Have I Mentioned...

....how much I love spring? Especially the warm sunny days of spring? Well, I do. They make me happy!
Today the family headed out to Smith and Bybee Wetlands, a great little natural area in Portland that is great for spotting birds. Today we saw so much amazing wildlife in the short hour that we were there. We spotted a beaver dam, several great blue herons, a red tailed hawk, a whole bunch of western painted turtles- finally awake after their long winter slumber, a rabbit, 3 snakes, a goose sitting on a nest on top of a birding blind, and a whole lot of pacific chorus frogs. Phoebe was amazed by the frogs, so I caught one, briefly, so that she could see it up close. After I let it go, she decided to chase it and, somehow, she managed to catch it again entirely on her own. That girl has skills.
The fact that all of this life exists in the industrial part of town, literally right off of a busy road and just a hop skip and a jump from I-5, blows me away. All it takes is a little bit of undeveloped land for so many different animals to find their niche.
Hoping I can convince the family to head somewhere else to hike tomorrow-- spring always seems to be over as soon as it starts, so this year I am trying to soak up as much as I can.... especially before the rains come back!