Wings, Water, and Winter on the Deschutes River

A photo story about birds and the natural beauty of a river in winter.

An American Dipper forages for fish and aquatic invertebrates in flowing water.

Benham Falls streaks through inky blackness of the pre-dawn.

Low water flows, freezes, and unthaws. Overhead the sunrise heralds a new day.

A Hairy Woodpecker perches atop a Ponderosa snag. The upper half of this mature tree had succumbed to heavy winds and fallen over a calm section of the river.

A Belted Kingfisher perches upon bare willow branches overhanging the river, hopefully not too conspicuously to the fish swimming below.

Several days of snow and below freezing temperatures help icicles to grow above the raging Dillon Falls.

Snow, whitewater, moss, and rock.

A Brown Creeper elegantly checks the nooks and crannies of this tree for any morsels left behind.

A winter storm threatens to reach down from the mountains.

A female Goldeneye swims through the Farewell Bend section of the river.

A precarious place for a young Ponderosa to grow.

This jagged remnant of a tree stump becomes a sculpture catching snow.

Lightly trodden steps on the trail.

A flock of Canada Geese take an early morning flight, perhaps searching for an ideal place among the river.

Mallards float between rocks exposed by low water.

A Great Blue Heron perches high in a Ponderosa early in the morning.