Ernie's Great Outdoors

ERNIE COWAN   Union-Tribune  Outdoors WOODPECKER LEADS TO ANOTHER ‘SIT AND SEE’ SESSION It all began with a snake in the grass and ended with a bird in hand. I had not planned on spending any time observing nature. In fact, I was returning from a trip to the desert when I spotted a relatively rare Lewis’s woodpecker dancing between trees near Lake Henshaw. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity, so I grabbed my camera and slipped under the barbed wire fence. I didn’t want to walk the quarter mile to the gate and back, fearing Mr. Woodpecker would be gone. I was well aware that the tall, spring grass is a rattlesnake haven. Conditions were perfect. Grass to my knees, temperatures in the high 70s and soft afternoon light. My mind was convinced that somewhere in this field of grass there was a buzztail lurking and just waiting to terrorize me. I left footprints in the grass as I moved closer to the cluster of oak and sycamore trees with high hopes of getting a good...

ERNIE COWAN  Union Tribune  Outdoors GOLDEN MEADOW BRINGS BACK FOND MEMORY OF WEDDING “All that glitters is not gold.”  That famous quote kept going through my mind as I walked into the autumn meadow that was painted in the golden hues of late afternoon sunshine. The tips of the flaxen grass were glittering like an overflowing treasure trove of pure gold. The greens of spring and early summer had long since faded, replaced by beauty gold cannot buy.  I was hiking on Palomar Mountain when I pushed through pines and oaks into this lovely meadow. Gathering clouds were bringing a chill, but the setting sun was holding out as long as it could. I was near the end of my hike, but could not resist the urge to just pull up a rock and sit for a while. Beauty like this should be mentally stolen and kept as long as possible. What better place than this to enjoy one of my sit and  see adventures, where I spend at least one stationary hour simply watchi...