Getting outdoors virtually with ONDA

Published 3:50 am Friday, October 29, 2021

The name Oregon Natural Desert Association doesn’t usually bespeak indoor recreation. Nevertheless, next month, the Bend-based nonprofit will host two virtual events tied into its mission of preserving the Oregon High Desert.

“November’s just terrible,” said Lace Thornberg, communications manager at ONDA, not mincing words. “It’s the worst month. It’s earned its terrible reputation, I think, but hopefully these events bring a little bit of a bright spot.”

In other words: November can be a good time to stay indoors to partake of events she calls “virtual but nature-y at the same time.”

On Nov. 16, ONDA will offer Seasons of the Desert, a virtual event highlighting the flora and fauna one can observe, as well as the best desert activities to take part in each season of the year.

“The High Desert is always changing,” Thornberg explained. “There are all these little micro-seasons and fluctuations that happen all throughout the year. … We wanted to capture that with an event that’s really geared toward being an introduction to the seasons in the High Desert, and, if you don’t know this big, wild backyard of yours very well yet, what you might be able to expect from it.”

Corinne Handelman, ONDA’s engagement manager, will lead the free Zoom event, which begins at 5:30 p.m. and covers such topics as when to catch aspen leaves changing (spoiler: It already passed for this year) and the incredible birdwatching opportunities as birds migrate through in the spring and fall.

And in November, the kinds of things you might see include coyotes sporting winter coats, should you happen to spy one in the wild, and groups of pronghorn, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and mule deer that tend to be clustered and easier to glimpse, according to ONDA. To sign up, visit onda.org/event/seasons-of-the-desert.

And on Nov. 10, ONDA will bring online “Envisioning Wild,” a virtual tour of incredible landscape and wildlife photography from its 2022 Wild Desert Calendar.

Prior to COVID-19, the event would have been held at a real-life gallery. It pivoted online last year and remains so.

“It really looks like a gallery exhibit,” Thornberg said. “It’s almost like you’re playing a video game but it really looks like a gallery exhibit.” For more, visit onda.org/event/envisioning-wild-2022-wild-desert-calendar-virtual-exhibit.

For those who don’t mind getting outside in November, it so happens that, starting in late November, ONDA will begin hosting work parties in the Oregon Badlands Wilderness.

The day trips involve work on trails and trailhead improvements, work funded by the Bend Sustainability Fund and being done in conjunction with the Prineville Bureau of Land Management.

Dates of the trips are still up in the air, but if you’re interested in being notified about Badlands work parties, visit onda.org/independent-stewards and fill out the volunteer interest form. Be sure to put Badlands in the “project preference field.”

“All the online events have so much to offer, and we’re getting back to our on-the-ground work with groups,” said Beth Macinko, stewardship coordinator. “So it’s exciting to be back to that.”