Headed up the I-5 in Oregon and turned east on I-84 into the Columbia River Gorge. Immediately encountered strong winds that demonstrated the fact that the gorge acts as a tunnel for winds. Planned to stay at a state park near Portland, but that didn’t happen. Ended up at The Deschutes River State Recreation Area that I stayed at before just past The Dalles. Next time, for sure, I’ll stay near Portland and explore the forests and waterfalls in that area.

Above, the John Day Dam as seen from the Washington side of the river and wind turbines on the Washington side. They are going to get all the power they can get.

Part of a Google data center on the Columbia River in The Dalles. There are no signs identifying the complex as Google, but I got the address from searching on Google and a nearby business confirmed it. It is surrounded by a fence and there were several security patrols. The structure on the roof surrounds pipes.

A very large family of Canada geese at the campground. Had to watch where you stepped on the grass because of all the geese.

Lincoln sparrow, above, goldfinch below.

Have been in Tulelake, California for a week to visit the Tulelake and Lower Klamath Falls National Wildlife Refuges. There are thousands of geese here, with large flocks in the water and the surrounding farmland.

You can usually see an eagle here, if you visit the refuge in the morning or late afternoon. On one visit I saw an adult bald eagle eating a goose with two juvenile eagles circling above. By the time I got close, the adult had left and one juvenile had taken it’s place. It tried to take off with the prey in it’s claws, but couldn’t manage it.

Breeding northern shoveler

Saw a few small groups of breeding white pelicans.

Grebe

First time I’ve seen a river otter here. There has also been a beaver near my rv coming from a nearby farming water channel.

The way here: Drove the I-5 through Northern California. Pleasantly surprised at all the rest areas. This is the first time I’ve taken the I-5 coming north, having taken the 395 or 101 in the past. Driving over Mount Shasta it started to snow. When I turned off to get to Tulelake, it was snowing heavily with low visibility, although there was no snow on the road.

At the rest stop at Weed saw several rv’s as shown below.

Have been at one of my frequent stopping points, Rancho Jurupa Park in Riverside, California for the past week. Had gone without hookups for more than a week, so really appreciated having electricity again. The weather fronts with rain keep coming through California on a regular basis. Today heavy rain and thunder have been present most of the day.

Two pairs of herons are reusing two nests from last year. Saw one heron bring one twig to the heron in a nest and the waiting heron spent some time arranging that one twig. A red-tailed hawk landed between the two nests one day. The herons in the nests flew away and one came back so it was facing the hawk and started hissing at it till the hawk flew away. Heron’s can hurt hawks with their beaks if they are facing them and are not taken by surprise.

Have seen both herons and egrets hunting gophers in the field by me. The gopher exterminator that was here in the fall must have left some.

Saw an adult and then a juvenile night heron resting in the same tree on two different mornings.

Northern flicker

Cormorants. Have read where some places are killing them because they eat fish meant for fishermen.

Say’s phoebe. Probably the same one I saw in the fall, at least it was hunting and perching in the same spot.

Mallard. Have also seen a small group of ruddy ducks.

Feel like I’m seeing old friends when I see the geese mascots that have been here as long as I’ve been coming here. Glad to see they have made it through another season of kids, dogs, and fishermen.

Went back to Kiva RV Park & Horse Motel for a few days. The cranes and geese have finally arrived in force at Bernardo Waterfowl Management Area that is right across from the park.

Cranes usually will not go into a corn field because of the threat of predators. Corn stalks are pulled down for them, sections at a time. This year at Bernardo, however, the cranes were going into one field in a mass assault. This is disappointing for photographers in that you can’t see the action. The cranes are most active and photogenic when they are eating. When standing around just outside the corn stalks they are resting and not very active.

Geese joined the cranes in the morning, but not in the afternoon.

I went into one corn field out of curiosity. The ground is bone dry and the stalks break like dry twigs. When I walked out of the field, some cranes across the road were watching me. After I drove down the road they walked over to check out where I had been. This was a small group waiting for the stalks to be pulled down.

Mule deer grazing with the cranes in the late afternoon.

Have become very fond of the horses and donkeys at the rv park. The horse on the right is the alpha horse of that corral. I was visiting with the donkey next to him and he came over and bit the donkey on the neck to make him run away. The donkey’s have their own weapon. When I walked fast along the fence, the donkey started to run in my direction while kicking his back legs to keep the horse away. There are 3 or 4 other horses and donkeys in that corral who always stay in the background and don’t want to mess with the alpha horse. The little male donkey, however, takes his place right  along side of him.

Wanting some treats.

Have been in the Socorro area for three weeks now. Had planned to stay in the area a few more days to avoid some of the Thanksgiving crowds, but it has gotten cold here again. Weather Underground is saying it could get down to 19 degrees tomorrow night, while weather.com has it 10 degrees warmer. Who to believe? I’ve had a single propane tank filled three times since I’ve been here. That’s more than I’ve done in the last six months! Went out and got a ceramic heater today. The furnace needs to be kept on to keep the pipes from freezing, but the portable heater can be useful to quickly heat an area. The downside is the ceramic heater draws a lot of power.

Have seen a number of sandhill cranes sitting down this visit (to the right of the standing one). Maybe the ground provides some warmth and/or they are really tired after a long flight.

A “ball” of black birds above cranes eating in a corn field.

Mallards surrounded by geese.

Lesser scaup (top) and Northern pintail (bottom).

A male (upper) and female (lower) Gambel’s quail.

Kestral

Heading into my third week in Socorro, New Mexico. Had a cold spell this past week with it getting into the 20′s at night. Had to get out the long underwear. It’s warming back up now, in time for the Festival of the Cranes at the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge. A lot of work has gone into spiffing up the refuge. For one, they watered down the dirt auto tour route, so you can ride a bike on it without getting covered in dust from passing cars.

Sandhill crane with a mouse. He didn’t seem to know what to do with it. Another crane eventually took it from him.

Northern harrier

Poor owl was trying to sleep, but was surrounded by people taking its’ picture.

Mallard ducks taking flight.

Socorro, New Mexico is a nice small town between Albuquerque and Las Cruces. The reason I come here, however, is to see the sandhill cranes that winter here.

There are also thousands of geese.

Need to have a heads-up when thousands of geese fly over you.

Below, a northern harrier.

I am visiting Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, around 20 miles from the Canadian Border. The cedar waxwing, above, has some fledglings in the berry bush. The leaves were so dense, I couldn’t get a good picture of them.

On reading about Bonners Ferry on Wikipedia, found that it is near where the Ruby Ridge incident occurred. The write up on Wikipedia about this is like a novel. There are lots of places in the woods around here to try and escape society.

It is really crowded here with rv’s and motorcycles. I stopped by Glacier National Park on the way, but it was also jammed. Hope to get back there. A Canadian radio station made the comment that they just have two seasons: winter and July. This may have something to do with the crowds. It’s the best weather of the year.

Have seen this moose and calf three times. The adult always detects when people stop to watch her with the calf and she heads back into the tall grass.

Osprey. An adult was two posts down from it eating a fish.

On leaving the refuge one day, I noticed the silhouette of the back of an owl on a utility pole. I slowing walked towards it, not wanting it to fly away. Came to find it was a fake owl! Read where they were put on utility poles to keep osprey from nesting, but the osprey ended up using the fake owls in their nests.

Young deer going out into a wheat field where an adult was grazing.

Love watching the sandhill cranes. Saw one eagle, but it was to far away to get a good picture. Did not see as many grebes this visit, which was disappointing.

The Socorro area is so nice. Would like to try and stay 4 or 5 weeks next year.

You often see two cranes have a beak-to-beak face off, with their wings up…probably a territory issue. One usually ends up walking strutting away.

I stopped at a pond mid-day where there were initially a few geese. Then wave upon wave of geese flew in until the pond was packed. It was like a call was sent out for all the geese in the refuge to go to this one pond. When I drove by later in the day, they were all gone.

Above, geese settle into a cornfield at Bosque del Apache. They are not eating, but rather packed in like they were in the pond.

Have moved around 35 miles south, from Bernardo to San Antonio, New Mexico where the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is located. Lots of geese, sandhill cranes, and other photographers. Have to admit to some lens envy. There are scads of photographers here with the long, super expensive lenses.