Fresh snow greeted me in the morning, a nice treat in early March. By noon the sun was successfully fighting through the clouds and melting the snow. It was time to stretch the legs. What better destination than Sauvie Island?
I drove to the Virginia Lake Trailhead and did the easy 2 ½ mile loop twice. It’s an interesting hike that goes around marshy, wildlife-rich Virginia Lake. A side trail visits Multnomah Channel where anglers try their luck in the Columbia River backwater. For entertainment, I spotted several blacktail deer, a chipmunk and many species of birds. Does life get any better?
Virginia Lake
Song Sparrow
Indian Plum BLossom
Great Blue Heron Taking Off
Northern Shoveler Ducks
Blacktail Deer losing their thick winter coats
In New Jersey, there is a mythos about this creature called the Jersey Devil.
One time at dusk driving through the New Jersey everglades as a child I saw a Great Blue Heron in flight.
After that, I was sure the myth came from similar sightings because the heron looked pretty formidable, and somewhat pre-historic, in flight.
Beautiful creatures.