The eeriness of a cold, foggy morning at Camas Wildlife Refuge

On my way hunting elk I met a very unwelcome sight — thick fog rolling in. With the temperature at 17 degrees, the fog started forming frost and ice on everything including my windshield and the wipers. My plans for the morning quickly changed as I was near Camas National Wildlife Refuge with my camera equipment in the back seat.

As I entered the refuge I noticed invisible things like spider webs holding dead dried up damsel flies becoming decorative designs on weeds. A Peregrine falcon flushed ducks from the frost covered cattails surrounding ponds still containing water. The rising sun was a giant orb as it appeared in the thinner fog before the heavy fog completely engulfed it.

I rolled down my window to photograph a feeding White-tailed doe as she munched on the marsh grass as the sandhill cranes, Canada geese, and Ring-necked pheasants serenaded us across the refuge. A lone bugle of a bull elk followed by a chorus of two packs of desert dogs added to the eeriness of the foggy moment.

In a small grove of old cottonwoods a pair of Bald eagles surveyed a duckless pond paying only the slightest attention to me as one was being harassed by a Black-billed magpie. The black and white bird would fly up and pick at one of the eagle’s feet probably eating the leftovers of a recent meal — an automatic dishwasher.

A 2-mile hike past Two-way Pond into the grassland to Sandhole Lake did not produce any views of elk but plenty of waterfowl and cranes. By the time I got Sandhole the morning sun had begun to burn off the fog and melt the frosty designs. Without the cover of the moisture laden air the birds became more raucous and would not let me get too close to them.

While sneaking up on a flock of cranes, I had a flock of avocets land in some open water of the thin ice covered lake. They must have gotten lost or left behind when most of the other shorebirds migrated about a month ago.

The hike back to the truck was uneventful, but with the sun on my back with a slight east breeze, it was a warming experience, both from within and out. All the sounds of the marsh intensified except for the bugles and the howling. Song sparrows, a few marsh wrens and Northern harriers became active as they too had felt the warmth of the sun.

Once back at the truck and headed out of the refuge as I approached the doe, she quickly headed for cover; the eagles quickly flew off and the ducks flushed without the aid of the falcon.

If you want to enjoy a foggy frosty morning on one of the area marshes, watch the evening weather report and when the temperature and the dew point match, there is a good chance that there will be fog for you to play in. Not good for the high speed drivers, but for someone looking for some peace and tranquillity, it could be there.