A soggy stroll at Tualatin Hills Nature Park

After an early afternoon at OMSI and the later afternoon at a birthday party for one of Patrick’s fellow preschoolers, we decided to go for a short walk at Tualatin Hills Nature Park before heading home. Since it was raining and nice and soggy along our trail (Ponderosa Loop), we didn’t expect to see much as far as wildlife. Plenty of mushrooms, however.

Just before getting back to the parking lot, though, there was a lot of movement in the bushes to our right. It startled me because the place was so very quiet except for the occasional frog call or bird chirp from the trees. Three mule deer, that’s what we saw. It was almost six o’clock by then, then sun nearly down; hence, no pictures. Patrick was very excited to see the deer, the first he or I have seen on our nature explorations in Portland.

Here are some pictures from today (I like how you can tell the sun is going down; more pics):

Great Blue Heron (seen on the side of the road on the way to the nature park)

Nature Mobile

Prairie Meadow Habitat

Mallards

Patrick on the trail

Patrick, happy when outside

Vine Maple leaves

Mushrooms

Mushrooms

Counting tree rings

More mushrooms still

A shelf fungus

Fungus all over!

Patrick for scale

Oregon White Oak

Yes, another one...