Wild Life And Life In The Wild Not The Same

 

Wild life is what you might see on a safari, or a drive from Portland to Bend. Or your front yard if you live in the woods where deer come to the door.

 

Living a wild life is not the same. Living wild takes so much energy. Being wild is a tiring option with what in return? What’s the best thing you’ve heard about someone going wild?

 

Call me a stick in the mud, or un-evolved, but being a wild thing could mean the police show up to calm things down. Maybe that’s too wild?

 

Does the party really start after the police show up?

 

If you spend a few hours in the slam for a wild night out, plan your next day outside in the real wild life.

 

Find a place and calm the hell down. How does that work?

 

Go where the eagles fly. This particular bird doesn’t fly, but it represents our national bird.

 

It’s a metal silhouette of an eagle perched on it’s lookout.

 

An eagle eye scans the land for something to swoop down on. If there’s no chance to swoop, the eagle finds another roost.

 

Luckily the Tualatin River Wildlife Refuge is eagle friendly.

 

Don’t wear a hat that looks like a rodent or you might have company.

 

Along with eagles you’ll find owls, geese, ducks, blue heron, and a few unexpected critters that are hard to capture.

 

If you haven’t guessed, the Wildlife Refuge is a draw for bird people. Birders get up early and make the rounds like they own the place. At least that’s what it sounds like when you talk to them.

 

They know the birds here and every place else within driving distance. They show up with huge lens cameras, binoculars, spotting scopes, and a bird vocabulary that would make an Auduban expert’s head spin.

 

Find places where people and wildlife flourish together. Then be patient. And quiet.

 

After about fifty shots trying to catch a huge tadpole sucking air during its transition from water to land, I caught this before any bird nabbed it.

 

On the right one of the tads breaks the surface. The left ring shows one afterwards.

 

Checking my pics I saw frame after empty frame, then this.

 

Taking pictures is not a competitive sport, but every camera kook knows when they get a rare shot. It takes time. Or luck.

 

My small escort moved along from wetland to forest and back. Along the way we looked for that rate moment.

 

Waiting on a bird is one thing. Waiting on a dragonfly? Why bother. I wouldn’t have except for the nice couple I found waiting for the perfect shot.

 

I got one here after following my tadpole tactics. Out of way too many empty frames I found this gem. My little dragonfly on the wing.

 

We walked out and back and round and round to find whatever there was to see. It was a wild time with wild life in the wings.

 

And speaking of wings, what fan of wild life wouldn’t want to get up in the air?

 

After all, birds of a feather fly together.

 

On your mark, get set: