Jason Thompson of Unity landed these steelhead earlier this week near Minam. Photo by Dick Mason

Light with activity but heavy with anticipation.

A small number of steelhead have returned to Big Canyon to date, but biologists expect steelhead to come pouring in over the next five weeks.

Close to 1,900 steelhead are expected to swim into the Big Canyon Facility from now until April 15, the last day of steelhead season.

When fish return to the Wallowa Fish Hatchery in Enterprise, much of the surplus will be distributed to food banks in Wallowa, Union and Baker counties.

“The large bulk of the steelhead returning to the hatchery will be in March, April and May,” said Ron Harrod, manager of the Wallowa Fish Hatchery.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is directing the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to look into the pros and cons of mandatory hunter orange. Observer illustration

At issue is the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission’s plan to take a serious look at making blaze orange mandatory for hunters to prevent accidental shootings. The commission is directing the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to look into the pros and cons of mandatory hunter orange and present its findings at its June 4 meeting. The ODFW will also be collecting input from the public about the issue at the annual big game tag meetings conducted in each of its districts.

Sparks may fly at some of the sessions.

Father Christopher Agoha, head pastor of Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church, appears in a Christmas play with Marian Academy students.NANCY ALLEN photo

“We want to revitalize the parish,’’ said Father Christopher Agoha, head pastor of Our Lady of the Valley.

The number of families in Our Lady of the Valley’s parish has not been growing in recent years, and participation in church activities is falling.

A birder looks out at the Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area from its new bird blind. - CATHY NOWAK photo

One of the largest public bird blinds in Northeast Oregon has been built by La Grande Boy Scout John Chadwick for his Eagle project. The bird blind, about five by 12 feet, is 230 yards south of the restroom at the Tule Lake Public Access Area. The blind is one of the only public bird blinds in Union County.

Sunday’s event at the La Grande Rifle and Pistol Club drew 14 shooters. - DICK MASON / Observer photos

Moviegoers, though, did not see animated versions until the 1920s when producer Lotte Reiniger added them to her silent films.

The metallic silhouettes set up at the La Grande Rifle and Pistol Club Sunday were not animated. Their “voices,’’ though, gave shooters reason for animated reactions.

JOSEPH — I have already featured the mountain chickadee as a bird of the month, but now that winter has arrived, there has been a change in the chickadee population in our backyard.

Apparently, there has been a large migration of black-capped chickadees from more northern climates, so they now outnumber the mountain types about three to one, so they are my choice for bird of the month. The one in the photo has a sunflower in his beak.

A Canada goose settles into a pond at the Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area in 2009. A total of 373 Canada geese were spotted during last winter’s Union County Christmas Bird Count. CHRIS BAXTER/The Observer

Bray and other members of the Grande Ronde Bird Club will be taking aim at a

noteworthy mark when this winter’s annual count is conducted Sunday. The birders will be seeking to spot at least 77 bird species. To do so would break the record of 76 set in 2004 and tied in 2005 and 2007.

Mounted on concrete pillars, the platform and walkway stand over a portion of Ladd Marsh at the Tule Lake Public Access area. DICK MASON/The Observer

A new wooden viewing platform and walkway is giving visitors a bird’s-eye view of the Tule Lake Public Access Area of Ladd Marsh, 1.25 miles north of Highway 203 on Peach Road.

The platform and walkway, mounted on concrete pillars, stand over a over a portion of Ladd Marsh, which is now an expansive sheet of ice. The area under the platform and walkway is almost impossible to walk through without ice skates or cleats. It is equally difficult to get through in the spring and summer when people have to slosh through thick mud and vegetation.

I have chosen the red-tailed hawk as my bird of the month.

This abundant species belongs to a group called “buteos,” which are large, soaring birds of prey that feed mostly on mice, gophers and ground squirrels.

Their main hunting tactic is to hover over the fields or to perch on a dead tree or power pole, and when a rodent is spotted, they swoop down to grasp their prey in their talons to be eaten or taken to their nestlings.