The End (For Real this Time) of Columbia River Gorge Photography: Part IV

If you haven't had a chance to read Parts I, II and III yet, you can do so by clicking the links below.

Part I

Part II

Part III

The is the last installment of The End of Columbia River Gorge Photography series. Originally all part of one hastily posted smothering of photographs, I had to split the post into four because of formatting issues on my new blog.

This little baby rattlesnake was stunningly beautiful. I might have like him better if he wasn't so jumpy, though.

This picture will make any good naturalist hit the brakes; a baby rattlesnake crossing the road. 

  

He looks much more natural in the rocks and grass where he belongs. Just look at that cute baby face! What a little munchkin.

We went for an evening drive into the countryside and, besides, a baby rattlesnake, we had the joy of watching some courtship behaviour of the harriers. The female (seen above) is brown, but the male is grey. We saw him too, but he was busy handling some dead animal and dancing around her with it just to impress. I don't know that she was, but I certainly loved it.

This little guy couldn't believe his eyes, when those harriers started throwing the dead body of his neighbour around. 

Invasive wild horses dotted the road back home.

A wandering garter snake. Yes, it was a little awkward to get a good shot of this snake. After musking on my sweater, he wouldn't stop squirming.

Rivers in these arid regions always have a greenish tinge to the water. Must be all those minerals.

Be sure to click on this
photo of the cicada on the left. It's kind of hard to see so small. The other shot is of a pair of Canada geese. They must have some youngsters around somewhere. This spot (with the river, garter snake, cicada, flying geese, sparrow, and butterfly) was the last stop before we pretty much made a beeline for home. It was a nice place, but I felt like we were in too much of a hurry. Kind of like just getting a little taste.

This is one of my favourite photos. People were yelling, "Hurry up!" and I wish I could have waited to get a good shot of him singing.

A swallowtail butterfly heads off into the grass, marking the end of a great family trip. I just wish I had time to post on my trip to California. Oh, well. Maybe next year. Of course, by then, I'll have brand new stories to tell.

The End of Columbia River Gorge Photography: Part II

For Part I of this series, click here.

Get ready, because I honestly cannot get enough of these lizards. Lighting's bad on this one.

Better lighting, perhaps, but angle isn't ideal. More of the sunny side, I think.

That's better; now I can see the characteristic blue patch of the western fence lizard, but the best is yet to come. 

The guide told me the name of this plant, but I can't remember. Should have posted sooner. 

Nice view of the Columbia River.

This is my favourite lizard photo of the lot. You can see the yellows really well behind the head and armpit.

A lizard in hand is better than two on the stone. Above are a couple wildflower photos, as if there weren't enough daisy pictures in the world already.

This place, Horsethief Butte, was a popular destination for climbers, but also a great place to catch lizards and contemplate ice age geology.

The view from the top of Horsethief Butte.

More of those flowers that I'm supposed to know the name of.

Industry is everywhere. Chose one: good or bad. Well, kind of both. Though this place was raging rapids in the day of Lewis and Clark, it is now a highway for boats and barges. The energy from the dam powers the whole town adjacent.

Here's another good shot. This one must be a sagebrush lizard. 

Look how the blue spots show up so well! Of course, I did saturate this photo a little from the original.

This photo is pure fraud. Just thought it looked pretty all doctored up to bring out the pinks. Looks kind of like one of those old paintings of prehistoric times; purple sky, blue volcano, and- Hey! Where's the T-rex?

This picture is more true to the original colour of the sunset. Of course, it is impossible to replicate the vivid beauty that the human eye can produce from such light.

In the morning, I found a common garter snake near the campground, probably the valley garter snake subspecies.

Extremely placid little fellow. I gave him a kiss on the lips. That's why his cheeks are blushing red. 

If you enjoyed these photos, stay tuned for Part III!

May 10, 2013 Part 2

Columbia River Gorge, Day 2B:

Once part of an old post called, Columbia River Gorge, Day 2, this is the second half of the second day I spent in the Columbia River Gorge back in the 2013 spring. Because of compatability issues with my new format, I had to rework this content, but I've enjoyed looking over it again. I encourage you to go back and read Day 2A (and Day 1) first.
For the second half of the day we explored the waterfalls of the temperate rainforest which plummet into the Columbia River. One of the first we stopped at was Horsetail Falls and, while it was difficult to get a good vantage point on the falls that would exclude humanity from the shot, I did get some beautiful shots of my family on the picturesque wall before the falls. The Upper Horsetail Falls, or Ponytail falls, are accessible by trail. We didn't hike to see that.

Horsetail Falls.

Multinomah Falls.

Top half of Multinomah
Falls.

Next was the famous Multinomah Falls with the classic bridge arching across the centre cascade. There were many people at the falls so it was inevitable that some pink shirts appear on the bridge in my shot. There is a trail that winds up the right side of the falls and permits one to stand on the bridge. This provided some great photo opportunities and made up for the crowded view down below. Multinomah is the tallest fall in Oregon at a total of about 620 feet.

Lataourell Falls.

Shepperd's Dell
Falls

Sheppard's Dell from a
different angle.

Honeysuckle. There are a variety of
wildflowers in the rainforest too.

Candy flower.

The Bridal Veil.

Closer to Bridal
Veil Falls.

W also stopped at the spectacular Latourell Falls. This was probably my favourite of the falls since it was the only one that truly dropped the whole distance (249 feet) without touching a stone. The curving rock walls behind the falls provide an epic backdrop to the volcanic natural history of the area. In some places, the basalt forms columns.

Some species of forget-me-not I
think.

Shepperd's Dell Falls was also difficult to photograph but I managed two good shots. One of these, higher up on the short trail to the falls, had a curious mossy curved branch which framed the falls splendidly, almost as if it had been put there on purpose. I wonder how many other hundreds of visitors have taken that exact shot.

Me at the Bridal Veil.

Roadkill pacific aquatic garter snake.

Our last stop today was Bridal Veil Falls. By then, it being late in the day, I had already suffered a pretty serious overdose of waterfall photography and not much was making me "wow" anymore. When I got to Bridal Veil, I started trying all kinds of crazy pictures and angles on the falls. I even had my brother take a picture of me at its base. Certainly it wasn't the most spectacular fall we'd seen, but it was probably the most photographed. On our way back to the car I came across another dead snake on the road. Once again, it was a species I'd never seen before in my life; the pacific coast aquatic garter snake. This was a major disappointment. Why are all the rare snakes roadkill? Maybe I'll have more blessing with snakes tomorrow.

An interesting angle on Bridal Veil Falls that illustrates the lush nature of the rainforest better than the nature of the falls themselves.

Herping after Dawn in the Florida Panhandle

A little late in coming, but I did go check my minnow trap at West Campus bright and early Saturday morning. Nothing. I could see some nice sized bass swimming around in the water but none of them would have fit in the trap. I'll have to try again in a different place were the fish aren't so large. And maybe I'll use some bait.

Anyways, I thought, the morning is young, so I went herping for the rest of the morning. Found a few dandy critters right there at West Campus including a few more leopard frogs (Rana sphenocephala) and lots of cricket frogs (Acris).

I had been hoping to find another cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) or maybe a rattlesnake (Crotalus) because I had an audience (two of my coworkers/friends from the college came with me to pull up the trap). However, I didn't find anything venomous. This baby racer (Coluber constrictor) put on quite a show though. "Bit" me three or four times before I got the photos I was hoping for. Never broke the skin.