Glimpses of Summer Past

We finally have a feel of fall in the air -- a little cooler, gusty breezes, and the promise of rain tonight.  Meanwhile we've been unusually busy due to some shed repairs.  So this blog will just be snippets of summer past -- sketches I painted and notes to go with them. 

Lake in the Woods is one of our favorite spots.  It a small reservoir, not much bigger than a city block, and surrounded by tall Douglas firs and cedars.  Peaceful.  Full of dragonflies, and occasionally an otter family.  Today I looked up and saw a great blue heron had set its wings into glide mode and was dropping down, down, spiraling down to the pond below.  It landed on a partially submerged log and started peering into the clear water, looking for fish.

*   *   *

Siltcoos River, about half a mile from the ocean: 

The wind makes the Sitka spruce limbs dance and makes the sky a playground for gulls.  Nearby a kingfisher scolds as he flies in to a hidden perch.

*   *   *

The beaver pond at South Slough National Estuarine Reserve, Coos County, Oregon:

We're back at the beaver pond I wrote about in my Aug 31 blog, "Waxings on the Wing."  We stand in the shadows, but just offshore from the small Sitka Spruce snag that justs out of a tangle of monkey flowers and grasses.  The waxwings are still here, darting about, catching insects on the wing.

*   *   *

Mildred Knaipe County Park, Douglas County, Oregon:  

A taste of fall in the air.  Breezy.  Many turkey vultures in the air.  Soon they'll be kettling and heading south.  Stellar's jays and acorn woodpeckers are harvesting acorns.  It's a good acorn year here.

*   *   *

Near Lookingglass, Oregon:  

The sun is low.  We're just a few miles from home, coming in on Lookingglass Road rather than the interstate.  A family of nearly grown turkeys hurries down the road ahead of us.  Finally hurrying isn't fast enough.  The turkeys spread their wings, like big bombers, lift up, and fly over the road-side fence into a nearby golden field -- directly into the sun.  Each feather tip glows in the sunlight.