Reed Canyon Blog

So I was sitting on my couch Wednesday morning, drinking the first cup of coffee and reading the Times, when I looked out the window and saw that the weather was starting to change. The clouds had lowered down to the ground and the standard dreary November rain was turning into a sort of slush. Clumps of heavy, wet snow were rapidly covering the ground in one of those rare Portland snowfalls.

And I thought to myself, "Hmm... I really should go get some pictures of the canyon to document this." And then I poured myself a fresh cup of coffee, turned to the crossword, and forgot all about it.

But, fortunately for the canyon blog, other people braved the storm and took along their digital cameras. These rare shots of the canyon getting snow come to us from Heather Whipple, Reed's Electronic Resources Librarian.

Thanks Heather!


- posted by Niels @ 7:29 PM

I've gotten behind on sharing the birdwatching notes that show up here at the Canyon Blog desk.

David Johnson, Reed's Assistant Director of Foundation and Corporate Support, dropped me a note a few weeks ago to share some thoughts on the community garden hawk:

"I saw the hawk you mentioned just the other day, swooping low over the bridge, and I think, though I am not sure, that it is a Cooper's hawk, not a sharpie. It looked a little bigger than a sharpie, though unless you see the two right next to one-another, 'bigger' is a somewhat abstract term. Its flight looked a little more solid, and its body looked larger, than most sharpies I've seen. However, it's so hard to differentiate between cooper's and sharpies that it could be anyone's guess--but that's just my two cents."

That matches up with one of my own recent sightings: I was walking across the land bridge in late October when I saw a larger hawk come swooping past, heading downstream with a live squirrel still struggling in its talons. So maybe we have two hawks: a sharpie in the garden and a Cooper's in the canyon.

David also dropped us a note about the herons:

"Hey, Niels--thought I would let you know that the other evening as I was walking from Eliot Hall to North parking lot I saw a pair of Great Blue Herons flying near the bridge--one male, one female! I had always heard people refer to 'THE Heron,' as though there was only one. But I definitely saw two adults, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a nesting pair next year. This might be common knowledge, but I wasn't aware of any nesting activity."

And we also got a note from Monika Wieland, a Reed student, who writes:

I'm a bird-watcher and was glad to see something other than mallards in the canyon in recent weeks. My most exciting sitings were a belted kingfisher, two pairs of hooded mergansers, and a pair of bufflehead.

Thanks for all the input! Keep me posted...
- posted by Niels @ 9:31 AM

Just a reminder - today is the fall Canyon Day. We'll be meeting at the amphitheater from 9am to 3pm to transplant a few hundred native ferns and shrubs. Come by for a few hours and get your free T-shirt. We'll have hot drinks, live music, and a barbeque. (Dress warm.)
- posted by Niels @ 10:11 AM