Show & Tell Sunday: Wildlife and Instagram

Yes, yes...I'm falling flat on my commitment to post regularly.  Looks like "Show & Tell Sunday" is going to save my bacon.I do like to post my pictures.

Pictures.  

I discovered that I could go online to obtain the parking permit I would need at ODFW (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife) sites--like Sauvie Island and our new haunt, the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area.  No stopping at the smarmy little convenience store on the island to pay for a permit! Have to admit, I was ecstatic at the idea of "contactlessly" obtaining that precious little scrap of paper.  Obtain it I did, and on Wednesday I took my jonesing for owl time 120 miles north and was amply rewarded.

 

We have also been spending a lot of time at Fern Ridge, which we were surprised to learn has quite a large area of wildlife viewing accessible by car.  It was there that we experienced our first encounter with mass quantities of Western Bluebirds.  People out here in the west do nothing but harp on and on about how the bluebirds are disappearing, and non-native birds are competing with them for food and nesting sites.  And up til now, I was inclined to believe this, since in 36+ years of living in Oregon, I've only had one other encounter with a bluebird.  Maybe they all moved to Fern Ridge, I don't know.  But there sure are a lot of them there.

 Up until the last couple of weeks, we haven't had a whole lot of success in the wildlife-viewing department.  We've been to Finley several times, and we've been haunting a place outside of Harrisburg where I once photographed short-eared owls.  But even though I've packed the camera every time, we've hardly had more than an eagle fly-by or two.  There haven't even been a lot of geese at Finley.  I was wondering whether the wildfire/smoke event we had in September had an impact on the wintering birds. 

Finally, in the last couple of weeks, some good bird viewing has come our way.  And, boy, did I find out how rusty I am at handling that fancy-ass camera and its huge lens!  I'm determined to take the thing out and get some practice.  

The other thing I found out is that yet another social media outlet has chewed me up and spit me out.

I finally got some pictures of which I was proud enough to post on Instagram.  And...well, the response has been underwhelming.  So...

Here.  Here is where my pictures will go.  To my own little corner of the internet.

A little lonely, a little echo-y.  But mine.

Here are the pics.

Enjoy!