It’s About Time – February 2019

A bright, sunny day recently offered a great “Duck Watching Day.” It’s a day when almost all of the regular winter residents can be seen on a walk along the east side Delta Ponds. Such a day reveals a diverse crowd of waterfowl: gadwall, ringed-necked duck, northern shoveler, mallard, bufflehead, American coot, double-crested cormorant, American wigeon, great blue heron, Canada goose and great egret. Less common but frequent in these ponds are wood duck, hooded merganser, pied-billed grebe and green heron. Watching the northern shovelers doing their circle dance is a joy. They’re courting each other in anticipation of flying north. Pairs swim around in tight circles, about a yard in diameter, seemingly endlessly. When another sunny day dawns, grab the binoculars and head out to the ponds for an hour or two of pleasure.

February is the first month of the year for flower-watching. Although wind pollinated species like hazel nut have been shedding pollen for weeks, the insect pollinated flowers begin flowering this month. The traditional first day of bloom for the earliest two, osoberry (Indian plum) and spring beauty, is the 15th. Last year osoberry was 10 days early. With the warm weather we have been having it will be interesting to see if this year osoberry will bloom early again. Just as pleasing as the little clusters of white flowers is the understory flush of bright, spring green leaves that unfurl as the flowers bloom. Although blooming much later, snowberry leaves also adorn the woodlands.

David Wagner is a botanist who works in Eugene. He teaches moss classes, leads nature walks and makes nature calendars. He can be contacted through his website, fernzenmosses.com.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

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None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!