A Foggy Week in the Willamette Valley

We're having some serious overnight fogs all up and down the I-5 corridor this week.

Yesterday, I walked over to the ponds to play with that fog a bit.

This photo is from an isolated overlook that I don't visit all that often because it is isolated and hidden, though not far from the road. There are Canadian geese in front of and on that little island, if you can enlarge the photo. Saw them on land throughout the walk. Looks like they're getting ready for nesting season.

 These two were quite near the shore, where I was standing. Lots of people walk by this spot, so they're probably used to humans.

The geese were a little more skittish -- same area as the ducks, but a little further away. Lots of feeding going on this morning.

Today, more fog but this time it was freezing fog. 30F when I got up, 32 by the time I got up the nerve to go outside. Wanted to be sure the pavement wasn't icy. I opted for a different walk, since I do the ponds and river so often. This is another favorite place with man-made ponds and fountains in a swanky residential area.

The fog was already starting to burn off, since I got such a late start, but it was pretty nonetheless.

More ducks! Hungry ducks, I guess.

My fingertips felt frozen by the time I got back home. I didn't wear gloves for fear I'd drop the phone.

Riverwalk

 

I haven't walked along the river for awhile, so this morning I opted to do that. Not surprisingly, it's full to slightly overflowing, and running fast. I guess this is about as full as I've ever seen it. 

Didn't hurt that the skies were clear and almost sunny, but not at all warm. About 36 when I left home and my hands felt it for the hour it took to walk the loop.

I'm so lucky to live where this is in my backyard, so to speak.

This little fenced-off riverfront sitting area belongs to a nice retirement center down the road. That bench, as you might imagine, is not normally sitting in water.

After awhile the path turns inland along the ponds. These ponds are on the opposite side of the road from the ones I normally walk, but they all flow together via culverts.

It's not easy to see because it's dark, but on the top upper left is the main culvert/turbine complex that moves water from these ponds (and the river) to the other ponds. I just liked the reflection. There's a Great Blue Heron in there, too, but you'll never find him. Next photo!

This is from atop the culvert/turbine looking back. That heron must have had a very good breakfast because he was resting quite comfortably.

Took me 48 minutes, per Fitbit, to walk, which is probably about right with all the stops I made to take photos. Nice to get out again. I'm not doing it nearly often enough these days.

Delta Ponds again -- full of water

 

 

We've had weeks of rain and/or snow, seemingly constant and indeed, mostly constant. This morning was clear so I headed out for my first good walk in a couple of weeks, or more. Walked down to the ponds to see how much the rain has affected them, although I could tell just driving by that they were much fuller than usual. These ponds are actually an old gravel pit, but over the years since they've been city property there has been an opening cut between the ponds and the river, and then culverts under the bike path and roadway to link it all together so they are a natural overflow area for times like this. At least one of the culverts has some power assist pumps, to help things along. And then there's a natural creek that they empty into at the other end, which also has some good overflow areas at a highway cloverleaf. 

That's all a long way of saying that there's lots of water in those ponds right now! The geese were enjoying it, certainly. And more were flying in even as I walked home.

This is one of my favorite views, from the path through the ponds looking at the bike bridge in the distance. And this time of year, the light tends to be nice in the mornings, too. Not a lot of ducks or geese or other birds out there. The water surges into this area via the above-mentioned pumps and culverts, and then under the bridges that link the various land masses. 

I probably could have found some birds if I'd walked further than this, but my goal was the bike bridge so I could look down on all of this.

This is from the bike bridge looking over much of this part of the ponds. The previous photo was from near the footbridge near the center top of this photo. The water comes into this section from the left, and you can see the motion showing in ripples as it floods in. Maybe that's why there were no birds there. Or maybe it's just too deep at the moment for the herons and egrets to stand in and feed. Who knows!