Uncategorized

Witch Hazel is  an early blooming bush. It looks a bit like a forsythia with raggedy flowers. I took the photo this morning. While I was taking pictures, I was photo bombed by this male Anna’s hummingbird.

The area below Heron Ridge Bridge and just upstream from the bridge, has had some extreme erosion in the past few years.  The photo above was taken yesterday.  The “cube” seen in the photo is one square yard and gives a perspective about how bad the erosion is.  If you are standing on the Heron Ridge Street Bridge and look downstream you can see it.

The picture above shows the other side of this area.  Gee Creek takes a long meander and comes back to this side.  Both sides have had   increasing erosion in the past few years.  The trees I’ve planted have some value in preventing erosion.  However, they need 5 to 10 years to be effective.   Here the bank is almost vertical, and trees will not be able to prevent erosion.  Some of the trees I had planted on both sides have fallen into the creek.    If nothing is done here, then it is likely that this entire meander may be lost.  This is the case downstream as well where some of the meanders have already been lost.  Gee Creek is wider, deeper, and straighter than in the past and it’s all due to stream bank erosion.   The cause is changes in flows due to development of the watershed.

The Halloween Hallow was a great success with 2000 people attending the two day event.  Since this will be the last year the Ridgefield Arts Association puts on the event, they are going to have a garage sale.  It will be in the Bennet Kitchen  in Abrams Park  Friday and Saturday, October 22 and 23rd.  The hours will be from 9AM to 1PM each day.  So, many of the spooky and creepy things in last weekend’s exhibits will be for sale.   The sale may be extended  into Sunday.

This photo was taken in Abrams Park last weekend.  The photo is of a northern alligator lizard and it is  our only native lizard.  This lizard does not live in the east end of the Columbia River gorge.  There, along with several species of lizards, lives the southern alligator lizard.  Our lizard is more tolerant of the damper climate on the west side of the cascades than the warmer hotter summers of the east side.

The southern alligator lizard lays eggs while the northern alligator lizard gives birth to live young.  On the east side, the ground is more open and can be warmed by the sun.  Perhaps our lizard can better incubate her eggs by sunning herself.  I often see these lizards sunning themselves at the edge of a road or else on a rocky outcrop in the Carty Unit.  They run for cover if you get near.