I spent yesterday at the coast, mostly at Fort Stevens State Park. My goal was to find some loons, which I did, but I found lots of other stuff too!
At parking area C the first bird I found was a Western Meadowlark...
I walked down the rocky path along the jetty and came across a group of shorebirds...
Mostly Dunlin, with what looks like a Western Sandpiper on the left in front. There was also a Black-bellied Plover among them...
Next I drove down to parking area D where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. The first thing I noticed on the beach were the jellyfish.... They were everywhere. Jake was real excited about them.
This is probably the gnarliest one I've ever seen. Where I grew up (on Long Island Sound) jellyfish were clear and you could play with them, or red and they would sting you. All these ones looked pure evil.
Anyway, there were some shorebirds here too... Sanderlings!
They were pretty cute. Out in the water were Surf Scoters and loons!
I had some trouble with the ID on this guy... I'm leaning towards Common Loon based on the eye ring and sharp angle on the neck markings, but tell me if I'm wrong!
Also in the area were quite a few Bufflehead, cormorants, gulls, and a Peregrine Falcon passed overhead...
Back on the main road through the park I pulled over to snap some photos of a pair of Bald Eagles...
When I got home and was going through the eagle photos I ended up discovering all sorts of other things going on in the photos... Like this family of raccoons on the rocks:
Also, this pair of ducks in front of the pilings..
I can't figure out what the heck they are... Any ideas? Here's another photo where they were flying off (note the raccoon!):
The pictures might just be too blurry to tell... [Ah, thank you, Laura, they are Northern Pintails... I definitely see that now!]
My next stop was at the cove in Seaside... I thought it would be a good chance for me to practice some gull ID, but except for this Heermann's Gull, I only saw Western Gulls...
I also saw a couple Black Turnstones...
And that was it for photos... I stopped by the Cannon Beach sewage ponds before heading back to Portland but it was raining pretty good by then- all I saw were Bufflehead and some Song Sparrows. Good day nonetheless!
At parking area C the first bird I found was a Western Meadowlark...
I walked down the rocky path along the jetty and came across a group of shorebirds...
Mostly Dunlin, with what looks like a Western Sandpiper on the left in front. There was also a Black-bellied Plover among them...
Next I drove down to parking area D where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. The first thing I noticed on the beach were the jellyfish.... They were everywhere. Jake was real excited about them.
This is probably the gnarliest one I've ever seen. Where I grew up (on Long Island Sound) jellyfish were clear and you could play with them, or red and they would sting you. All these ones looked pure evil.
Anyway, there were some shorebirds here too... Sanderlings!
They were pretty cute. Out in the water were Surf Scoters and loons!
I had some trouble with the ID on this guy... I'm leaning towards Common Loon based on the eye ring and sharp angle on the neck markings, but tell me if I'm wrong!
Also in the area were quite a few Bufflehead, cormorants, gulls, and a Peregrine Falcon passed overhead...
Back on the main road through the park I pulled over to snap some photos of a pair of Bald Eagles...
When I got home and was going through the eagle photos I ended up discovering all sorts of other things going on in the photos... Like this family of raccoons on the rocks:
Also, this pair of ducks in front of the pilings..
I can't figure out what the heck they are... Any ideas? Here's another photo where they were flying off (note the raccoon!):
The pictures might just be too blurry to tell... [Ah, thank you, Laura, they are Northern Pintails... I definitely see that now!]
My next stop was at the cove in Seaside... I thought it would be a good chance for me to practice some gull ID, but except for this Heermann's Gull, I only saw Western Gulls...
I also saw a couple Black Turnstones...
And that was it for photos... I stopped by the Cannon Beach sewage ponds before heading back to Portland but it was raining pretty good by then- all I saw were Bufflehead and some Song Sparrows. Good day nonetheless!
The ID on the loon is a tough one. I see characteristics of both the Common and Pacific Loon. Love the gull pictures. They turned out so clear.
ReplyDeleteHey Jen, I think your ducks are molting Northern Pintails. They have a distinctive profile with a long, elegant neck.
ReplyDeleteI always love looking at your photos. I think I need your camera.
Laura
Jen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the help with the Redhead. I had to remove the post because I couldn't change the URL from Lesser Scaup. I will give you credit for helping with the id in the new post! Thanks again. Great shots on this post. I miss the beach.
All fixed thanks to YOU! Let me know what you think...
ReplyDeletenew post
Thanks again
You got a really good selection of pictures there Jen. Wish we had Bald Eagles here. By the way I just love the title of your blog, very humourous and a nice hint to others.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it interesting how you can find things in an image after you get it on your computer you had no idea where there when you took it. I've had it happen to me a few times.
ReplyDelete