As the Micro Harvest Moon is shining on the Oregon Coast, we are slowly traveling south visiting many Oregon State Parks that are every few miles along the beautiful, rugged coast. Beautiful capes with historical lighthouses and long driftwood covered beaches make this a must place to visit.
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| Dungeness Crab |
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| Black-tailed Deer with a bad itch |
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| California Scrub Jay thinks big. |
We stayed a few days at Fort Stevens State Park that is located on the peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and the Columbia River. There is a nice herd of Roosevelt Elk that wander from the woods into the marsh grass area.
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| How about a little jousting? |
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| I won!! |
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| Snowy Plover with lots of bling |
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| Thousands of Sooty Shearwaters, Brown Pelicans, and many gulls fish in the Columbia River mouth. |
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| Sooty Shearwater, they are only in the Northern Pacific to feed They then fly to New Zealand area for nesting dring our winter. |
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| Red-breasted Nuthatch |
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| Townsend's Warbler |
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| Bushtit, one of many in the flock that were darting through the brush |
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| Bewick's Wren |
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| Chestnut-backed Chickadee |
This is Ecola Cape looking over the many rocks that colony nesting sea birds use in Spring and Summer. Only a few birds are left now as most have left for feeding far out into the ocean.
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| This is the "Octopus Tree" a Sitka Spruce that is about 150 feet tall and 300 years old. |
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| View from Cape Meares |
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| Wilson's Warbler |
We stayed a few days at Cape Kiwanda with it's gigantic sand dune, rocky cape and the 400 foot rock protruding out of the ocean about a quarter mile away. During low tide, there are many tidal pools that are teeming with unique creatures. The waves have carved out the caves along the cliffs.
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| Aggregating Anemone |
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| Black Oystercatcher |
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| Gray Whale showing baleen and barnacles |
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| 45 foot long Gray Whale |
We drove south to Rocky Creek looking over Depoe Bay and for over three hours we sat and watched Gray Whales feeding in the bay.
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| Gray Whale's mouth filled with krill and sea water |
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| Purple Stone Crab |
The above photo is the Lighthouse at Yaquina Head National Natural Area. Below are tidal pools that people are welcome to explore during low tide.
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| Giant (6 inches) Green Anemone |
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| Ochre Sea Star |
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| Harbor Seals basking |
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| Steller's Sea Lions barking |
One of the birds we wanted to see but thought we had missed them were the drake Harlequin ducks. But we were blessed by nice flock of them at Yaquina Head near the tidal pools.
Everywhere we stop is a new adventure with new creatures to see around every curve in the road. Soon we will be crossing into California and the amazing Redwoods.
Thanks for traveling along with us.
Love & Prayers,
Ty & Ida Baumann
