Get back to work!!

It may look like the foreman yelling at his workers to get back to work, but it's just a California ground squirrel yawning while relaxing on the tread of a bulldozer at a farm near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Friday, Aug. 28, 2020.

 

Grasshopper, what grasshopper?

The coloration of a grasshopper provides camouflage as it blends into the background  while sitting on a rock along the Umpqua River near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Monday, Aug. 24, 2020.

 

FEED ME!!!

A fledgling osprey perches awkwardly in a dead tree along the Umpqua River as it calls out to a nearby adult on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020. The young bird appeared to be recently out of the nest and learning to fly and hunt. The nearby adult was feeding on a fish and the fledgling seemed to be attempting to get its attention. 

 

Paper wasp nest

A colony of paper wasps guard their nest hidden in a small tree in a wooded area near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2020. Most wasps are beneficial in their natural habitat, and are critically important in natural biocontrol.

 

Great blue herons in Oregon

On an early morning hunt, a great blue heron gulps down a small fish while stalking for breakfast along the Umpqua River near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020.

In the impressionistic morning light, a great blue heron hunts along the Umpqua River near Elkton in rural western Oregon a day later on Sunday the 16th. It looks like it could be the same bird, but it's hard to tell for sure.

 

Catch of the day

A wild osprey pulls a smallmouth bass from the Umpqua River near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. The osprey have a nest nearby built high in a Douglas fir tree long the river. 

 

Otter on the river

A wild North American river otter swims in the Umpqua River near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020. 

Morning stroll with the twins

A family of black-tailed deer take an early morning walk along the bank of the Umpqua River in the rural community of Kellogg in western Oregon on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020.

The great flood

A damp western gopher climbs in a hazelnut tree after being flushed book its burrow during watering in an orchard near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020.