Tour of the North Oregon Coast - Day Four

Our plan for the day was to drive from Nehalem Bay State Park to Cape Lookout State Park, with some stops along the way to do some birding.  It was cold and foggy so we were in more of an exploring mode. As we crossed the Nehalem River, Jeanette noticed a sign pointing to a dump station.  We decided to explore, and were surprised to find it located at a water treatment plant.

I have a distaste for water treatment plants, aka sewage treatment plants, especially for birding.  And they can be difficult to bird because of fencing and locked gates. So when I saw this sign "Bird Watchers Welcome", I had to take a look.

Buster was all game to go, but after about 10 minutes we had all had enough of the cold and retreated to the RV for some hot tea.  We did see hundreds of birds but a low diversity of only thirteen species.

We were kind of turned off with the fog and cold, and aware that the temps in land were forecasted for the 70s, we decided to drive in that direction and make our overnight stop the parking lot at Spirit Mountain Casino, which is free.  It will be an opportunity to test our new van with an overnight stay without hook-ups. The only money we spent in the Casino was for a hamgurger and fries.