Smith and Bybee Wetlands: Something to See, Anytime of Year

Recently we've had some very Spring-like days here in Portland. The days last a little longer, and the sun feels a little warmer. We're already seeing the first blossoms of Spring.  Native plants like Red-flowering Currant and Indian Plum don't wait around for the calendar to say that Spring is here.  They just bloom whenever it feels right.  I know there are many more showery, gray days to come (and rain is a good thing), but I can't help looking forward to the drier, greener days ahead.

Red-flowering Currant

Sometimes our weather memories are rather short-term.  Here in western Oregon, we gripe about the rain until it's time to gripe about how hot it is.  So to help us not take the current mild temperatures for granted, I thought I'd look back a couple of months and share some photos that I took out at Smith and Bybee Wetlands on a very cold and frosty January morning.

 Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area - often referred to as Smith and Bybee Lakes - is the largest protected wetland within an American city.  Located in North Portland, west of PIR and Delta Park West, the park is a great place to see water fowl, raptors and other birds, as well as beaver, river otter and one of the few remaining populations of Western Painted Turtles in the lower Willamette Valley (listed as "critical" on Oregon's sensitive species list).  Facilities at the park include a paved, accessible trail between the two lakes (complete with viewing platforms), restrooms, a launch for non-motorized boats, and some very nice interpretive signs.  Some interesting public art is sprinkled throughout the developed areas.


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 It looked like I was the fist to arrive by car on this January day.

Informational signs by the parking area

 I walked past frosty Nootka Rose hips...

...frozen cattails...

 

...and frost-dusted Oregon Grape.

Then I came to the viewing area looking out over the frozen slough.

This is the place where you can spot Western Painted Turtles basking in the sun during the warmer months.  Hopefully they're all tucked snugly into the mud at the bottom of the pond where they hibernate - their body temperatures dropping to just above freezing.

Moving on down the trail, I saw a Brown Creeper and a Bushtit, but didn't get a good picture of either one.  Then I looked up to see this juvenile Bald Eagle looking down at me.

It either got tired of me staring up at it, or it decided it had better things to do.

Here's the observation platform on Smith Lake.

And the view from the platform,

 which included some American Coots (I believe).

The Coots seemed nervous, and I thought it was because of me, but it might have been that juvenile eagle that was flying overhead.

So even in the rain, snow, or heavy frost, you can always see something interesting out at Smith and Bybee Wetland.  

Just a few more photos to wrap it up...

Frozen perimeter of Smith lake

Signs of Beaver in the neighborhood

One of the many pieces of public art

This last photo was taken south of Portland, in the area of Donald and Aurora, but it could have been taken at many places in the Portland Metro region.  I wanted to share it here because it goes so well with the frosty theme of this post.

Canada Geese flying in front of a frosty old Oak

Brrrr... looks cold, doesn't it?  

Remember to get out and enjoy the mild temperatures we've been having lately.  Pretty soon it will be too hot.  ; )

Flicker in the Cascara Tree

Now that my native landscaping is starting to fill in and mature a little bit, I've really noticed an increase in the number of bird species that I see in the yard.  On one recent morning, I looked out the window and saw a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) enjoying a snack of suet among the branches of one of my Cascara trees.

 

 So I quietly snuck out the back door and poked my camera lens around the corner of the house to get a better shot.

The Northern Flicker is a beautiful woodpecker.  Sort of a brownish-tan color overall, with all kinds of black spots and bars, and a black crescent on the chest.  The female lacks the red moustache stripes that you can see on the lower sides of this male's face.

The behavior of the Northern Flicker differs from that of most woodpeckers because they spend a lot of time on the ground, where they eat beetles, ants and other insects.  When they are in the trees, they're perched on branches like this one, rather than hanging on the trunk, supported by their tail feathers.  Sometimes your only view of a Flicker is when you interrupt its ground-feeding.  You'll see a white rump spot and a flash of red as it flies up and away, into the trees.  The flash of red is due to the red color of the flight feather shafts.  The Flicker pictured above was kind enough to leave me a sample of his red-shafted feathers.

The Northern Flicker is a common, year-round bird across most of the contiguous United States.  In the Eastern US, the flight feathers have yellow shafts instead of red.  Hybrid forms are common where the ranges of the two forms meet.

Even though this is a commonly-seen bird, it really is beautiful.  And I don't think I would have seen one in my yard before I provided a little bit of habitat.  OK, I admit... the suet feeder helped.  But when my yard was a flat, monoculture lawn, there was nothing of interest to attract this bird.  No native planting areas to offer forage, and especially no trees in which to seek refuge (or to hang a suet feeder).  Every time I spot a new species in my yard, it's like a little reward for all of my effort.  I can't wait to see what the next one will be!

You can learn to identify the Woodpeckers of North America by sight, sound and behavior, with this illustrated book by Frances Backhouse.