My pictures of the year 2018

Orange is the newt when attacked

A rough skinned newt crosses a rain soaked road in western Oregon near Elkton on Sunday, Dec. 23, 2018. Rough skinned newts produce a highly poisonous neurotoxin in their skin and display they orange underbellies as a warning when they feel threatened.

Massive waves on the Oregon coast

Storm watchers at a viewing area, right, are dwarfed as a massive wave crashes against rocks at Shore Acres State Park near Charleston on the south coast of Oregon on Friday, Dec. 14, 2018. The National Weather Service has issued a high surf warning for Oregon  with powerful west swell predicted to create breakers of 28 to 32 feet through Monday afternoon.

Bobcat with remote trail camera

My trail camera had a visit from an beautiful bob cat in a remote area near Elkton in western Oregon last night. I'll be placing the camera in the same spot again and hopefully capture the graceful creature on video.

The early bird

An American robin pulls a worm out of the ground in a pasture on a farm near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2018.

Oregon salamander

A western red-backed salamander climbs on a moss covered log on a damp forested hillside near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018.

Hunting northern harrier hawk

A northern harrier hawk lifts off from a field clutching a gopher it caught while hunting near Elkton in rural western Oregon on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. Parts of Europe and Asia have several kinds of harriers, but North America has only one; the northern harrier. 

Elk hunting in Oregon

Each year the state of Oregon provides two landowner tags to the ranch for the taking of cow elk. The Landowner Preference Program was established to acknowledge the contribution of private lands to support wildlife and provide a form of compensation to landowners for resources used by wildlife. Lily the border collie is not so sure she approves.