Last weekend we enjoyed our first camping trip of the year. We decided to go back to the Oregon coast, to the Tillamook area and we camped at Cape Lookout State Park. We absolutely love Oregon, for its scenery and of course, its birds!
After setting up camp Friday afternoon we drove up the coast in search of cool birds, and we were not disappointed. We found Ruby-crowned Kinglets, an Eared Grebe and Western Grebe.
We were not out long, and the light was getting horrible for pictures. So on we went back to camp, where our own campsite held a lot of bird surprises. After a long walk on the beach we started getting things ready for dinner, and immediately heard a Varied Thrush way up high in a tree. I managed one sun-lit picture before it flew away. We could also hear the chatter of hummingbirds, but couldn't find them.
The Stellar's Jays were quite curious, and loud. They had no qualms about coming into camp and seeing what we were up to.
They didn't even mind the 70 pound husky walking around...one jay even explored Dakota's water dish!
It wasn't just the bigger birds with attitude and curiosity. Little Fox Sparrows like to know who's moved into their space too. I had gone for a walk around the campground with Dakota before making dinner and Andrew snapped this picture of a Fox Sparrow in the back of our car!!! We found the bird in the back more than once. The next morning I came back from the water spout to see the sparrow fly out from the back of the car. Needless to say, we were careful when we shut the doors to make sure there was no curious bird left inside.
The next morning we finally got to see the hummingbirds responsible for the chatter we'd heard the night before. Two Rufous Hummingbirds were buzzing in and around the campsite. We were very pleased to see these birds, since no sightings of them had been reported in the area yet.
The area around Cape Lookout State Park was an excellent area for birding. This is only a few of the many birds we heard and saw Friday night and Saturday morning!
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