Sunday, February 12, 2012

The Great Northwest Birding Adventure of 2011 (part two)

Western Gull - Pet?
The Ester Lee Motel is a classic gem standing proudly on the rocky bluff next to route 101, in the bucolic and friendly Oceanside community of Lincoln City, OR.   Lisa (my sister) and her significant other “Shaun” had graciously rented a surprise cottage for the evening.  Cottage number 229 was completely wonderful, and cozy!  The view (“Ahh, what you can see from the Ester Lee!”) was magnificent and the cabin-like accommodations splendid.  Once the overnight gear was stowed in the building, we jumped back in the car and drove a little ways south into the serene village.  We parked in the public lot at the end of SW 51st street just down from MO’S where we would all later dine on delicious MO’s creations such as their famous “Slumgullion” chowder in a “cannonball (bread) bowl”.

California Sea Lions
Before we sat down to dine, we walked the rugged public beach area as an intermittent, light, but cool rain fell.  Fortunately this combination of setting sun and falling water droplets created a beautiful rainbow to the east.  The narrow water channel we walked alongside provided a curious view of the bank opposite us, as a multitude of California sea lions lay piled up near the water’s edge.  They were safely out of harm’s way and seemed happily ensconced in the moist sand.  Male California sea lions are dark grayish or chocolate brown, while females are lighter brown. Newborn pups are dark chocolate brown to black and weigh about 13 pounds. Male California sea lions are much larger than females, weighing as much as 1,000 pounds, and measuring up to 8.2 feet long. Females weigh up to 250 pounds and reach lengths of up to 6.6 feet.

Crack that whip!
Odd looking strands of rope-like structures with bulbous ends were strewn here and there on our side of the channel.  Shaun noted that these were pieces of tidal-deposited “Bull Kelp” as they resembled a giant length of bull whip.  Nereocytis luetkeana kelp – (AKA: edible kelp, bull kelp, bullwhip kelp, ribbon kelp, giant kelp, and bladder wrack) is the Greek word for Mermaid’s Bladder and can grow in lengths up to 74 meters.  The specimens that had washed up here were considerably shorter and could in fact be wielded like a whip.  Like all novice whip-wielders may admit, trying it for the first time, ain’t necessarily all its “cracked” up to be.  I say this, because I was not the only one to give it a mighty flip; only to be struck somewhere on my own body hard enough to cause real physical pain.  Polly the toy poodle, wearing a doggy-sized camouflage coat; rambled back and forth along the beach in frantic zig-zag fashion, sniffing and snuffling.  The sun began to set as the six of us took pictures and turns looking through our binoculars at the bird-life this section of coastal  landscape had to offer.

Pelagic Cormorants
The next morning Barbara, Anna, Polly and I walked down the paved road from 229 to the beach below the Ester Lee.  Polly couldn't behave herself and kept on barking to the point where a nearby private residence opened its door to emit a cranky foul-mouthed Lincoln City resident who was displeased with the early morning nuisance.  Poor Anna took the brunt of this guy's unhinged ire as she had been chasing the damn dog all over in order to get it to shut up.  Barbara and I walked the beach, looking at the rocks and wood that littered the tidal zone.  There were no beautiful shells of any kind to be found here...just rocks and mussels.  After a shower and a leisurely conversation in the cottage's living room, we packed up the vehicle and checked out.  We visited the towns of Gleneden Beach, Lincoln Beach, Depoe Bay, Otter Rock, Beverly Beach, Agate Beach and as far south as Newport, OR.  A high bridge took us to the southern end of the city to our chosen destination.  The birding was tremendous along the long man-made length of sand-filled concrete bulwark that was at the end of SW 26th Street.  The twin jetties basically formed a safe and calmer sea inlet to the city proper.  It was along this wall that I would score my first Pelagic and Brant's cormorant, male Harlequin duck, Black oyster-catcher and Surf Scoters! Brown pelicans and Double-crested cormorants hung out together on the rock outcroppings, as orange starfish clung to the submerged rocks just at the surf line.

Coast Guard training at DePoe Bay
Heading back north on the way back to Silverton, we stopped again at Depoe Bay as it had stopped raining for 5 minutes...Ok...well maybe it was 10...to look again at the scenery from outside the car.  The town (officially formed in 1927) was named after a local resident, Charlie DePoe, a Joshua Indian who settled in that area in 1894. It was in this general area that I also recorded another life-bird...the Heerman's gull.  A rocky projection in the distance; made up of volcanic spew, was the current fishing grounds to dozens of Brown pelicans, Western gulls and other smaller shorebirds.  The Heerman's were huddled on the nearer sand beach in a small knot, facing the waves.  The Heerman's Gull is the size of a Ring-billed Gull, but stockier. It is unique in that its plumage is mostly dark. The Heerman's Gull has a dark gray back and wings with a lighter gray body. The head is white with a black-tipped red bill and a dark eye. The tail is black with a white terminal band. The wing has a white trailing edge and black tips. Some individuals have a white patch at the wrist. The feet are black.  A Pacific species, the Heerman's Gull nests in western Mexico, and spends the non-breeding season in marine areas. A variety of coastal habitats, including rocky shores, bays, small offshore islands, kelp beds, sandy beaches, and estuaries, are all potential roosting sites. They seldom spend time at garbage dumps or on fresh water. It was rainy and a strong cool wind was blowing so we couldn't spend much time observing them, however the sight was unforgettable for a birder.
Heerman's Gulls

The next day (November 8th, 2011) Barbara and I were on our own as our hosts needed to go to work and school, so armed with handy suggestions of where to find birds; off we went to find adventure.  Our first stop of the day was the "bird go round" near Keizer, OR. which was technically a sewage water treatment plant for the City of Salem...but we didn't hear that bit of detail from Lisa.  We drove to the area she had indicated on a hand-drawn map and discovered a small wetlands area that was created by the sanitation district as a "natural" area of ecological renewal - wetlands restoration.  After walking the gravel paths that wound their way around four ponds, seeing a decent amount of waterbird-life; we spied two structures through the chain-link fencing that partitioned off the natural area.  Yes indeed these appeared to be round, and sure enough there were birds flying and some that had landed on the structural members that were slowly rotating, stirring up the good citizens of Salem's wastewater into something recyclable.  It dawned on me what my creative sister had been referring to when she suggested we bird here.  The cool of the surrounding air meeting with the warmth of the poo-water created a curious fog that arose from the slowly revolving gull carousel.  All that was missing was some calliope music and the glorious oily-scent of Pronto Pups.  We recorded many Golden-crowned kinglets, Starlings, Coots, Mallards, Green-winged teal, Black-capped chickadee and one Kestrel.
Watch for more!

The next stop on our solo-tour was Silver Falls State Park...in my next installment.

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