Tour of the North Oregon Coast - Day Three

Nehalem Bay State Park

Nehalem Spit

We spent the morning walking south through the campgrounds and out the spit to the bay.  It was a good morning, lots of sunshine and we were able to find a fair diversity of birds.  You can check out our bird list here.  We only saw two other people on the spit, they also had a dog and were from Salem, in fact West Salem.  Small world. 

At lunch back at the van, we realized that we needed to change sites for our second night here.  Our neighbors accross the way had a parrot type bird that was a very annoying.  We couldn't tell if its owner or the bird that kept yelling about something.  Particularly annoying for us as birders was the fact that the bird had a wistle that sounded almost the same as the "weep" call of a Hermit Thrush.  We were constantly checking ourselves not to look for a thrush.  After lunch we unplugged and moved to a new site, # E-2.  Peace and quiet reigns. 

Campsite # E-2

Tour of the North Oregon Coast - Day Two

Fort Stevens State Park to Nehalem State Park

We spent the morning at Fort Stevens Park exploring the Clatsop Spit area and doing some birding.  Jeanette is shown on the viewing tower at the South Jetty.  From the tower we had good views accross the Columbia River to Cape Disapointment on the Washington side. On the beach to the south of us we could see lots of people busy claming on the beach on the receading tide.

We were treated to a ship, the "Pacific Basin" coming into the Columbia River. 

  

The best bird photo of the morning was this immature Bald Eagle, one of three we saw plus a mature adult. The eagles and many more birds where seen at the beach access from parking lot D.  Here is a link to our bird list. We spent the afternoon working our way south to Nehalem Bay State Park, stopping in Seaside for groceries, and lunch at Del Ray Beach State Recreation Site. Leaving Del Ray we spotted a male Northern Harrier flying with a snake.  He was being chased by a female Harrier. We couldn't help but wonder if more was going on here, was these part of a breeding behavior? Arriving at Nehalem Bay State Park we again had the problem of too many sites to choose from.

Actually our largest problem of the day is related to this photo.  Besides testing out our new van, we are trying to get up to speed on a new radio.  This is what the screen looks like in the Car Play mode, when connected to our iPhone.  From this touch screen we select Maps, which is a mirrored image of the phone, and becomes our navigation system.  Which is all pretty trick, but for the last two days we have put up with a lot of frustration because the Apple Maps do not seem to jive with the Oregon State Parks signs.  So twice now we have found ourselves winding through strange neighborhoods trying to get to a simple destination of an Oregon State Park. It appears that Apple thinks it's a better idea to take short cuts using side roads than follow the signed main routes.

Tour of the North Oregon Coast - Day One

 Fort Stevens State Park

We have been eager for a string of days with good weather to take our Free Spirit on it's maiden voyage. The weather forecast for this week is excellent so we are taking a week to enjoy the North Oregon Coast.  Yesterday's destination was Fort Stevens State Park with a stop for birding at Little Beach in Gearhart.

There are no signs to identify Little Beach, but thanks to modern technology with the aid of Google Maps and eBird I was able to pinpoint the location.  We had a good stroll out the Necanicum Spit counting birds and keeping a close lookout for Western Snowy Plover, as this is a location that we may volunteer for Plover Patrol. No plovers but we did get a list of 15 species.

After lunch in Seaside we journeyed on to Fort Stevens State Park and selected a campsite from the hundreds available.  Although we had alread hiked several miles in the morning, Buster was begging for another walk.  We indulged him and where able to find our way to Coffenberry Lake, and of course make another bird list.

Birds of Prey from our Backyard

The Merlin in the above photo was spotted yesterday in a neighborhood tree while we were taking our dog Buster for a late afternoon walk.  If you look closely will notice she has a small bird in her talons. Merlins are members of the Falcon Family, and we have enjoyed watching this bird or similar bird on this tree from our living room for the past three winters.  Merlins breed in the far north, but winter here.  I noticed when looking at my recond in eBird that we see them from our back yard from October through March.  We are paying close attention now because any day she will be gone for the season.

This is a an adult Cooper's Hawk, a year around bird here in Salemtowne. They are able to make a good living by visiting the numerous feeders in the backyards of our community.  This photo was taken this past week.  I was busy counting the birds that we in our backyard at the seed and suet feeders when this hawk flew past.  Suddently all twelve species disappeared, not a single little bird could be seen. I provide food for the small birds and they provide food for the larger birds.  I can live with that, it is the natural order of things.

First Osprey of the Year!

Jeanette spotted our first Osprey of the year yesterday. It was at the nest site on Murlark Ave in West Salem.  We have been keeping an eye out for them because we knew they were due anyday.  The first one of the season last year was spotted at this same location on the 24th of March.  After taking me to the location so I could see it too, we then made a tour of the other known nesting locations in West Salem, six in all.  We found another Osprey on the nest site on River Bend Road, and then in late afternoon while walking with my daughter through Wallace Marine Park we spotted a third bird flying.  I am assuming that all are males as they are the first to show up and claim a nest for a female.  It's great to have them back. The last Osprey we saw in the Willamette area was this past fall in October. We are excited to again have the opportunity to watch them using their nesting sites with all the activity envolved in raising their young.

The New Nesting Box

I have a rule that I only publish at the most, one post a day.  However, this is too good not to share today.  At first light this morning I was out taking down the old swallow nesting boxes and putting up the new improved version.  The new slot design is to keep the hated House Sparrows out.  The slot is only 7/8" by 3", instead of the traditional larger circle. At 8:05 AM we had our first visitors, and it was not the hoped for Swallows, but the demon House Sparrows.

 Hey, a new nesting box!

Looks empty!

Ugh, too tight

"What did you do, to my house?"

The design appeared to work, only time will tell if it keeps the Sparrows out. 

The Swallows are Back!

male Violet-green Swallow

Yesterday when we returned home from volunteering with the Salem Audubon Society at the Salem Yard & Garden Show, we were just setting down to lunch on our patio,  when I noticed that there were a pair of Violet-green Swallows in our neighbors tree.  These are the first swallows of the year for our back yard.  A few minutes later there were more swallows and a great distubance centered around our swallow nesting box.  I then realized we also had Tree Swallows.  Typically the Tree Swallows arrive weeks before the Violet-green Swallows. But the real irony was that I had just purchased new nesting boxes at the Yard & Garden Show.  I had hoped to get the new nesting boxes up before the swallows arrived, but just missed. I'll get them up this morning and the swallows can sort out which uses what.  Last year the Tree Swallows took the box in the back yard and the Violet Green had to settle for the one in the front yard. The new nesting boxes are a special design to prevent House Sparrows from entering.  The nasty House Sparrows last year killed the baby birds or drove off the parents at all three of the nesting sites in our back and front yards. Hopefull the new slot design will work against the House Sparrows. We are delighted to have the swallows back from their wintering grounds, their graceful flight and friendly chatter bring such joy to our back yard. 

male Tree Swallow