We’re headed out every Sunday morning from another one of Oregon Kayak Adventures – Sellwood Park in Portland Oregon on a tour of Ross Island. This past Sunday, June 7th, there 17 of us, young and the young at heart.

Students sign up in advance by calling Next Adventure, where properly sized boats can be reserved.

After a quick orientation to the boats and a safety talk by Sam we headed for a Willamette River tour. Some younger paddlers had challenges with paddles since they’re little tykes. But everyone had lots of fun. We had good weather, and adding to the fun were the birds and lack of motorboat traffic. We passed by house boats and docks. Soon osprey and great blue heron nests came into view. We then turned into the small channel by the south end of Ross Island to explore this quiet section. The sounds of hundreds of birds filled the air. One would think we were in a rain forest! The birds must gravitate to Ross Island since it’s uninhabited. We practiced different strokes, including paddling reverse figure-eights.

Before long we found ourselves on the way back to Sellwood Park. There we witnessed a battle in the sky. A bald eagle was locked in combat with two ospreys defending their nest, and a crow joined the fray to mob the eagle. The eagle would dive with talons extended to attack one of the ospreys, but in turn the other osprey would attack the eagle, with the crow not far behind. Very cool!

Everyone was smiles as we exited back at the put in!