Today, I ventured out to the Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge near Sherwood, Oregon. I'm teaching a class there next Sunday but haven't been since spring so I needed to see what had changed (lots) since I was out last. The weather was sketchy at first but it ended up being a lovely, warm, breezy day.
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First bird spotted was, of course, a Great Blue Heron. They're thick around here.
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A pair of turtles sunned themselves on a log in the Tualatin River. Looks like a Western Pond Turtle on the left and a Western Painted Turtle on the right. I checked out
Native Turtles of Oregon to make sure.
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OK, get out your pencil and paper for the Spontaneous Mystery Bird Quiz!!
What is this bird?
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Got it yet?? Here's another shot.......
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Be sure to leave a comment with your answer!
We saw two great bugs today; a Wooly Bear caterpillar......
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And the most incredible Leaf Hopper I've ever seen. It was about 1\2 inch long and was sitting on top of the car. Very photogenic.
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On the way home we passed Elmo Studd's and their funny reader board. I used to work nearby and always enjoyed the latest offering. Nice to take one's mind off of political ads, isn't it?
7 comments:
Cool bugs!
Red-breasted Nuthatch??
Not a nuthatch.....sorry, try again.
Brown Creeper? You mentioned that in your e-mail, so that seemed too easy.
Western Bluebird?
Great leafhopper, the Tualatin is such a wonderfully buggy place!
I was going to say Bluebird as well. Great photos, though. I love the Heron. Very cool!
Ding ding ding! We have two winners! Western Bluebird it is. Bad photo of a good bird.
Two winners and one BIG loser :(
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