The local Vaux’s Swifts are tiny, soot-colored birds that live mostly in the air. They nest in trees and chimneys, sticking three-inch nests of twigs together with saliva. They don’t bother with territories and may build multiple nests in the same tree.
Epic arguments between a house wren and a big gopher snake once woke me up at dawn, when the reptile tried to snitch eggs from the little wooden nestbox outside my childhood bedroom window.
Lesser Goldfinches are tiny, thumb-sized creatures, rich green on their backs, gilded dandelion on their breasts, with trim little black caps and splotchy white-and-black wings.
Lately, my friends and I count fewer birds and more black, license-plate-free cars on our expeditions to the woods. While counting hawks, I'm often keeping an eye out for armed men, another eye on the news, and another tracking which of our communities ICE might be hunting in.
I went down to the Big River to write about ducks. While I was doing this, I noticed a dead gull on the end of a rocky spit. I decided to go evaluate the gull, and incidentally, scare the bejeebers out of 40 Rock Pigeons who happened to be snoozing there.
THE GORGE — Eagle Watch events on Jan. 17 will include indoor experiences at Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, and outdoor viewings in The Dalles and Lyle, some hosted by the Corps of Engineers.
