Monday, March 2, 2009

Birding the Oregon Coast

A Scenic View of the Oregon Coast at Samuel H. Boardman State Park


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I grew up and currently reside in Wisconsin, but from 1990-94, I lived in Corvallis, Oregon . It is in the Williamette Valley about an hour inland from the Pacific coast. I used to make frequent day trips over to the coast on the weekends to hike, bird, and ride my bicycle. So I had seen bits and pieces of the Oregon coast, and since I liked what I saw so well, in April, 1993 I decided to take a trip along the entire coast from border to border. I am truly glad that I did that because it was a marvelous experience, filled with gorgeous scenery and some good birding, including a dozen life listers.

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Cow Parsnip Flowering on Cape Blanco Coast, Port Orford, Oregon


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I started my trip by driving up the Williamette Valley to Portland and then west along the Columbia River to the mouth at Astoria. The Oregon coast is filled with state parks where you can stop and hike, and even camp if you so desire. There is an abundance of great scenery so it is difficult to single out any one place, but I did fall in love with Shore Acres State park, which is in the North Bend/Coos Bay area. It was there I saw an interesting life lister, the only representative of an Old World family that is found in the United States - the Babblers. The bird is the Wrentit and I found it in the bushes hiking along the cliffs of Shore Acres State Park. This place was once the estate of a 19th century lumber baron so it has a nice garden to go along with the coastal scenery.

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Oregon Coast Yaquina Head Lighthouse


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Another interesting life lister that I saw on this trip was found in another special area -Brookings, Oregon and Azalea State Park along the very southern reaches of the Oregon coast. The bird is a specialty of the area, Allen's Hummingbird. It is a fun bird because it requires some careful observation of field marks to discern its identity - I enjoy that sort of thing immensely.

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Oregon Coast, USA



 
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Waves Crashing into Rocks on the Pacific Coast, Oregon, United States of America, North America


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To cap off the trip I ended up at the home of a member of a local birding club who had a highly secretive and hard to see bird as a regular visitor! The bird was a Mountain Quail and it was an incredible thrill for me to see. It put the "frosting on the cake" for a truly delightful trip. Someday I hope to return to the Oregon coast to relive some wonderful memories and make some new ones to boot!
 
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Quail Trail




Quail Trail Art Print

Polivka


18.0625 in. x 10.0625 in.

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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousMarch 15, 2009 at 1:30 PM

    As a person who went to both the U od O and OSU and also courted my wife on the Oregon coast your photos bring back very fond momories

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