On freezing fog, I've found that birds on the east side are very quiet
when there is a lot of frozen frost on the ground. Generally this si
ebcause there is less shelter. On the west side, numerous blackberry
bushes and rows can help the activity situation, but still very much
quieter. If I have a choice on days like these, I wait.
Black ice adds to it. If I don;t have to be out early, I stay
home. The trip up Santiam Pass struck this home Saturday as there was a
fatal car accident on the first patch of ice which someone traveling
westbound would have hit. The fog formed all the way up the creeks and
around the lakes at the top of the pass, and the driver must have been
going way too fast--the car no longer had anything in front of the
windshield except a yellow tarp hung there by authorities. Remember the
rule I was taught growing up in Nebraska--if you aren't sure, it's ice. RK

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Ray Korpi "Upstream,
Hm: Portland, OR a cardinal perches
Wk: Clark College on the tip of a tamarack sawyer
Vancouver, WA like an ornament on the hood
rkorpi at clark.edu of the Kaiser's most influential car."
--William Kloefkorn, from
_Platte_Valley_Homestead_, #4