 

We live fairly close to the refuge which makes it nice for returning often. The above photo was taken from the back side of the refuge looking east at Mt. Hood. There's an "S" curve on this road that I like to lean through. As I straighten up to lean left I got this view of the mountain. Mt. Hood has this uncanny ability to come into view when you least expect it. Actually a better way to say that is I knew I would see it, it's just that sometimes it really pops at you. I did some maneuvering to come back and get some photos. In the foreground you can see the buildings of the refuge.

I have much to learn about photographing birds and wildlife. I think a natural habitat like this will be a good "classroom". Another option is to try and sneak up on them on the motorcycle wearing day-glo green.