Monday, September 05, 2011
Clearly, I can't do all of anything at once. So, this is still about Central Oregon.
We stayed in the campground at Cove Palisades and I cannot recommend it - it was like being in an apartment complex, except sleeping in a tent on the ground. That's probably the last time I stay in a state park in Oregon. Kids, dogs, noisy. And all for the convenience of running water.
HOWEVER.
The next morning, I got up ata 6 AM, and no one else was up. So, I walked to the day use area, and watched the osprey fishing. They hover, and then if they see something they like, they dive down. They SMASH into the water, and then bob up.
I thought they would have the bird in their beak, but no, it's in the claws. And, those fish do NOT want to be caught.
The osprey is flapping madly, trying to gain altitude and go home. And the fish is flapping madly, trying to get out of those claws. The fish unbalances the osprey, and you can see it start to gain, then almost take a nose dive, and then climb again. I didn't see one lose a fish - but I did see several unsuccessful dives - those fish must not be too dumb. Big bird coming - get out of the way.
Walking back from the day use area, I saw some birds in a tree. These were not your dime-store crows. These were BIG. A little ratty looking. And, as I stopped to take a better look, I realized they were vultures. If you remember the scene near the end of Snow White, the vultures are sitting on the tree, looking after the witch - and when she falls, they glide out of the tree, very gracefully for such ugly birds, one at a time. This is what I saw. Three of these huge black red-headed ugly birds, sitting silently in the tree, motionless, watching. Kind of creepy. Kind of cool. I didn't have a camera, so I got one from the web, from this person: forums.steves-digicams.com.
We stayed in the campground at Cove Palisades and I cannot recommend it - it was like being in an apartment complex, except sleeping in a tent on the ground. That's probably the last time I stay in a state park in Oregon. Kids, dogs, noisy. And all for the convenience of running water.
HOWEVER.
The next morning, I got up ata 6 AM, and no one else was up. So, I walked to the day use area, and watched the osprey fishing. They hover, and then if they see something they like, they dive down. They SMASH into the water, and then bob up.
I thought they would have the bird in their beak, but no, it's in the claws. And, those fish do NOT want to be caught.
The osprey is flapping madly, trying to gain altitude and go home. And the fish is flapping madly, trying to get out of those claws. The fish unbalances the osprey, and you can see it start to gain, then almost take a nose dive, and then climb again. I didn't see one lose a fish - but I did see several unsuccessful dives - those fish must not be too dumb. Big bird coming - get out of the way.
Walking back from the day use area, I saw some birds in a tree. These were not your dime-store crows. These were BIG. A little ratty looking. And, as I stopped to take a better look, I realized they were vultures. If you remember the scene near the end of Snow White, the vultures are sitting on the tree, looking after the witch - and when she falls, they glide out of the tree, very gracefully for such ugly birds, one at a time. This is what I saw. Three of these huge black red-headed ugly birds, sitting silently in the tree, motionless, watching. Kind of creepy. Kind of cool. I didn't have a camera, so I got one from the web, from this person: forums.steves-digicams.com.
