Family Outdoor Life Archives

Posted on August 29, 2018 by Barb — Leave a comment

Nature Observer – August

Nature Journal Project: Nature Observer August 2018

Wondering what we have been up to this month and what nature journal pages I have created? August has been very laid back as far as getting outdoors and experiencing nature. We’ve done some trail and campground exploring within a twenty mile radius of our house and found an abundance of awesome places to investigate further. I’m keeping a list in my nature journal of possible places to use for outings in the future. Yes, I know I’m spoiled to have so many things so close at hand, but that’s part of the reason we moved to Central Oregon. It’s a fantastic place for nature nerds to live!

Here are my pages from the past few weeks.

We planted a new aspen tree this month back in our far corner. It’s visible from our living room windows so I’m already anticipating the change of the season and the leaf color. I created a page in my journal with a few interesting facts about aspens, some of my observations, and then a leaf rubbing.

Here’s a two page spread in my Nature Observer journal (see the link and cover below). I LOVE this journal and every day I’m eager to record a few thoughts, facts, and/or nature observations. It has become a great record of when things bloom, appear, disappear, etc.

This page is a record of a magical afternoon spent sitting by Fall River with my husband. The weather was perfect and we found a secluded spot along the bank to watch the birds, enjoy the wildflowers, and the sound of the rippling water.

I tackled a sketch of our resident toad. I used a photograph as a reference and then water-colored it in for my nature page. I learned some new facts about the toad and I can now appreciate his comings and goings as part of his life cycle. My friend named the toad “Geraldine”. I’m not sure how to tell if it’s a boy or girl toad, but we’re going with Geraldine for now.

I’m still going strong with this Nature Observer Guided Journal that I started back at the beginning of the year. There are so many positive things I could say about it but the most important thing is the flexible nature of the calendars and the prompts. I make every page work for me in my habitat. Plus it has a built in habit trainer…in the form of a bullet-style journal section for each month’s goals. So helpful!

If you’re looking for a pre-printed nature journal for yourself, take a look at this one on Amazon.com. I highly recommend it! Please note that I am an affiliate for Amazon.com.

Do you want some more specific nature journal ideas? Click over to my nature journal page and scroll down for the Once-a-Month Nature Journal Project idea buttons. There’s a lot there to keep you busy!

Don’t forget that I’m sharing a nature journal page each week on my Instagram account if you want to see the pages as they unfold. Follow me here: Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge. And, if you want to create a page and share it on your Instagram for me to see, use the hashtag #OHCnaturejournal.

Posted on August 14, 2018 by Barb — 2 Comments

Outdoor Mom – August 2018

Outdoor Mom

August 2018

We have pretty much enjoyed a “staycation” this past month as we explored a few new places and found refreshment in just being at HOME. We moved here because we used to vacation here, so why not just stay home, sleep in my own bed and take time to get to know the local area?

Works for us!

We had the added joy of having our daughter home from New York for a little over a week. We ended up spending a lot of time outdoors doing fun stuff with her and our boys too.

The very first day she was here we pulled the kayaks and canoe down to the river behind our house for a good long float. This is the Little Deschutes River, so it’s a slow moving and meandering experience. It was a perfect afternoon and we took a stop midway to swim in the refreshingly clear, cool water.

One of my favorite destinations here in Central Oregon is Sparks Lake on the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway. It’s a long narrow lake with lots of coves along its volcanic rock shore. We paddled all the way to the end and back. The bonus to this lake is the spectacular views of South Sister and Mt. Bachelor.

We’ve been building a shelter for our Traeger smoker out of local materials. We have a friend who has a portable lumber mill and he made us a large beam and live edge siding from trees he had on his property. The paver patio is finished but the structure is still a work in progress. We’ve already spent lots of evenings sitting on the patio watching the moon rise and the stars come out.

Our daughter wanted to see the Lava River Cave which is close to our town. It’s a long, dry, volcanic rock cave. You take your own flashlights and explore at your own pace. It was a chilly 42 degrees in there so we all got pretty cold…should have been better prepared!

My son had some friends up from California and they wanted to float the Deschutes River…a VERY Oregon thing to do. It was a very hot day and the water was COLD. I opted to kayak but they all enjoyed their lazy river float. Ah, to be young!

My sister and brother-in-law came for a visit and they wanted to try floating too, but we went on the much warmer Little Deschutes River. Another hot day, another great float down the river!

(Do you see a theme to our summer activities?)

Another activity we’ve been trying to squeeze in each week is to go listen to live music whether it’s here in La Pine, in Sunriver, or up in Bend. This time of year there are lots of options for music so that makes it easy. When my daughter was here, we had dinner at Sunriver and then listened to music out on the lawn behind the lodge….so much fun!

We’ve been working on our backyard landscaping since June and we’re finally seeing it come together. It’s still a challenge to know what the deer will eat and what they leave alone. The night after I took this photo of the heliotrope with the swallowtail on it, the deer ate it down to the roots. It has since grown back but I’m sure they’ll be eager to eat the blooms as soon as it blossoms again.

We’ve had a month of hot, dry weather until a few days ago when a thunderstorm rolled in very slowly. I could see it off in the distance when we started our walk down to the river after dinner. You could see the rain but the sun was shining over our heads. Then a rainbow appeared as the light shifted to a pinkish-orange glow. We could hear lots of thunder rumbling. In the end, we didn’t even get a drop of rain because the clouds just sort of dematerialized and blew away. It made for a great show as we had our daily walk.

I’ve slowed down with my hiking this summer because of my arthritis. I’m facing a double hip replacement in the fall….which will put me out of commission for a period of time, but then I’m hoping to be able to hit the trail without pain for the first time in years. My doctor assures me that it will be “rainbows and unicorns” after the surgery and then 4-6 weeks of recovery. I’m nervous about the actual surgery, but the hope of being much more able to get out and do things again motivates me to get it DONE!

The anticipation of surgery inspired me to get a whole year’s worth of nature study planned and up on the blog now. You can see the plan and find out more about a membership in this post:

Outdoor Hour Challenge 2018 – 2019 Plans

Follow me here: Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge. If you’d like me to take a look at one of your images on Instagram, use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge.

Want to join in the Outdoor Mom post?

Answer all or just one of the prompts in a blog entry on your own blog or right here on my blog in a comment. If you answer on your blog, make sure to leave me a link in a comment so that I can pop over and read your responses.

During our outdoor time this month we went…
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about)…
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
I added nature journal pages about…
I am reading…
I am dreaming about…
One last image…

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Barb — Leave a comment

Nature Observer – July 2018

Nature Observer – Nature Journal Project

July 2018

We’re experiencing a glorious summer weather pattern where it’s hot in the afternoons and very cool at night. It gives us a window of time in the mornings to get out and enjoy a good hike, go for a bike ride, or get things done in the garden before it’s too hot to enjoy it. If it gets too hot, we drag the kayak down to the river and enjoy a good float in the cool river water.

Get outside each day to explore a little nature before the temperatures heat up!

Nature journaling is a perfect indoor activity during the summer months. Pull out the journals along with a few art supplies to record your summer nature study discoveries. Give it a try!

Here are my pages from the past few weeks.

We have two different kinds of hummingbirds visiting our feeders. They are very different and easy to spot. The rufous hummingbird has such a mechanical sound to its wings that you can hear them coming from far away. The calliope hummingbird is very tiny and not as aggressive as the rufous. My page captures both of these amazing creatures.

It’s been quite a summer for bird’s nests in our yard. We’ve been curious and eager to see who would inhabit our nesting boxes. Well, we had two boxes filled with swallows, one box had mountain bluebirds, another box had chickadees, and the most interesting nest was built in a crack in a pine tree by a pair of pygmy nuthatches. Of course, I wanted to document all of this in my nature journal.

I’ve started to carry a small sketch book with me along with a pen to capture the random moments that inspire me. This page was done while kayaking at Sparks Lake with my daughter as we paddled towards the South Sister Peak. Love it!

Do you want some more specific nature journal ideas? Click over to my nature journal page and scroll down for the Once a Month Nature Journal Project idea buttons. There’s a lot there to keep you busy!

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Barb — 2 Comments

Outdoor Mom and Goal Update July 2018

Outdoor Mom – July 2018

And an Update of My Nature Study Goals 2018 for the Second Quarter

We’re finally doing a summertime dance as the temperatures climb and the skies are clear. It’s been a struggle for me personally because my husband and I made a commitment to each other to get the yard done during June and July. Making it a priority has meant we have to pass on some recreational opportunities.

We still try to fit in our daily river walks and a few short kayak excursions when we can.

Plus, we did take a week and go camping on the northern coast of Oregon. The beaches there are either rugged or sand dunes. The weather was pretty good and we found a couple of places to kayak, including Lake Coffinbury, where we saw bald eagles!

We took advantage of the negative tide and did some tide pooling. I spotted a purple sea star, the most colorful one I’ve ever seen. There were loads of anemones and barnacles.

We’ve had an abundance of wildlife right in our backyard. My son saw this coyote pup strolling through the back fence and I was able to capture an image or too.

We have 5 birds nesting in our yard- 2 tree swallows, a chickadee, a Pygmy nuthatch, and a mountain bluebird! What a fantastic thing for this bird loving girl! My husband built the nesting boxes last year, a little too late in the season so we weren’t sure what to expect this year. Happy surprises!

The nuthatch nest is in this crack in the pine tree, believe it or not. Amazing!

The cattle are back in the pasture behind our house and we’ve so enjoyed seeing all the newborn calves. They sure are curious little things!

Here is my June list of birds seen from our back window. I love keeping track and now my friends come over and check the board every time they visit to see what new birds have been added.

Life is good here in my little part of the world.

Now here’s an update on my nature study goals as a way of keeping me accountable.

Nature Study Goals 2018 – 2nd Quarter Update

1. Nature Observer journal – I’ve continued to journal my observations almost every day. I find if I don’t take a minute to note what happened during the day that I forget the little things; the things that when I look back mean the most.

There are very few prompts I haven’t filled in from the many nature-related page ideas. I adapt the ones that really don’t fit my style. I’m trying not to make excuses and just do my best to keep the journal full of thoughts and observations that show the picture of what it’s like living here in Central Oregon.

I’m still highly recommending this journal!

Edit to add an affiliate link: Nature Observer.

2. Keep a record of the wildflowers that grow in my local habitat. I narrowed this goal to include my yard and the grassland between my house and the river. I keep my list in my Nature Observer journal.

3. Visit the High Desert Museum each month. I have failed at this! They have a new exhibit featuring rocks and the history of rock climbing that I really want to see, so I’ve now put it on the plan. Plus, I want to go see the raptors again.

4. Visit Sunriver Nature Center and see the garden. We ended up going to the Sunriver Observatory instead with some friends. It was awe inspiring as always, to look up at the stars and the planets Venus and Jupiter.

5. Take 3 new hikes. Twin Lake hike, Smith Rock – not new.

6. Get the kayaks out in a new local spot. My oldest son bought a canoe and my middle son bought a kayak so we’re all able to get on the water and explore the local area. So far, we’ve kept to our familiar stretches of river but we have plans next week to go exploring.

Additional Goal Related Items

We purchased our National Parks pass and visited Lewis & Clark National Park, which is really a group of places centered around Astoria, Oregon. Visiting these places and then kayaking on the Lewis & Clark River were a highlight of our camping trip last month.

Our backyard landscape is coming together. We’ve discovered that we can transplant many grasses and wildflowers and even an aspen tree to fill in our garden spaces. It’s a very big learning process and we need to keep reminding ourselves that it will take many years to accomplish what we want to in this space.

Follow me here: Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge. If you would like me to take a look at one of your images on Instagram, use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge.

Want to join in the Outdoor Mom post?

During our outdoor time this month we went…
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about)…
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
I added nature journal pages about…
I am reading…
I am dreaming about…
One last image…

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Mom – May 2018

Outdoor Mom
May 2018

Our outdoor time made us wonder…..

We’ve been watching birds in our yard since we moved here a year ago. We’ve now seen the complete cycle of birds in each season. I’m thrilled every time a new kind of bird shows up at a feeder or within sight of our windows. Now, the nesting boxes are being occupied by a couple of bird families. The tree swallows are the most fascinating to watch as they bring the materials into the box for their nest. How do they fly with those long grasses in their mouth? How do they manage to get them through the little hole and into the box? Truly a miracle of life!

In our garden, we are building…..

Construction has begun on our new yard landscape. We picked the pavers for the walkways and patio so now all we need to do is make a plan for getting them laid. My husband is working part time at a landscaping and floral nursery down the road from us and this is how we’ll finance the bigger purchases of rock, sand, and the majority of the trees and shrubs. It’s been awesome to have an expert help us at least get started with this huge project. Now that we’re underway, I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

I’ve had to do quite a bit of research about native plants in anticipating the filling of our garden beds. I don’t want to spend a lot of money purchasing things that will not survive our harsh, long winters. Or as I’ve discovered from experience, plants that the deer will eat in one night. Instead, it makes sense to take the time to find out the best way to spend our money and energy and still end up with a yard that is beautiful and will stand the test of time.

I am dreaming about…..

The promise of another summer season here in Oregon is just about to be realized. I can feel the days getting longer and the landscape is filling up with green things and flowering things and life in general. The river is calling us to come and float on its cool clear water. The sun is warm on my face and shoulders when I’m out in the garden. I can’t wait to be in the middle of July when all my family is going to be around me for a big anniversary picnic!

One last image…..

This is just the start of something pretty outside my bedroom window for the birds, bees, and butterflies. It just makes me happy to think of the seasons to come where I will be able to look out my window and see a little nature looking back at me.

Follow me here: Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge. If you would like me to take a look at one of your images on Instagram, use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge.

Want to join in the Outdoor Mom post?

During our outdoor time this month we went…
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about)…
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
I added nature journal pages about…
I am reading…
I am dreaming about…
One last image…

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Barb — 1 Comment

Outdoor Mom – April 2018

Outdoor Mom

April 2018

I was born and raised in California and California spring is all I’ve ever experienced until this year. Central Oregon has rocked my conception of what March and April weather should be and how it should look. Usually by now, I’m in the thick of spring wildflower season, taking hikes to see the lupines and poppies. Not this year.

April has been a subtle changing of the season. Our landscape is just now starting to show some signs of green and I actually spotted my very first dandelion in my yard. Our temperatures are getting warmer and we had some rain this week rather than snow so maybe, just maybe, we are headed to spring.

This new version of spring has not stopped us from getting outdoors. In fact, my husband and I take a daily walk to check out our river and the changes that are happening there.

Changes in Our World

We’ve spotted more birds, including new ones for our life list like the Wilson’s snipe, the wood duck, and the common goldeneye. Also, we spied our very first rufous hummingbird scouting out our backyard. I had an inkling that they were around so I’d just hung our feeder and sure enough, they visited while I was watching. I’ve been super happy with the Merlin Bird ID app from Cornell. This is a free app that helps you identify a bird without the use of a field guide. I find it very easy to use and pretty much every time, I can use the app to find out a bird’s name.

We’ve been observing the Belding’s ground squirrels with binoculars. I’d noticed activity around the holes out back and one afternoon they made their appearance. They’re such busy little creatures as they scratch around on the ground looking for something to eat. They’re smaller than I thought they should be and their tails are much shorter than expected. But, there is something quite entertaining about these ground squirrels and I love their cinnamon color.

We’ve been talking about taking the kayaks out on the river and today it was so sunny and warm that we just did it!

We’ve started exploring our area some more and all of its many lakes. My son and I drove up to the Twin Lakes, stopping to hike completely around South Twin Lake. What an enjoyable mile or so hike! There are some gorgeous ponderosa pines along the trail and we saw quite a bit of green manzanita just starting to blossom. It’s great to have my hiking buddy living with us for now…hoping to find some more trails to explore soon with this guy.

I’m eagerly anticipating a great upcoming month of outdoor time as the spring weather really hits. It’s like awakening from a long winter’s nap to find a new world to observe with new plants, animals, birds, and insects to get to know.

How are you enjoying your spring?

Follow me here: Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge. If you’d like me to take a look at one of your images on Instagram, use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge.

Want to join in the Outdoor Mom post?

During our outdoor time this month we went…
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about)…
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
I added nature journal pages about…
I am reading…
I am dreaming about…
One last image…

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Barb — Leave a comment

Nature Goals 2018 – 1st Quarter Update

Nature Study Goals 2018

1^st Quarter Update

Here are my goals for the 1st Quarter of 2018:

1. Begin to use the Nature Observer journal every day to keep track of my nature experiences. Use the journal prompts included in the book to inspire my outdoor time. Don’t expect each page to be perfect but create a personalized record of my outdoor observations and adventures in 2018. I’ve been faithfully entering my experiences each day in the journal. At first, I thought this would be too much for me but it has proven to be a huge inspiration for me to get outside nearly every single day. I highly recommend this journal so put it on your wish list for next year!

2. Find two books to help me learn about the local habitat. I’m happy to say that I found one book that has been added to my library that has loads of helpful information about my local habitat.

Natural History of the Pacific Northwest Mountains by Daniel Matthews

(This is my affiliate link and I will be writing a review of this book soon!)

3. Take one new local hike with my family. We hiked the Chimney Rock trail at Lower Crooked Wild and Scenic River. It was a super warm day and we enjoyed the new hike with its awesome views of the river and surrounding mountains. We’ll be back to this special area!

4. Visit the High Desert Museum and possibly buy a family pass. Look at the gift shop for books. We visited in January and purchased a membership! The highlight of our first visit was the river otter exhibit. What amazing animals! The docent was very knowledgeable about the otters and her enthusiasm made us eager to visit again. We have another visit scheduled this week to see the raptors.

5. Visit the nature center at Sunriver. Ask about volunteering. We visited the observatory but not the nature center at Sunriver. We’ll be adding it to our 2^nd quarter goals.

6. Continue to participate in Project Feederwatch. We’ve continued to participate for the whole first quarter, observing over twenty different birds during that time.

7. Participate in the Outdoor Hour Challenge by completing the reading in the Handbook of Nature Study, taking the walk, and doing a follow up journal page (or something else appropriate). If needed, I will also look up the topic in my local field guide to see if there is additional information. This is an ongoing goal that I really need to focus on better. I do all the preparation work and take the walks every week. The follow up journal page is not always completed. I take note of my thoughts and observations in the Nature Observer journal.

I’m ready to make my new quarterly goals!

Nature Study Goals 2018

2^nd Quarter – Get Outside and Experience Spring

Continue to use the Nature Observer journal to keep a record of my nature study experiences. Focus more on sketching!
Keep a record of the wildflowers that grow in my local habitat. Note the day they start to bloom and where we see them for future reference.
Visit the High Desert Museum each month, each time focusing on a different exhibit.
Visit the Sunriver Nature Center and ask about volunteering. In addition, make note of their garden and the native plants they have growing there as a reference in planning our backyard garden.
Take 3 new hikes. This may be ambitious but the weather should be warming up and this will give us an added incentive to hit the trail.
Get the kayaks out in a new place locally.

I’m truly looking forward to real spring here in Central Oregon. Creating nature study goals and working at achieving those goals helps me get outside and inspired to do more.

How did your nature study goals go this quarter?

Be Inspired! Be Encouraged! Get Outdoors!

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Barb — 2 Comments

Outdoor Mom – March 2018

Outdoor Mom

March 2018

So much has happened in a month! We’ve been focusing on bird counting as part of both Project Feederwatch and the Great Backyard Bird Count. Because this was the first year counting birds in my new Central Oregon home, I was hoping that we would see a variety that represented what my Feederwatch results have been over the past month or two.

Sure enough, we had all our usual visitors and a few surprise guests too!

Great Backyard Bird Count 2018

Mourning dove-6
Eurasian collared dove-3
Northern flicker-1
Varied thrush-1
California scrub jay-5
Mountain chickadee-4
Red-breasted nuthatch-1
Pygmy nuthatch-10
Dark eyed junco-14
Hairy woodpecker-1
House finch-5
Pine siskin-2
Canada goose-37
Mallard duck-9
European starling-3
Western bluebird-50
Common raven-2
Red-winged blackbird-4

A huge flock of Western bluebirds swarmed our backyard feeders one morning during the count period. It was an amazing sight. Many of them stuck around for a few days and they would sit all over the feeders and on our fence, glistening blue and red in the sunshine.

We were also surprised during the count to see the return of the red-winged blackbird to our yard and feeders. It seems so early and we’ve had quite a bit of snow since their arrival. I did some research online and read that the sturdiest birds return first and they should be able to make it through until we have a real spring.

The return of the elk to our neighborhood has been a delight to watch. The best time to spot them is early in the morning as the sun is rising. We’ve seen them in small groups right behind our fence and in large herds in several areas around town. I never tire of seeing them as they graze and move on.

We took a trip to the San Diego area for a week to have a little beach and ocean time with our daughter. She flew out from New York to meet up with us for a week of camping and adventuring. There was a lot of outdoor time!

Bike riding along the coast at Crystal Cove State Park was gorgeous! The views of the ocean and the clouds on this particular day made it look like a postcard. We rode our bikes to a spot where we could go down to the shore for some tide pool observations.

We found lots of interesting things to watch and photograph in the tide pool area. We planned our visit to be there at the negative tide, so there were lots of things exposed for us to see that are normally under water. The most prevalent living creatures were sea anemones, mussels, hermit crabs, snails, and sea slugs!

We couldn’t get over the size of this slug! There were quite a few in spots we could watch closely and they moved amazingly fast.

We had a memorable day at the tide pools!

One last thing I want to tell you about is our visit to the NAT at Balboa Park in San Diego. If you ever get a chance to visit this area, make sure to plan some time here checking out the Coast to Cactus in Southern California exhibit. I found it to be top notch! The displays and the interactive elements make this habitat come alive. I could have explored this area for hours.

But, by far, my favorite exhibit they have on display currently is Unshelved: Cool Stuff from Storage. It has collections of things that are normally in storage, out for you to see. It’s an eclectic group of things from tiny bugs to big bones. My favorite things on display were the collections of butterflies. So astonishing to see how beautiful these insects are up close!

This last image shows my happy face on a happy day with my family at the ocean. The ocean just seems to wash away my troubles and refreshes me in a way that keeps me coming back time after time. I forget how much just the sound of the waves and the scent of the salt air can bring relief from the busy life I lead. This photo will remind me that an ocean visit may be just what the doctor orders when I start to feel anxious and overwhelmed.

Do you have a place that refreshes you when you are facing trials?

Follow me here: Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge. If you would like me to take a look at one of your images on Instagram, use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge.

Want to join in the Outdoor Mom post?

During our outdoor time this month we went…
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about)…
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
I added nature journal pages about…
I am reading…
I am dreaming about…
One last image…

Posted on February 14, 2018 by Barb — 3 Comments

Outdoor Mom- February 2018

Outdoor Mom – February 2018

It’s been unusually warm here in Central Oregon; some days the thermometer rises up to temperatures that are to be expected in spring. Well, you know that just makes me want to be outside and continue exploring!

During our outdoor time this month we went….looking at tree silhouettes.

We don’t have a huge variety of trees in our area, mostly pines and a few aspens. I absolutely love the aspens and the big gorgeous ponderosa pines. The Outdoor Hour Challenge for winter trees helped us get to know our new habitat better.

Side note: It’s hard to take a good tree silhouette photo.

I’m dreaming about….the green grasses and plants of summer.

The Outdoor Hour Challenge for winter weeds focused our attention on the plants we see during our river walks. Mostly dried and packed down by the winter snow, the winter weeds we observed are pretty much done for the season. But, on closer inspection, we can see new green growth starting to sprout underneath….that is exciting.

Our outdoor time made us ask….who made the trails in the weeds?

I noticed last month there appear to be “trails” under the weeds where small animals are moving around beneath the matted grasses. Some of the trails lead to holes and have fresh dirt at the openings. Could these be the subnivean zone trails of our local rodents?

I even found a spot that has a pile of scat, small little droppings sort of like mouse scat but much lighter in color. Fascinating!

The most inspiring thing we experienced…seeing beaver bank dens.

The ongoing hunt to actually see our beavers down at the river continued this month as we took to our kayaks and floated over to the opposite side of the river to check out some activity we could see going on over there.

On this warm afternoon, we spotted lots of signs of beaver activity like gnawed willow branches, beaver “slides” where they enter and exit the water, and trees that the beavers cut down.

We spent an hour or so traipsing around the willows and trees and along the river bank trying to see where they are living. We found a spot on the bank that looked like it was a possibility so we got back into the kayaks and checked it out from the water side.

Could this be it? When we got back home, we researched bank dens of beavers and discovered this is exactly the kind of place they create for shelter. We’ve been looking for the typical beaver lodge with its big mound of branches and a dam. But, we have learned that they will create hollows in the river bank to make a series of dens for living space.

Now we need to get out there at a time they’re active which is typically an hour before darkness or at sunrise. I have a friend who lives down river from us and he says he has seen the beavers out in the late afternoon and he’s heard their tails slapping on the water so that gives me a glimmer of hope that we may see our beavers if we’re persistent.

One more image….our elk!

Finally, the elk have returned to our neighborhood. We had visitors from California that were keen to see them and we spotted them not too far from the house. Then the next week, we had four elk right behind our fence in the early morning hours. It was barely light enough to spot them but they stuck around for a little while and I was able to get an image. They are such beautiful animals, much larger than expected, and so agile as they move along. I’m looking forward to observing them until the late spring when they return to the mountains.

Follow me here: Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge. If you would like me to take a look at one of your images on Instagram, use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge

Want to join in the Outdoor Mom post?

During our outdoor time this month we went….
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about)…
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting….
I added nature journal pages about….
I am reading…
I am dreaming about…
One last image…

Posted on February 5, 2018 by Barb — 2 Comments

Nature Photos – Seeing Patterns

Nature Photos – Seeing Patterns

My assignment: Take time to note the patterns and textures found in nature during the winter.

This was a nature prompt from my new Nature Observer journal, the one I’m working in every day as part of my nature goals for 2018 (see more here). The prompt is for the whole month of January and much like the Outdoor Hour Challenges, it creates the focus for your time outdoors. I have woven it into my river walks and even when we are just out and about in the neighborhood.

Examples of Patterns and Textures from January 2018

Ice: Here in Central Oregon the ice comes in different varieties. A few times we have experienced hoar frost and freezing fog which create ice on everything in spikes and crystals. Sometimes, even the air sparkles with ice if conditions are just right…magical.

Bark: Bark patterns make it possible to identify a tree even without leaves. Our evergreens all have different bark colors, textures, and patterns of growth. My favorite bark “pattern” is the aspen and paper birch. The quintessential winter scene for me is the snowy landscape with white aspen trunks and leafless limbs.

Cones: Can you identify which tree a cone comes from by looking at the pattern and texture? Yes! This is quite amazing when you think about how each tree has a unique cone size, color, and shape. You would never confuse a ponderosa pinecone with a lodge pole pinecone because they are completely different.

These are just a few of the patterns and textures that I’ve observed during my walks in January.

Activity Idea:

Look for patterns and textures in your yard and neighborhood. Take a photo or make a sketch for your nature journal page. Take time to reflect on the beauty of patterns in nature.

This page on National Geographic has some amazing images of patterns in nature: Patterns in Nature

You can use the Outdoor Hour Challenge for Asters and Daisies to look into patterns found in flowers: Outdoor Hour Challenge: White Daisies, Black-eyed Susans, and Asters.

Category: Family Outdoor Life

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