Life Along the River in Portland

We have been staying on a houseboat on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon part time for the past three or more years, mostly in autumn.  Living along the river has been a lot more exciting and interesting in the spring than it is in the fall. There is more boat traffic when the weather is warm. We get small craft, like canoes, kayaks, jet skis, and paddleboards, as well as larger craft, fishing boats, and even some big boats like dinner cruises. Last week we had a dog on a paddleboard (photo attached).

Most of the houseboats have small gardens that are flowering now, like lilacs, jasmine, clematis and  roses.  In addition, there is more wildlife now than in autumn. Along with the geese I mentioned last time, there are ducks, mink, beaver, sea lions, racoons, osprey, eagles, and salmon. I have never seen a salmon here but judging by the number of fishing boars I see, I am not looking hard enough.

The dozen or so Canada geese that live near the houseboats seem to want to reclaim that floating island I wrote about last time. They don't care that it is now planted with flowers. This morning I have been throwing ice cubes at them trying to keep them from eating the flowers. They are acting like a gang of juvenile delinquents, taunting people, no respect for property, etc. They don't have a boombox, but they are loud. I say they would be good with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

There is no story in this blog, just random photos of wildlife and boat activity along the river. I rarely have a camera with me so most of these photos are taken with an iPhone, which is fine for landscape photography, but not detailed enough for wildlife. You will have to take my word for it on some photos, like the beaver. Every one of these photos was taken either in our houseboat community, at a nearby lake, or elsewhere along the Willamette River, including the llama.

Canada Geese plus a Wood Duck far right. 

Doesn't look real does he? But he is. That is probably why he is called a Wood Duck. 

A heron. I haven't seen too many of these here. Possibly they are seasonal and he is early?

This goose seemed offended that I asked him to leave our dock. I guess he heard I was serving fish. 

Another duck upside down fishing for lunch.

Another kind of duck

This next photo records a very interesting moment but it is hard to see in this photo. We were sitting on a friend's houseboat looking at the shore.

The green thing in the water is a branch. The curved brown thing just to the left of it is a beaver. The beaver swam to the shore, sawed off a branch, dragged it into the water (where there are fewer predators) and was having a branch dinner.

We get an occasional sea lion. They come for the salmon in the river. 

A dinner cruise boat. 

Franklin enjoying the view. 

Here's something you don't see every day. A dog being towed on a paddleboard. He has good balance. I saw him going both upstream and downstream, so he was standing on the board for almost an hour. 

Here's something else you don't see every day. A llama at a waterfront farmer's market.