Riverfront Park

Observer: Estella Yee
Date: 01 September 2008
Time: 1015-1026 hours
Location: 44°56’N 123°02’W, Riverfront Park, Salem, Oregon
Weather: Overcast, 58°F

It’s a clear, sunny day of 58°F at 1015 when I find myself sitting on a gravel bank next to the churning rapids of Pringle Creek’s intersection with the Willamette River. The vegetation consists of small, 2 feet flowering shrubs of a lavender pink with 6 inch spikes of blossoms. I notice the flowers open/blossom from the base of the stalk upward. The dark green leaves are elongated and arranged oppositely. The wood is of a light brown color. The river itself is translucent, yet not crystal clear. Mud speckles it. Along the bank are reeds and blackberry bushes. Mosquitoes dance in the air above the river, mating most likely. They dance in a vertical circle that varies their distance from me as they move. A building is close behind the bank. Many cylindrical structures imply a machination or factory purpose. Surrounding the park area are steel fences with a massive globe of the world to my left. Spreading vines decorate the hillside followed by tall grasses (~1.5 feet). The stalks have spikes of yellowing grains. Broadleaved trees range alongside the bank, with one stripped clear of leaves, its branches bare. Other 100 feet tall trunks of trees stand vertically in the gravel isles. A single cut of a stump is on its side. In the distance, an osprey captures a fish and flies off to alight onto another bared tree. It left its perch close to 1015. Other creatures seen are yellow jackets, mallards (which were fearless of humans), a killdeer, swallows, and a blue heron. The swallows skim the water in the calmer waters away from the junction. The heron stood on a post farther away from the junction in the vicinity of the swallows. A bumblebee has perched upon the purple spikes of a shrub at 1026.