Northern California

Our first three days in Northern California were spent on the coast in Crescent City  Our RV site overlooked the bay and the Battery Point Lighthouse.  We watched the tides ebb and flow bringing birds in very close.

Ground Squirrel hoping we had treats

Harbor Seals resting

American Pipit

Pacific Golden Plovers

Surfbird

Black Brant 

We drove inland through the magnificent Redwoods towering over 350 feet above us.  We then found an RV park right in the middle of "Elk Country".

Bugling Roosevelt Elk

Elk make themselves at home in Elk Country RV Park

Allen's Hummingbird

California Sea Lions basking

River Otter at Humboldt Bay

Peregrine Falcon gets the Sanderlings flying

Wandering Tattlers

Then back to the coast with stops at many coastal overlooks and into Humboldt Bay for 3 days of fantastic bird and wildlife observations.

Aleutian Geese

Marbled Godwits,  Long-billed Curlews, Whimbrels and Willets crowd up at high tide

Hottentot Fig covers dune areas

Semipalmated Plover

Tree Frog on the beach?

Townsend's Warbler

Heading south, we took the scenic byway called "The Avenue of the Giants".  Twenty plus miles of beautiful Redwood groves following the meandering Eel River.

California Quail

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Then back to the coast and the hidden Westport RV park and beautiful beach and towering cliffs.

Beautiful sunsets over the Pacific Ocean, another wonderful day of enjoying God's creation.

Love & Prayers,
Ty & Ida Baumann

Oregon - High Desert to Pacific Coast

Autumn Ash at Mulheur NWR

Southeastern Oregon is a high sage & grass desert that seems to go on for miles, and it does.  We spent a couple days at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.  We hadn't heard of this place until it was taken over by an armed militia last winter.  No problems now so we enjoyed the unique wildlife of the area.

Coyote

Long-eared Owl peeks out

Mule Deer Buck

Mule deer doe and twins

Townsend's Solitaire 

White-crowned Sparrow & Rose Hips

California Quail

Red-tailed Hawk takes flight

We drove west to the mountains and the WINTER adventure of Crater Lake National Park.  The snow was beautiful and the clouds broke enough for us to see the crater and the island cinder cone.

Crater Lake and island Cinder Cone

Steller's Jay - cold feet?

Ash Pinnacles south of the crater

Chestnut-backed Chickadees

Driving west through the Cascades, we stayed at Susan Creek BLM Campground and at a warmer and lower altitude.  Surrounded by moss covered trees and listening to the nearby waterfalls.

Clear Water Falls

Common Mergansers

Susan Creek

Dark morph Red-tailed Hawk - Umpqua Valley

Westward to the coast and a four day stay at Bandon by the Sea RV Park.  Each day we birded along the beautiful rocky coast.

Black Turnstone

Virginia Creeper

Scoping the huge ocean rock outcrops, we found Tufted Puffins, Rhinoceros Auklets, Marbled Murrelet, Pigeon Guillemot, Surf, Black & White-winged Scoters, Brandt's and Pelagic Cormorants, Pacific & Red-throated Loons.  All too far away to photograph but we did see lots of other close wildlife.

Wrentit

Red-legged Frog

Steller's Jay

Black-tailed Deer

Sooty Fox Sparrow

As we headed south along the coast, we made many stops:  New River Nature Center, Cape Blanco, Port Orford, Rogue River Jetty and Harris Beach State Park.

35 foot Gray Whale at Port Orford

Banana Slug

Pacific Wren

Yellow Monkey Flower on the beach

Now it's Northern California adventure time.

Love & Prayers,
Ty & Ida Baumann