Oregon trip July 15-22, Part 2- Oregon coast

Looking north toward Cape Lookout, Tierra Del Mar, OR, July 18, 2017

Looking south toward Haystack Rock, Tierra Del Mar, OR, July 18, 2017

We finally arrived out on the coast north of Pacific City in the late afternoon on Tuesday after a long drive over the coastal range. We arrived at our beach house and after dropping our stuff off we made a beeline to the nearly deserted beach to stretch out legs. Not much in the way of bird diversity there but it was nice to see a vast stretch of nearly empty beach in the USA...not something I have seen outside of Costa Rica!

Wilson's Warbler, Cape Lookout SP, OR, July 19, 2017

Wilson's Warbler, Cape Lookout SP, OR, July 19, 2017

Double crested Cormorant, Cape Lookout SP, OR, July 19, 2017

Chestnut sided Chickadee, Cape Lookout SP, OR, July 19, 2017

Looking south toward Haystack Rock from Cape Lookout, Cape Lookout SP, OR, July 19, 2017

Looking south at dawn, Tierra Del Mar, OR, July 19, 2017

Our first full day on the coast was spent exploring a few areas north of our beach house. We started off with a long hike out to the end of Cape Lookout which provided some spectacular views and some great birds. The full list from our stop there can be found here: After a break for lunch we headed back up north to Cape Mears and a few stops around the area of Tillimook. A bit too late in the day and too many people around to turn up much in the way of bird life but it was interesting seeing the large nesting cliffs at Cape Mears again.

White crowned Sparrow, Cape Lookout SP, OR, July 20, 2017

Song Sparrow, Cape Lookout SP, OR, July 20, 2017

Orange crowned Warbler, Cape Lookout SP, OR, July 20, 2017

Orange crowned Warbler (showing its orange crown), Cape Lookout SP, OR, July 20, 2017

White crowned Sparrow, Cape Lookout SP, OR, July 20, 2017

The original plan for Thursday was to go out on a whale watch out of Depoe Bay but the forecast called for a clouds and a chance not rain so we put off the whale watch until Friday. The day did indeed begin a bit showery but it didn't last too long and the sun was already poking through the clouds by 7AM. I went out first thing despite the rain but stayed close to the car during a stop at Whalen Island which featured a nice showing of herons and egrets feeding on the mudflats. Once the weather had improved a little we took a long walk along the sand spit at Cape Lookout before making a couple more stops late morning into the early afternoon at various stops including Cape Kiawanda and Nestucca Bay NWR.

Common Murre, Depoe Bay, OR, July 21, 2017

Pelagic Cormorant, Depoe Bay, OR, July 21, 2017

Gray Whale, Depoe Bay, OR, July 21, 2017

Pigeon Guillemot, Depoe Bay, OR, July 21, 2017

Common Murre, Depoe Bay, OR, July 21, 2017

Gray Whale, Depoe Bay, OR, July 21, 2017

Harbor Seals, Depoe Bay, OR, July 21, 2017

Savannah Sparrow, Siletz Bay NWR, OR, July 21, 2017

On our last full day we headed south down to Depoe Bay to go on a whale watch. Before we made it to Depoe Bay we stopped off briefly at Siletz Bay NWR which was quite active, especially with passerines...I just wish I had more time to explore the area but we had to make it down to the whale watch by 9:30. We arrived and immediately headed out of the small harbor aboard a small zodiac which provided some nice close to the water views (and photos) of the whales, seals and birds. It was nice to not have to go too far offshore to get the whales (in fact you could probably see them fairly well from shore)...certainly much different then the typical whale watch at home.

Overall for the trip I managed to find a total of 107 species for the week, which was fairly decent for a non birding focused trip.  No new species for me but I have been out to this area of the country several times so not a whole lot of new potentials.

Blue winged Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, April 30, 2016

I also had one of my photos (a Blue winged Warbler) featured in the latest article from eBird/Cornell on the eBird homepage....link to article:  eBird article