Joy in Elkton!

Today it was easy to find joy in living, the sun was out, the birds were singing, and we got to stretch our legs and get back to birding. We took our usual walk thru town, along the Umpqua River, out to the Elkton Community Education Center and back.  We were reminded once again how fortunate we are to live in Elkton, tucked in along Elk Creek and the Umpqua River, protected from the winds that we had been experiencing for the last three days on the Oregon Coast. The birds even seemed to be in a good mood, allowing me several good opportunities to take photos, like for example this photo of a Spotted Towhee singing his heart out.    

Evacuation!

In exchange for volunteering for the “Whale Watching Spoken Here” program, we were offered free camping at Beachside State Park just North of Yachats where we have stayed the last three days.  Rain and high winds have made it a pretty miserable stay, and for the last two nights we have slept with the slide in to help stabilize the motor home and cut down on some of the noise.  When the Ranger appeared at our door this morning to announce that they were evacuating the campground due to flooding, it was sort of the last straw.  We were supposed to man our site again tomorrow, but with continuing rain and the wind predicted to pick-up again we decided to throw in the towel and drive home to Elkton. (The photo was taken through the windshield as we were driving out through the flooded drive way.)

On Duty!!

This is brought to you live from Cape Perpetua-------this is our set up at Cook’s Chasm where we are manning the Whale Watching Spoken Here site from 10-1:00 today.  Rain 100%, wind gust up to 25mph. Warm and dry inside the motor home.  Jeanette and I are taking shifts for going outside to greet people that stop to look for whales.

Whale Watching Spoken Here

We stopped by Cook’s Chasm at Cape Perpetua Scenic Area today to touch base with the volunteers managing the site for the day.  We will be taking over the volunteer spot for tomorrow, Thursday the 29 and Saturday the 31 from 10:00 AM until 1:00PM.  It was a very stormy day with lots of breakers making it difficult to spot a spouting whale. Still, there were 114 people that stopped by to have a look. This is a cooperative program put together by the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation and the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife in which volunteers man 25 different sites along the Oregon Coast during whale migration times.

Evening Grosbeaks

The Evening Grosbeaks are back!  This is headline news, because this is way early for them to be seen in our area. In the past I have seen and photographed them here in Elkton in May.  In fact, according to eBird records, the earliest they have ever been reported in Douglas County is April 1^st, with June being the peak time.  Today we saw them in two different locations during our bird walk around town, and then we have had a large number at our feeder this afternoon.   

Jackson-Frazier Wetland

Today while traveling from Elkton to Dallas, the sun came out in the Corvallis area so we stopped for some birding at the Jackson-FrazierWetland.  This is getting to be a favorite of ours in our many travels to Dallas to visit family. The extensive Bob Frenkel Board Walk makes this an ideal birding spot year around with no worries about wet and muddy paths. I think it works out good for the birds too, because it keeps people at a safe distance. In an hour of birding we identified 13 species.  Perhaps the most unique was one we did not see, but only heard, the Virginia Rail. These are very difficult birds to see, but thanks to our iBird app we could determine it was a male. We ended up hearing the call in two different locations, so we know there are at least two males out there possibly staking out their territory or doing their best to attract some females.   

Hooded Mergansers

This handsome pair of Hooded Mergansers appears to be enjoying a little trip down the rain swollen South Umpqua River in Roseburg.  They were among the 30 different species of birds spotted by the Umpqua Valley Audubon Society today during a birding trip on the Roseburg Walking & Bikeway.