BackyardScience

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The Daily Bucket–All-Union and Carbon free Energy Source Project proposed for SW Washington

Rye Development is proposing a massive pumped storage power plant uphill from the site of the closed Goldendale smelter, next to the Columbia River.  This facility will take over a closed pumped storage plant. Native American tribes, including tribes from Asia, originally migrated to this vicinity as a group with common languages and...

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  • March 23, 2021
/ BackyardScience / bethany / bethanylake / Children / Community / DailyBucket / Diaries / Domestic / Duck / Eagle / effort / Egypt / Failure / Fine / Fishing / Golf / goosegreylag / Gratitude / Help / Internet / Local / Love / Medical / News / ok / Pacific / person / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Space / Spotlight / Time

The Daily Bucket–Goose with a thousand names

The local internet buzzed. The local goose had tangled itself in a loose strand of fishing line, with a barbed lure tearing at her throat. The local goose was an odd duck.  My best effort called her a Greylag or an Anser Anser.  She was mean and would chase children. ...

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  • January 27, 2021
/ BackyardScience / bethany / DailyBucket / Diaries / Duck / Ducks / Flooding / herons / Local / Love / News / Oregon / oregonrain / Pacific / Plants / pulse / reading / REAL / Recommend / Science / Spotlight / Storms / Time / Water / Weather / woodducks

The Daily Bucket–Ducks flee flooded foliage.

The January rains struck parts of NW Oregon with near-biblical storms.  Bethany Lake flooded to new heights.  Two inches fell overnight and never let up. The Wood Duck Island vanished.  The shallow turbid muddy stream turned into a 100-foot-wide version of a real river.   While I’ve often joked this weather...

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  • January 24, 2021
/ BackyardScience / bethany / Columbia / DailyBucket / Diaries / Flood / Flooding / Floods / Heron / Love / News / Oregon / Pacific / Portland / pulse / reading / Recommend / Rock / Salmon / Science / species / Spotlight / Time / Water / Wetlands

The Daily Bucket–The Creek ain't done Rising

By January Bethany Lake in NW Oregon, just west of Portland, gathers storm waters from hundreds of acres of avoided wetlands. Effluent also drains from the thousands of manicured yards and miles of streets in the surrounding suburban areas. The Lake and its tributaries discharges to Rock Creek, which slithers down...

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  • January 17, 2021
/ America / appearance / BackyardScience / Banks / Blessed / Bullfrog / certificate / Chicken / Court / Crimes / DailyBucket / damn / Death / Diaries / Difference / Duck / Ducks / Eagles / Energy / Engineering / Evolution / Fake / Family / Fine / Food / frog / give / Hearings / Heron / Interview / Judge / Legs / letter / Love / Mass / Nancy / News / ok / Orange / Oregon / Pacific / Poop / pulse / reading / REAL / Recommend / SAT / School / Science / Shock / Spotlight / Stuff / Time / Warning / Water / Weather

The Daily Bucket–Major Crimes, Mammal Division

Name’s Red. Red Woodman, Major Mammal Crimes Detective.  This is supposed to be my last day on the job is I can make it through. Cough. They’ve assigned me a kid nick-named “Lucky” I’m supposed to train to take my place. I’m looking through his resume.  He’d flunked out of...

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  • December 28, 2020
/ 2020 / BackyardScience / bethany / bethanylake / Chevron / Cut / DailyBucket / Detention / Diaries / erosion / fits / Gasoline / groundwater / House / letter / Local / Love / News / Oregon / Pacific / Paul / pulse / reading / Recommend / Redwoods / Resistance / Rich / Rock / Runoff / Science / Service / shade / Silt / species / Spotlight / Surveillance / Time / Union / Water / Wetlands / World

The Daily Bucket–Monkeywrenching with Paper

Edward Abbey memorialized environmental resistance to mindless development in his tome The Monkey Wrench Gang. It essentially endorsed sabotage to thwart degrading of the natural world, for instance, putting sugar in the gas tanks of bulldozers that are about to plow under a nice area. However, advances in surveillance make...

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  • December 19, 2020
/ Apple / BackyardScience / Black / Brown / Change / DailyBucket / Diaries / Food / frog / Goldfish / Hearing / Heron / hummingbird / HummingBirds / juncoes / Love / News / Oregon / Pacific / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Spotlight / Time / Water / Wind / Winter / wrens

The Daily Bucket: Rubies in the Sky with Diamonds, and Gold amid the tannin-stained Waters

The hummingbirds dash around my back yard, as hard to track as a feathered 3-card monte game; are there 2 or 3 or 4 hummers? Any hummer that sits in our Bartlett pear tree is automatically named Bart.  It fights any other hummer using any one of five feeders below...

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  • December 16, 2020
/ BackyardScience / Beaverton / birth / Blow / Busted / Collapse / Columbia / COVID / DailyBucket / dangerous / Depression / Diaries / e / Fashion / Fear / Fire / Flooding / Floods / Geology / groundwater / Happy / Hawaii / Help / House / Inspiration / lavatubes / links / Local / Love / Mail / News / Oregon / Pacific / Portland / Primary / psu / pulse / reading / Recommend / Rescued / School / Science / Scott / Silt / Solutions / Spotlight / Thinking / Time / unknown / Volcanos / Warning / Water

The Daily Bucket–Even a Boring Volcano can surprise you.

But there are 40-odd cinder cones of once-active volcanos clustered near the bucolic town of Boring, just east of Portland Oregon.  These, and the related lava flows, are part of the Boring formation. I live off this map to the left (west of Beaverton).  I am intensely interested in this Boring...

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  • December 12, 2020
/ Administration / BackyardScience / Banks / Base / bethany / Black / Blue / Chevron / code / Cop / Crime / DailyBucket / Diaries / Duck / Ducks / Eagle / Engineering / Fire / Gasoline / glowing / groundwater / Hearing / Heat / heh / Hell / Heron / herons / House / Internet / Local / Love / Mental / News / Oil / Oregon / Pacific / Parking / Pollution / Portland / Power / Prayer / Public / pulse / Rainfall / reading / Recommend / Redwoods / Rich / robins / Rock / Runoff / Salmon / Science / Snow / Space / Spotlight / Squirrels / Tax / Time / Wall / Water / Weather / Wetlands

The Daily Bucket–Forgive My Trespasses

For starters, this  “No Trespassing” sign isn’t on private property.  It’s on Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation Lands that are open to the public as the Rock Creek Greenway, west of Portland Oregon. Fortunately there are many anglers who are simply crazed about catching fish and who would wade through Hell fire for...

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  • December 5, 2020
/ BackyardScience / Banks / bethany / bethanylake / Blue / Border / Brown / Cut / DailyBucket / Diaries / Distance / Ducks / Eagles / Fail / Fine / Fishing / Flooding / frogs / Gaia / Goldfish / Help / Heron / herons / House / Hunting / IDEA / intersection / Love / Mental / News / Nov / Oregon / Pacific / plans / Portland / problem / pulse / Rain / reading / REAL / Recommend / Rock / Runoff / Science / shade / Spotlight / State / Stop / Time / Water / Wetlands / Wildlife

The Daily Bucket– The Creek's Roaring and Billy's Watching

Hard rains just swept across NW Oregon and vicinity. The creeks climbed their banks. I watch Rock Creek, and its tributaries that flow through Bethany Lake, ten miles west of Portland Oregon.  Upstream of Bethany Lake, a half mile wide grassy meadow has transformed into a nicely braided  creek with...

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  • November 20, 2020
/ BackyardScience / BEAUTY / correction / DailyBucket / Dead / Diaries / Distance / effort / Faith / females / Hearing / House / hummingbird / HummingBirds / Love / News / Oregon / Pacific / pulse / reading / Recommend / Redwoods / Science / Spotlight / Time / Water / Winter

The Daily Bucket–The Newest Hummingbird

I toss in my sleep, grabbing for the water bottle. I have to push the straw deep for the last few drops of precious cool water. Even the dregs are sweet. And in that moment between a memory and a dream, I was not sure if I was a hummingbird...

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  • November 10, 2020
/ alone / aphids / artichokes / BackyardScience / birth / Community / DailyBucket / Diaries / frog / frogs / House / Love / News / Oregon / Pacific / Plants / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Shelter / Spotlight / spread / tadpoles / Time / Water

The Daily Bucket–Small battlegrounds

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For six years, tadpoles have morphed into tiny chorus frogs in my backyard ponds.  But once they’ve turned into frogs I seldom see them again. For the first few days into July, I  find them near their birth ponds. Their default move is to hop back into the water for...

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  • November 1, 2020
/ Attack / BackyardScience / Banks / bethany / bethanylake / Black / Community / DailyBucket / Diaries / Duck / Dumb / egret / Fishing / give / Golf / Heron / heronegret / herons / Local / Love / Mob / Moving / News / Oregon / Pacific / Portland / pulse / reading / Recommend / Response / Science / Spotlight / Thinking / Time / Winter

The Daily Bucket–The West Side Gang moves in.

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For 20 years, I’ve tracked the movements of herons and egrets where I’ve worked and walked.  I’d been working at a golf course in Banks Oregon, 20 miles west of Portland.  We had a year-round heron, and every autumn, an egret visited and fished for a few days, angering the...

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  • October 10, 2020
/ BackyardScience / Broken / DailyBucket / Diaries / Heron / Love / Mysteries / News / Oil / Pacific / Plants / Poop / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Spotlight / Time / Warning

The Daily Bucket–Today's Shocking Discoveries.

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A backyard pond turns oily. A DIY oil test confirms it’s more than iron oxide,  I found tiny broken eggs and cat-sized poop nearby (not pictured).  I suspect coon. I found knocked over plants in another pond. I put rounded rocks into abandoned birds’ nests and set them on the...

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  • October 5, 2020
/ alone / America / aphids / Apple / artichokes / Attack / BackyardScience / BEAUTY / Black / Bullfrog / bullfrogs / Canadian / Capitalism / Court / DailyBucket / damselflies / Death / Diaries / dragonflies / Dumb / EXTRA / Fine / flicker / Flying / Food / Fraud / friends / frog / frogs / Funding / General / Goldfish / Google / Guilty / Help / Hope / IDEA / Internet / Judge / Judges / Killed / Larvae / Legs / Love / Mail / Money / new york / News / nymphs / ok / Pacific / Pain / Pears / Petition / Plants / problem / pulse / reading / REAL / Recommend / Reconciliation / safe / SAT / Science / Snails / Space / species / Spotlight / Squirrel / Stop / Survival / tadpoles / Time / Trust / Vote / Water / Winter / Wolf / World / Writing

The Daily Bucket–Soros and my friends, the yellow jackets.

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“Oyez!  The Summer Session of Frog Court is called to order,  Judge Jeramiah Bullfrog presiding,” honked the Bailiff, who was  a Canadian goose. In strode two robed judges, who were six foot tall bullfrogs, trying to walk on two legs, but instead hopping from foot to foot.  The third bullfrog...

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  • October 3, 2020
/ artichokes / BackyardScience / DailyBucket / Diaries / forestfires / General / haze / Horror / HummingBirds / juncoes / King / Love / Nebraska / News / Pacific / Pears / pulse / reading / Recommend / safe / Science / Spotlight / Squirrels / stealing / Time

Daily Bucket– Purple Haze

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But even bold purply flowers, like this welcome offering from my hacked-down artichokes, seem washed out, as if horror author  Stephen King’s Tommyknockers are draining colors from view. I’ve offered some purple, now for the Haze. In some ways this is scarier than a Nebraska tornado cloud. No where to...

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  • September 12, 2020
/ Art / Awareness / BackyardScience / Base / bethany / Blogging / Bullfrog / Cancer / chevronstation / Court / Courtesy / DailyBucket / Diaries / Donations / Ducks / Engineering / faulty / Fight / Fine / Fire / Food / frog / Gasoline / General / Hearing / Heron / Love / Media / Men / News / Oil / ok / Oregon / Pacific / Portland / Public / pulse / reading / Recommend / Redwoods / Rescued / RescuedtoRecommended / Revenge / Rock / Salmon / SAT / Science / Spotlight / spread / tastes / Thinking / Time / Volunteers / Water / Wetlands / Zoom

The Daily Bucket: Saving the Redwoods #3; We Knocked off a Gas Station.

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An Oregon developer of a proposed gas station next to a creek and wetlands has withdrawn his application. In short:  Victory! Withdrawn App, how sweet the sound, Saving trees … thirty feet around. They were doomed on this place, but now are saved, thanks to Grace. The nearby neighborhoods’ coveys...

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  • September 4, 2020
/ BackyardScience / bethany / Blue / DailyBucket / Dead / Diaries / Fishing / Flying / General / Heron / herons / Love / Moving / News / Oregon / Pacific / Portland / pulse / Rain / reading / Recommend / Science / Solar / Spotlight / Squirrels / stealing / Thinking / Time / Water / Wetlands

The Daily Bucket–Low Water Flushes Tall birds.

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The skies have not yield a moment of rain for months.  But I knew how to make it rain. I hung clothes outdoors on our new fancy clothesline.  It’s passive solar at its best.  Except the Rain Gods, laughing, then made it rain twice.  But not much, just enough to...

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  • August 23, 2020
/ Administration / Attacks / BackyardScience / Beaverton / Bomb / Carbon / cedar / Cooper / Court / Cut / DailyBucket / Dead / Destruction / Diaries / Emergency / Families / Farmers / Fire / Flying / Forests / Fox / frog / frogs / Gasoline / General / give / Hate / Hawks / History / Housing / HummingBirds / Intelligence / Killed / King / Local / Love / Mafia / Massacre / Mobs / Money / Nature / News / Oregon / Pacific / Pears / Portland / Power / pulse / Raptors / reading / REAL / Real Estate / Recommend / Redwoods / Referendum / Rescued / Revenge / robin / robins / Rock / Science / shade / Sharpie / Shooting / Space / Spotlight / Squirrel / Squirrels / suburbs / Tesla / Time / Trouble / Truth / War / Washington / Wetlands / Wildlife / witnesses

The Daily Bucket–Frog Court Confidential

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I’m Red Woodman, Senior Investigator for what we call the “Frog Court.”  If I can just get through today, I can retire with a pension.  But a whole bunch of new cases just hit my in-basket and I came to work to find a guy sobbing over a couple of baby...

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  • August 14, 2020
/ BackyardScience / Cooper / Coopers / DailyBucket / Diaries / Explosion / FAIR / Fight / General / Hawks / Love / News / Oregon / Pacific / pulse / Raptors / reading / Recommend / redwood / robin / robins / Sadness / Science / sharpshin / Spotlight / Warning

The Daily Bucket: Good for the Hawk, Bad for the Robin.

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Trigger warning for sadness. The sun shown through the russet and tawny and cream of what seemed to be a feathered explosion in the robin’s nest.  I watched from a few feet away, with only enough time to lift a hand. Two Robin sentinels sped to the scene but the hawk’s...

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  • August 8, 2020
/ artichokes / BackyardScience / BEAUTY / Blue / DailyBucket / Diaries / General / lotus / Love / News / Pacific / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Spotlight / Squirrels / Water / World

The Daily Bucket–She Comes in Colors Everywhere.

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The World is colors everywhere here and there And the sky’s blinding blue is right in front of you. The burgeoning flowers send new blossoms out for hours. I admire the colors of each different lily, Or the Dragon’s Tongue; a little silly. My Dragon’s Tongue managed to survive all these...

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  • July 31, 2020
/ aphids / BackyardScience / Blue / Brown / bullfrogs / DailyBucket / damselflies / Diaries / frogs / General / Heron / Internet / Larvae / Local / Love / Moving / News / Pacific / Plants / Pride / pulse / reading / Recommend / Rescued / Science / Snails / Spotlight / tadpoles / Water

The Daily Bucket–Why are the damselflies drinking with their butts?

But of course the damsel flies are not really drinking; they are laying eggs. They contort on the edge of a lily pad with their abdomen curved into the water seemingly under the lip of the pad. It’s called ovipositing. I’d seen lots of damselflies joining at the end of their...

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  • July 20, 2020
/ BackyardScience / DailyBucket / Diaries / EXTRA / Food / frogs / General / Happy / irds / Larvae / lotus / Love / News / Oregon / Pacific / Portland / pulse / reading / Recommend / robin / robins / Science / species / Spotlight / tadpoles

The Daily Bucket: My Grandson, the fledgling Robin.

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I am so happy to walk into the back yard and have fledgling birds whirring about, clumsily.  New life! I put extra food on the ground for the dummies.   Some birds I know. Some I don’t.  Colors are vague.  Here’s a couple I don’t know. One seems to interact with...

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  • July 12, 2020
/ BackyardScience / Bears / bethany / Blue / books / bullfrogs / Chevron / Cut / DailyBucket / Diaries / Dog / Ducks / Eagle / Eagles / Emissions / Fight / Fishing / frogs / Gasoline / General / Heron / herons / Hunting / Information / letter / Local / Love / Money / Nature / News / Oil / Oregon / Pacific / Pollution / Poop / Portland / Power / Public / pulse / Race / reading / Recommend / redwood / Redwoods / Rescued / Rock / Runoff / Salmon / Science / Service / shade / Shelter / species / Spotlight / Stop / Surveillance / Washington / Water / Wetlands

The Daily Bucket–Save The Redwoods

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I’m just an old race horse out to pasture, pawing the ground when the race track bugle sounds.  I still read the local public notices about developments, reflecting back on 40 years of environmental challenges, wishing someone was doing some more challenging. And then something happened.  I am terrible at this...

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  • July 9, 2020
/ Attack / BackyardScience / Crazy / Cut / DailyBucket / Diaries / Dogs / Energy / Family / frog / General / Hair / Help / Love / News / Oregon / Pacific / pulse / reading / Recommend / rise / robin / robind / robins / Schools / Science / Spotlight / Squirrel / Squirrels / Teaching / Water / World

The Daily Bucket–Did Feng Shui Save the Fledglings?

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My prodigal son and his advanced science teaching degree came home awhile ago.  While schools are closed, He’d been hiking in the Rockies.  His discoveries included a pocket full of cool sparkly rocks and crystals, and some Eastern philosophy. “Hang up these chimes here, “he said when we were out...

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  • July 3, 2020
/ 2018 / Attack / BackyardScience / Bullfrog / Chevron / Crime / Dad / DailyBucket / Dance / Destruction / Diaries / Eagles / Evidence / Fight / Film / Fine / frogmitigationarea / General / Happy / Help / Heron / herons / Hunting / Local / Love / Mother / Nature / News / Oregon / Pacific / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / September / Space / Spotlight / Stop / suburbs / Survival / Texas / Values / Voldemort / Wetlands / World

The Daily Bucket-The Second Heron

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I’d always felt there was more than one heron that’s been visiting my backyard ponds for the last ten years.  One would land and catch our fish while we gardened 30 feet away. Another one would watch from a neighbor’s roof for half an hour before coming in for lunch,...

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  • June 17, 2020
/ BackyardScience / bethany / bullfrogs / cedar / DailyBucket / Diaries / Distance / Ducks / Family / Fishing / Flying / General / Goldfish / Golf / Heron / heronnworegon / herons / Love / News / Pacific / Portland / pulse / rainbow / reading / Reality / Recommend / Resist / Science / Spotlight / Storms / Water

The Daily Bucket–Surprise!!

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The inch-an-hour storms have driven the anglers away from my Neighborhood’s Bethany Lake.  It’s full of hungry trout but the anglers flee the storms, heading home with a full creel and soaking wet clothes. Bethany Lake’s stocked rainbow trout are fattening up, hopefully on bullfrogs. And when the anglers flee,...

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  • June 10, 2020
/ artichokes / BackyardScience / DailyBucket / Diaries / frog / General / Golf / hanging / Love / Moving / Nature / News / Pacific / Poop / pulse / reading / Recommend / robin / robins / SAT / Science / Spotlight / Squirrels / tadpoles / Water / World

The Daily Bucket–Let all the Little Creatures Come Forth

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Multiple robins have occupied my yard for months now.  Somehow their presence seemed to make the Spring come a few days sooner. I cannot tell the boys from the girls.  I thought the female were supposed to be drab,  but they all look alike to me.  They seemed more like...

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  • June 6, 2020
/ Alcohol / Anger / Attack / BackyardScience / Bible / Brain / Bullfrog / bullfrogs / Bush / Business / chorusfrog / code / Coffee / Conviction / coughing / Court / Crime / Daddy / DailyBucket / Distance / Drugs / Enforcement / English / Evidence / females / frog / frogs / Guilt / Hamilton / Hearing / heaven / Hell / Heron / herons / hummingbird / ICE / Independent / Integrity / Investigation / Judge / Judges / Law / Legs / mitigationarea / Money / moral / NASA / Opinion / PA / Party / Paul / Perry / Police / Poll / Reality / robin / Rules / SAT / SNAP / species / State / Strike / Surveillance / Testimony / Vote / Water / Witness / Women

The Daily Bucket– The Innocence Project Appeals to Frog Court.

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I reached for the grimy tumbler.  It was empty.  Not even any ice. I reached for the whiskey bottle.  It was empty too. This was the night the bottle let me down, and a savagely bright dawn poured through the dirty windows in my Private Investigator’s office. I stared at...

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  • May 30, 2020
/ 666 / BackyardScience / Court / Cut / DailyBucket / Diaries / Flying / frog / General / give / Golf / Hawks / Help / Heron / junco / Killer / littler / Love / moses / Nature / News / Oregon / Pacific / Persist / Portland / pulse / reading / Recommend / Rescued / robin / robins / Rock / SAT / Science / Spotlight / Water

The Daily Bucket–The Robins Persist

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But just a day or two after Billy Heron, the patriarch of my back yard gardens and ponds left, Cocky Robin brushed aside the murmured objections from the littler birds, and mounted the Sacred Roof Arch for his own announcement. “Listen up!  When Billy Heron’s gone, Cocky Robin is the...

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  • May 21, 2020
/ America / amplexus / Amuse / BackyardScience / Blue / Brown / Bullfrog / bullfrogs / Cabinet / Capital / Children / contract / Court / Crime / Crimes / DailyBucket / Defense / Diaries / Dispatch / Drugs / Evidence / Families / Fine / Fishing / Food / Football / friends / frog / frogcourt / frogs / General / give / Goldfish / Hamilton / Hearings / Help / Heron / herons / House / Judge / Judges / Justice / Killed / Love / members / Nature / Nebraska / News / Occupation / Oklahoma / opening / Oregon / Pacific / Pears / Pollution / Public / pulse / reading / Recommend / Rescued / Resolution / Rules / Science / Silence / Spotlight / State / tadpoles / Testimony / Texas / Thinking / tweets / Water / Wife / Wildlife / Witness

The Daily Bucket–Frog Court–Capital Crimes Division (Trigger)

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“Oyez,  I call  Frog Court into session,”  rumbled Chief Justice Jeremiah, himself a very large bullfrog. “Bailiff, read the opening Declaration.” The impossibly tall Bailiff stood and began reading:  “In accordance with resolution of a civil suit involving a Reagan cabinet member and prescription drugs,  The Department of Fish and Wildlife...

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  • March 27, 2020
/ Algae / BackyardScience / DailyBucket / Diaries / Freedom / frog / frogmitigationarea / frogs / General / Love / March / Moving / Nature / News / Opinion / Oregon / Pacific / Plants / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Snails / Spotlight / Survival / tadpoles / WEIGHT

The Daily Bucket–Life Springs.

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These frog eggs sacs presented a vivid image within a few dys of the mating.  Shingy white eggs quivered, suspended in a light green jello. Less than one month later, dense algae has covered these once jelly-clear egg sacs.  Pond scum’s weight has dragged the sacs to the pond’s bottom.  This...

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  • March 20, 2020
/ BackyardScience / curlyfilbert / DailyBucket / Diaries / General / Killed / Love / Nature / News / Nuts / Oregon / Pacific / Plants / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Spotlight / Squirrels

The Daily Bucket–Twisted!

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Many edible plants grow in Oregon, including nut trees such as filbert or hazelnut. Our overlords, the squirrels, have commanded us to plant a variety of filbert nut trees in our suburban yard in NW Oregon.  These versions of filberts are rated “invasive.”   This means they are so tough that...

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  • March 8, 2020
/ amplexus / BackyardScience / birth / DailyBucket / Diaries / frog / frogeggs / frogs / General / Goldfish / Heron / ICE / Local / Love / March / Nature / News / nworegon / Oregon / Pacific / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Sex / Spotlight / Survival / tadpoles

The Daily Bucket– Where Dozens once Hoped, Hundreds now Surge.

Although evening temperatures skirt 32 F, the native Chorus Frogs of NW Oregon continue to meet and mate.  I spotted an single egg sac with 20 eggs two weeks ago, but now I can see 30 egg sacs, some containing 50 or more eggs. The male and female frogs must...

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  • February 20, 2020
/ 2020 / Access / BackyardScience / chorusfrogs / DailyBucket / Diaries / EXTRA / females / frog / frogs / fromitigationarea / General / Hope / Local / Love / Nature / News / Pacific / pulse / Rain / reading / Recommend / Science / Singing / Spotlight / tadpoles / Water

The Daily Bucket: The Great Cycle of Life Accelerates

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On February 3, 2020, several chorus frogs assembled around my back yard ponds and began singing, successfully, for mates.  I dug out these ponds six years ago and frogs began breeding in them immediately.  The frog’s numbers have increased every year for the last six years. A few outlier chorus frogs...

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  • February 10, 2020
/ BackyardScience / beaches / Brown / Climate / Conservation / DailyBucket / Diaries / frogs / General / Love / Nature / News / Occupy / Opinion / Pacific / Panama / Pelicans / Plants / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Spotlight / stroke / terns / Weather

The Daily Bucket–Tern, Turn, Turn

We skedaddled  out of Panama City heading kind of north on highway 2.  But the paved road turned to dirt after 150 miles. By then we were as far south as you can go in the Northern Hemisphere.  We’d driven to the tip of Panama’s southernmost peninsula. You could drive...

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  • February 6, 2020
/ 2000 / 2016 / America / BackyardScience / Banks / bethany / Black / Brown / Canadian / Climate / Columbia / Cormorant / Cut / DailyBucket / Diaries / Duck / Ducks / egret / Fishing / Food / Forests / frogs / Gaia / General / Golf / Hawks / Heron / herons / House / Legs / Love / Nature / News / Oregon / Pacific / Pelicans / Plants / pulse / reading / Recommend / Redwoods / Rock / Science / shade / Shelter / species / Spotlight / Stop / Storms / Water / Weather / Winter / World

The Daily Bucket–Ready, Steady GO!

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The Tualatin Valley of Northwest Oregon forms a shallow bowl,  about 50 miles in diameter, with 1000-2000 foot tall eroded volcanoes walling in the lowlands, separating the region from the Coast and the Columbia River.  I used to work near Banks, Oregon, and the vast acreages of of flooded croplands...

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  • January 19, 2020
/ BackyardScience / Banks / Climate / DailyBucket / Diaries / Ducks / egret / frog / frogs / General / Golf / Heron / herons / Hunting / Love / Nature / News / Oregon / Pacific / Plants / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Spotlight / tracking / Water / Weather

The Daily Bucket–I Shouldn't Wear White, and You Can't Afford a Ring

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I began tracking the migrations of the Great Egret (ardea alba), when I worked at a golf course near Banks in NW Oregon. An Egret would migrate to the golf course ponds every late Fall, leaving the frozen ponds of eastern Oregon behind for the season. Egrets (and herons) are...

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  • December 4, 2019
/ Algae / BackyardScience / Black / Brown / Climate / DailyBucket / DC / Diaries / Energy / Family / frog / frogs / General / Happy / Heat / Local / lotus / lotuses / Love / March / members / Nature / News / Oregon / orregon / Pacific / Plants / pulse / reading / Recommend / SAT / Science / Snails / Spotlight / tadpoles / Washington / Water / Weather / YouTube

The Daily Bucket–Odyssey of the Ancient Lotuses

A year ago,  I attempted to  resurrect a handful of lotus seeds, that had sat, forgotten, on a high shelf, for almost 20 years.  I dutifully roughed up one corner of the seed with 30 grit sandpaper, to expose the tip that would germinate, like YouTube told me to. I...

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  • December 1, 2019
/ BackyardScience / Black / Blue / Broken / caught / Climate / Cut / DailyBucket / Diaries / Fishing / frogs / General / Goldfish / Heron / herons / Love / McDonalds / Nature / News / nworegon / opening / Oregon / Pacific / Plants / Portland / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Spotlight / Superman / Water / Weather

The Daily Bucket–Working on some Night Moves

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Sundown in Portland Oregon was at 4:32 pm.  At 4:40 pm, I walked past my kitchen window and startled a Great Blue Heron who was eating goldfish out of my backyard pond.  Then we both pretended not to see each other.  I began watching from a small bathroom window, and...

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  • November 28, 2019
/ Attack / BackyardScience / bethany / Canadian / Climate / DailyBucket / Dead / Diaries / Dogs / Ducks / Eagle / Eagles / Farmers / Fishing / Flying / frogs / General / Golf / Heron / House / Local / Love / Moving / Nature / News / Oregon / Pacific / Plants / Portland / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Space / Spotlight / Water / Weather

The Daily Bucket–Eagle Eyes

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I walk from my house to Bethany Lake, west of Portland Oregon, on many days.   The Lake is adjacent to a wide utility easement, a golf course, a park, and farmland, so there is considerable open water, undeveloped area, and large trees. All that space, and open water, and lots...

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  • November 25, 2019
/ Access / aphids / BackyardScience / cedar / Climate / Coffee / Cut / DailyBucket / Diaries / frogs / Furniture / Gaia / General / Heron / HummingBirds / Internet / lotuses / Love / Nature / needles / News / Oregon / Pacific / Plants / pulse / reading / Reality / Recommend / redwood / Redwoods / Roots / Science / Spotlight / tadpoles / Water / Weather

The Daily Bucket–A Tree for the Redwood Man.

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He wakes up at dawn and peeks out the window, looking for the heron feeding at the fishpond in the first light. No heron yet today.  He starts the espresso machine, but cannot make coffee fast enough to clear out almost seven decades of fog from his head. He sighs...

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  • November 22, 2019
/ 2018 / America / BackyardScience / Blue / bounty / Climate / DailyBucket / Diaries / frogs / General / Goldfish / Heron / herons / Hunting / Love / March / Nature / News / nworegon / October / Pacific / Plants / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Spotlight / Strike / Warning / Weather

The Daily Bucket–Trigger Warning

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The Great Blue Heron is one of the largest birds in North America, standing 4 feet tall with a six foot wing span.  When the birds evolved from the dinosaurs, the Herons emerged, but herons changed very little over the last few million years.   Their wide wings resemble the extinct...

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  • November 13, 2019
/ 2018 / BackyardScience / bethany / bethanylake / Climate / DailyBucket / Diaries / Ducks / Eagle / Eagles / frogs / Heron / Love / Nature / News / Oregon / Pacific / Plants / Portland / pulse / rainbow / reading / Recommend / Science / Spotlight / Water / Weather

The Daily Bucket–The Daily Eagle.

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I often walk around Bethany Lake, 10 miles west of Portland Oregon.  Swollen creeks pour into it from two directions, after the rains start.  The Park Dept.  stocks the lake with rainbow trout.  Ducks are always there, and at least one goose. I am heartbroken because I haven’t seen a heron for...

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  • November 11, 2019
BackyardScience / Climate / DailyBucket / Diaries / frogs / General / give / Heron / herons / Inspiration / Love / Nature / News / Pacific / PatsyCline / Plants / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Spotlight / stroke / Weather

The Daily Bucket–I Fly to Pieces

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I fly to pieces, Every time that I see you preen I fly to pieces, I can’t forget what I’ve just seen. A little one-legged clean-up, You want me to act as if we have no bond You want me to forget (to forget) You ate fish from my pond. (from my pond)...

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  • October 26, 2019
BackyardScience / bounty / Climate / DailyBucket / Diaries / frog / frogs / General / HummingBirds / Love / Nature / News / October / Oregon / Pacific / Pears / Plants / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Spotlight / Stop / tadpoles / Weather

The Daily Bucket–The Foliage Frogs of Fall.

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Some years I stop seeing my tiny backyard frogs by August.  The Spring-hatch of tadpoles have all morphed, and the older frogs have dispersed to nearby areas, beyond my vision.  This year, however,  The frogs ‘ Spring-hatch was plentiful, and I often found 5 or 10 frogs on every morning walk....

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  • October 21, 2019
Africa / Alaska / Attack / BackyardScience / Blue / Bluejay / Climate / DailyBucket / Diaries / flicker / Food / frogs / General / heaven / Heron / hummingbird / HummingBirds / juncoes / Kids / Love / Marvel / Mexico / Nature / News / Oregon / Pacific / Plants / Portland / pulse / reading / Recommend / Remembering / robin / robins / Science / species / splash / Spotlight / Weather

The Daily Bucket–Surburban Serengeti

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The Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is especially known for its mammoth annual migrations of 1.5 million wildebeests and 250,000 zebras.  It’s on my bucket list. But until I make it to Africa, I can still watch the flocking of the native birds visiting my backyard in suburban Portland, Oregon.  They...

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  • October 10, 2019
artichokes / BackyardScience / Black / Brown / chorusfrog / Climate / Cut / DailyBucket / Diaries / EXTRA / frog / frogmitigationarea / frogs / General / Help / Heron / Love / Nature / News / Pacific / Pears / Plants / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / species / Spotlight / treefrog / Weather

The Daily Bucket–The Artichoke Frog

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I ventured out into a crisp Autumn morning with my camera.  This was the first year we’d successfully grew artichokes in our backyard and I wanted pictures.  After harvesting a half dozen ‘chokes from the two plants,  I cut one plant down to a frazzled stump, and let the other...

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  • October 3, 2019
BackyardScience / Blue / Bullfrog / bullfrogs / Climate / Diaries / Fishing / frogs / General / Heron / herons / Love / Nature / News / Pacific / Plants / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Spotlight / Water / Weather

The Daily Heron Bucket

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At 8:59 PDT, a Great Blue Heron glided from a nearby roof into my backyard, next to my gold fish ponds.  Every few minutes there is one less fish.  I never should have named the fish. The Heron, who we call Billy, has visited every morning this week except one, and it...

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  • September 20, 2019
BackyardScience / Brown / Climate / daliybucket / Diaries / frog / frogcolors / frogs / General / Heat / Love / Nature / News / Pacific / Pears / Plants / pulse / reading / Recommend / Science / Spotlight / Strike / Transition / Weather

The Daily Bucket–You Can't Hide Beautiful

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Yesterday I went looking for an especially beautifully colored chorus frog that had shown up in my Lamb’s Ear. To my prolonged amusement,  this lovely frog hopped from the Lamb’s Ear into a bucket full of rotting pears, and poised to strike the fruit flies that crowd around the pears....

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  • September 3, 2019
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