Oregon Critters

My post for Camera Critters  and id-rather-b-birdin have some never ending shots from Oregon. I wanted to post the Sea Lions from the Sea Lion caves and I have some more Oregon Birds.

Besides a lot of Surf Scoters  in the Pacific Ocean we saw lots of Harlequin ducks. We found some Harlequins at the Haystack Rock during the low tide. They seemed comfy laying on the rocks or shells.

Female Harlequin Duck at Cannon Beach

SeaStar (starfish)  at Oswald State park beach.

 They blend in so well, how many Harlequin ducks can you find in this photo? I am not sure if these are mussels, what ever they are they do not look comfy to lay on? I guess the ducks do not mind.

For comparison these are two of the Atlantic Coast  Barnagat beach Harlequins from last winter. You can see the pretty male.

I am used to seeing the beautiful Harlequin ducks on the Atlantic Ocean during the winter months on the Jersey Shore.

Sea Lions in the Sea Lion cave near Yachats, Oregon

Sea Lions outside the cave.

One of the many cute baby gulls that we saw on Haystack Rock and Cannon Beach.

A Cute Pigeon Guillemot, they are not related to pigeons. The Guillemot is a seabird.

To see more cute and wonderful critters please visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters. Also, thanks to Anni I am linked up with I'd-rather-b-birdin  Thanks to Misty and Anni for hosting these fun critters meme. Also, thanks for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Oregon lifers

 I am linking up a few of my Oregon lifers with Wild Bird Wednesday  and Nature Notes

Three of my lifers were the Rhinceros Auklet, Brandt's Cormorant and the Tufted Puffin all three seen on the Oregon Coast.
 

This photo above of the Rhinoceros Auklet  belongs to Wikipedia_Rhinoceros_Auklet. Seeing the Rhinoceros Auklet below in the Sea Lion Caves made the visit to the caves for me. But, the sea lions were cool too.

It was dark inside the caves, when I notice three of these birds close to where I was standing watching the sea lions. One was an adult feeding two juveniles. My photo is not the best but if you look very hard LOL, you can see a bit of the horn ( present in breeding birds) and the white plumes above the eyes. . I actually had great views with my binocs since they let so much light in and the three birds were only just on the other side of the fence from where I stood.. They feed on small fish and nest in seabird colonies.

Another one of my lifers was the Brandt's Cormorant.  The breeding Brandt's Cormorant has a blue throat pouch. I was able to catch one of the adult Cormorants showing off his/hers pretty blue pouch. They dive for their food and feed off of small fish.

Edit; Sorry, but this Puffin is the town's mascot and is a statue. I did take the photo but it is not a real Puffin. LOL, pretty life-like statue though!  Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock are known to be breeding areas for the Tufted Puffin.

This was another one of my lifers. Not really, LOL! I did not get a photo of it but, we were able to see the Tufted Puffin twice with my binocs flying in and out of the Haystack Rock on Cannon beach. T

he Tufted Puffin is also known as the Crested Puffin. The yellow tufts appear on both sexes during the breeding season. They nest in grassy sides of cliffs or on the grassy side of the Haystack Rock. I did read their feet turn a bright red in the summer.

 Haystack rock  was a big attraction on Cannon beach. At low tides the tidal pools were great and you could see nesting birds all over the rock. This side shows the grassy side at the top of the rock.

To see more beautiful birds and nature photos please visit Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

Thanks to Stewart the host of Wild Bird Wednesday and thanks to Michelle the host of Nature Notes. Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post. Happy Birding and I hope the rest of your week is great.

Pigeon Guillemot

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For my Wild bird Wednesday I am going back to Oregon. I wanted to show some more shots of the Pigeon Guillemot that we saw along the Oregon coast. I believe I already mentioned in a previous post that the Pigeon Guillemot was a lifer for me. The Pigeon Guillemot can be found from the coast of California to Alaska.

The two shots above were taken from inside the Sea Lions Cave looking out. The Pigeon Guillemot has pretty bright red feet. My guide book calls the color vermilion. For some reason Vermilion reminds me of the flycatcher I saw in Belize.

 The breeding adult has a velvety black plumage, white wing coverts and pretty red feet.  I love their pretty feet. The underwing coverts are also white.

I had some great views from inside the cave looking out at all the Pigeon Guillemots and the Cormorants on the rocks.

I saw the Pigeon Guillemots all along the Oregon coastline. These two were right outside our hotel. They probe kelp beds and vegetation for its prey.

Above you can see the Pigeon Guillemots head before it enter its little hole in the side of the cliff. I believe this was a nesting spot.

I do not think this bird was worried about reading the sign.

This was the view from inside the cave looking out toward the Heceta Head lighthouse. On this day, I was actually thrilled to pick up another lifer which was actually inside the Sea Lion Caves. But, that will be another post.


To see more wonderful birds and nature scenes please visit : Wild Bird Wednesday  and  Nature Notes.

Thanks to Stewart the host of Wild Bird Wednesday and to Michelle the host of Nature Notes. Also, thanks for stopping by to see my post and birds. Hope the rest of your week is a happy one.