An 8-inch western painted turtle stays close to home when crossing a path at Smith & Bybee Wetlands Natural Area. The wetlands are home to one of the few remaining populations of the turtles in Oregon. (Photo by Matthew Ginn © 2012)

Perrie and I took advantage of a nice afternoon a couple weeks ago to take a walk through Smith & Bybee Wetlands Natural Area, just a couple miles from our house in North Portland. As always, there was plenty of wildlife to enjoy. (Some of it was not alive. Interesting note: opossums typically have a lifespan of just two years in the wild. I would have thought it much longer.)