Behind the Ironic Column

After a string of pleasant, sometimes cloudy but not rainy, days, today started out with rain.  Not too auspicious for the Peregrines & Bridges program a friend and I  signed up for through Portland Audubon.  This is one of a series of programs they do as part of their Wild in The City series (most programs free but pre-registration is required). 

Still, it is Portland – and these are *our* birds – so almost everyone who had signed up actually turned out.  We didn’t get to see a lot of courtship displays, which is what some of us were hoping for, because they seem to have gotten an earlier start than usual this year.  Our guide – Bob Sallinger – thinks they are either already in the egg-laying phase or about to begin it.  We did get to see one peregrine – cleverly out of the rain under the bridge – on the crossbeams where they have nested for the last several years.  Although we now have peregrine pairs on several of the Portland bridges, the first nests were on the Fremont Bridge and that’s the one we’re watching today.  It’s the most productive nest site in Oregon – the birds have claimed it since 1994. 

I’ve been there in other years, and could go any time, but there’s something nice about going as a group and listening to the new people who have not seen peregrines before or realized that they live here in town. 

The other fun thing about this trip was that our local bridge expert, Sharon Wood Wortman, was there to talk about the Fremont Bridge and how it was built.  One of the bridge engineers – Ed Wortman – was with her (they met at a bridge site and eventually got married).  They talked about the crack (repaired) that developed when the Fremont was being established and later took part of the group off to see more bridge wonders.  Some of us had been on previous bridge walks and opted to go get coffee in the rain after visiting with the peregrines.   Sharon frequently does walks relating to the bridges (often through Portland Parks) and has written a wonderful book (now in its third edition) called The Portland Bridge Book.  If you live in Portland – famous for its bridges and the different types of bridges – and want to know a bascule from a tied arch, Sharon is a wonderful source of information.  Get the book – but go on a walk if you have the opportunity because it’s just fun to listen to her talk about it.  You can find out more about Sharon at bridgestories.com

For more about peregrines and a recap of last year’s stories go to the Portland Audubon site 2006 peregrine recap.

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