Kelley Point

July 28, 2025

The day is chopped in half by my appointment with my ophthalmologist in Salmon Creek, up in Washington about ten miles north of the Columbia. I'm not due there until 1:45 though, which leaves me time to fit in the second half of the ride out to Kelley Point that got aborted with my accident yesterday. I get an early start by stopping in for a mug and scone at Ovation as soon as they open, but after that I head straight for Force Lake with the hope that the pelicans are still loitering there.

Seems like a day some biking should occur on.

I arrive at Force Lake at about 8:30, which is roughly when I was there yesterday. It's a pretty disappointing birding scene today though - no pelicans, and very little else of interest either. I prime my list for the day with four or five of the usual suspects and then bike north to the Columbia and follow the berm west to the railroad bridge. Other than a lone western gull and a crow feather I decide to bring along so I can tell which way the wind blows without a weatherman, I don't find a reason to stop until I lock up at the canoe launch spot back on the slough.

Pretty quiet at Force Lake this morning.

No pelicans this morning, so we'll settle for this.

The canoe launch is another disappointing stop and not really worth locking up the bike and walking down to except for a single family of coots.

Not much action at the canoe launch today.

That doest't hold me up for long, but I'm hopeful that the Interlake Trail will be more productive. And it is, but barely. Today there's a large gathering of great egrets, maybe thirty in all broken into two large groups; but that's really it. And it isn't just here - I'll see egrets all day, at least 40 of them.

An excess of egrets. There must be around thirty of them here today.

Next up is Kelley Point, about three miles to the west on a bike path the whole way. I pick up several new birds along the way: a robin, starlings, brewer's blackbirds, a song sparrow, a wood duck; but my favorite sightings are a clutter of turtles and a ground squirrel.

A California ground squirrel, recognizable by the dark, almost black patch in the sway of his back.

Kelley Point is looking like a disappointment too until I round the corner and see a pair of vultures on a snag right at the mouth of the Willamette. I get a nice look at them as they're content to just let me keep closing in further to get a better shot.

Looking across the Willamette to Sauvie island from Kelley Point.

Turkey vulture, one of a pair standing vigil at Kelley Point. You can see through his nostrils in this shot! I wonder if it whistles in a crosswind.

It's starting to feel late by the time I leave Kelley Point so I bike straight back to the car, stopping just to take a few last shots at the end.

Nothing new here, but an appealing mélange.

No pelicans today, but the long-billed dowichers are still hanging out.

I arrive for my ophthalmology appointment with fifteen minutes to spare, which is really cutting it too close. For such an important appointment I should have allowed myself time for something to go wrong. The visit itself goes well though. The optic nerve on the right eye has further atrophied since the last exam, and I'm told there's no real chance for improvement - which is of course what I've believed for a half year now. The left eye gets a good report though - I can still clearly read the 20/20 line, my color vision is fine, and the state of that optic nerve is stable, unchanged since the last visit. When I leave he says that we should schedule the next appointment for a half year from now unless there are changes, and I realize that he's starting to work his way off the contract.

As I drive home down the freeway I'm mentally comparing how I'm doing this time against my last visit, taking note of all the different ways my situation has improved and stabilized since then. One thing that especially encourages me is the change since I dropped my prednisone dosage from 35 to 30 five days ago. I really feel quite different, and all for the better. I'm sleeping better, and have gotten a good 6 or 7 hours of sleep for the last four nights straight. The swelling and weight gain continue to go down. And even better, I feel calmer and more centered. I'm less likely to go off on a mental tangent and forget where I was, less likely to step out the door in the morning forgetting something essential, less apt to forget I got somewhere by bike or car and just start walking toward the streetcar for a ride home.

And best of all, my vision is doing well and my blood tests are positive. It's too soon to tell of course, but I'm feeling more confident that transitioning off of prednisone will be successful.

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Today's list: Great blue heron, Great egret, Rock pigeon, American crow, American robin, American coot, Mallard, Domestic mallard, Gadwall, Wood duck, Long billed dowitcher, Turkey vulture, Barn swallow, Western gull, European starling, Canada goose, Brewer's blackbird, Blue-winged teal, Song sparrow, House finch, Double-crested cormorant (21)

Today's ride: 15 miles (24 km)
Total: 332 miles (534 km)

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Kathleen JonesVery good news about the prednisone.
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