Mid-February. A cool and partly cloudy day.  Time to return to Sauvie Island a few miles northwest of home.

I drove to the Virginia Lake Trailhead and did the easy 2 ½ mile loop twice. It’s an interesting hike that travels around marshy, wildlife-rich Virginia Lake. A side trail visits Multnomah Channel where anglers try their luck in the Columbia River backwater.

A blacktail doe was feeding near the Lake and a few Indian plums had white blossoms along the trail. And, many small birds of many species, ducks and geese entertained me too.

A fun afternoon indeed.

Blacktail Doe

New growth on bushes below a large Oak tree

Song Sparrow

Fishermen on the Multnomah Channel after the elusive Spring Chinook Salmon

Pintail Drake

Virginia Lake

Multnomah Channel

Indian Plum