One day my younger daughter suddenly suggested that we might want to go on a road trip to Cannon Beach in Oregon. She said that they had a Puffin Festival in July. They called it the Great Cannon Beach Puffin Watch! I had always wanted to add at least one puffin to my bird list, but the feat seemed unlikely as I thought of them as subarctic to arctic birds that were sighted very rarely in the Edmonds region, although I knew there were nesting colonies on Smith and Protection Islands in the misnamed Strait of Juan De Fuca (See: www.dailykos.com/...). If they were seen it was usually flying by the Edmonds Waterfront (There was once a sighting of a Horned Puffin as well), but I could not depend on an off-course puffin to add to my list. In the past I have been surprised by a Black-footed Kittiwake and around the same time, a Long-tailed Duck in, of all places, El Paso, Texas! Obviously these were blown off course, possibly by a storm front. However these events are unpredictable, rare, and probably lead to the errant birds demise.
Having a puffin event in July seemed odd to me, but that was the fault of my not digging into the subject and depending on a vague idea that puffins must breed in colder areas earlier in the year. I was dead wrong!
Since my daughter was offering to be the driver for this road trip I suggested that we might make it a more extended trip so I could also visit a colleague in The Dalles along the Columbia River, She agreed that that might be fun, as she knew Billy and his wife and was friends with them. I also suggest the addition of three more birds to our quest, the American Dipper, the White Pelican, and the California Quail, knowing full well that I was probably setting myself up for disappointment for one or all of these birds. She agreed, We would also not just look for these birds, but any such feathered critter we could find.
We started out from Edmonds around 9 AM and drove south through Seattle, stopping for a while at Bottle Beach State Park, still in Washington. We were delighted to find two birds, Cedar Waxwings and Common Yellowthroats in evidence and I managed to get a few photos of the former. The Yellowthroat males seemed to be having a vocal duel and kept up a nearly constant witchey, witchey, witchey, while we were in the willow forest. We also spotted a Lorquin’s Admiral butterfly flitting around. The mudflats yielded several Western Gulls and we picked up a few other birds.
My younger daughter overlooking the mudflats at Bottle Beach, Washington,
Cedar Waxwing, Bottle Beach, Washington.
Our next stop was in Oregon at Fort Stevens Parking Area C. By now it was very windy, cloudy and generally unpleasant. However, I managed to get to the top of a levee looking down on the Pacific Ocean Beach, only to have my daughter point out that Brown Pelicans were streaming by in small flocks or in ones and twos. They were all headed to a spot north of our location where a large number (at least 50 birds) were swirling around, possibly over a bait ball. Just then two Turkey Vultures landed on the beach in the opposite direction! We had seen several flying over us as we drove down to Oregon, but this was the first we has seen on the ground. On the way down the access road, we passed an Elk along the roadside!
Brown Pelican at Fort Stevens, Oregon.
It was getting late and we were hungry, so we headed to the town of Seaside to check in to our hotel and then had a nice seafood dinner. Along the beach we picked up a few common birds, but nothing unusual or new.
The 2nd of July dawned and after check out we headed to Cannon Beach, arriving at 8:40 AM. By total luck the first person we met after we parked was Kelli Ennis, the Director of the Haystack Rock Awareness Program and she was for the first time taking visitors out to Haystack Rock over the mudflats with a tractor-like vehicle. She immediately offered us a ride out to the rookery and we took it. The program and the Friends of Haystack Rock, who were also represented, were just wonderful and I really can’t thank them enough. Always present, they had a naturalist helping visitors for the Puffin Watch find not just puffins, but numerous other seabirds that nested on Haystack Rock and nearby sea stacks.
Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon, before the start of the Puffin Watch.
After the start of the Puffin Watch.
Sea Stacks near Haystack Rock.
The intrepid naturalist at Cannon Beach, Oregon. Photo by my younger daughter.
The first birds we saw were the Common Murres, which were hard to miss since at least 500 were nesting on Haystack Rock! Next to them were numerous Western Gulls. After a time, as I sat on my walker, flying puffins were pointed out to me, but they flew so fast that I could not get a view. At that point a Bald Eagle showed up and caused to whole rookery to take to the air. The eagle caught a Murre, but lost it, with Western Gulls attacking. It came back once again and had apparently been there earlier, according to the people around Haystack Rock. The attack was so fast that I did not get a photo.
Common Murres on Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Western Gull at base of Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Still I wanted to get a good photo of a Tufted Puffin and stubbornly scanned the Haystack. I found out later that I had actually photographed two puffins without knowing I was doing it! Finally I found a puffin out in the open and got several shots. I also got a few Pelagic Cormorants in the bargain. The sea mist was going in and out and photography was also variable because of this. At about this time, the naturalist came by and I said I was trying to locate Pigeon Guillemots. She said that she could show them to us, and then asked my daughter and me if we wanted to have some other birds pointed out. We enthusiastically agreed and soon had added three female Harlequin Ducks, several Pigeon Guillemots, a nesting pair of Brandt’s Cormorants, and a Black Oystercatcher on a nest! Meanwhile Barn Swallows were darting over the mud and muddy tide pools containing sea anemones, crabs and starfish, plus a few small fish. It was lovely!
The Tufted Puffin, the goal of our quest, Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Pelagic Cormorant, Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Harlequin Duck, females, Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Black Oystercatcher on nest, Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Brandt’s Cormorant, Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Pigeon Guillemots, Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Our next task was to find an American Dipper. We decided that the parks along the Columbia River Gorge would be the best places to look and finally settled on Starvation Creek. We saw initially only an American Crow flying into the small park, but still proceed up the trail along the creek. My daughter asked me what we were looking for and I proceeded to describe the Dipper as a small dark perching bird that could dive into the water. She replied, “Like that bird?” I turned and raised my binoculars and saw a Dipper in the creek exactly as I had described it. Before I could get my camera ready, it disappeared behind some vegetation!
Sign at Starvation Creek, Oregon.
Habitat of the American Dipper at Starvation Creek, Oregon.
We continued on the Billy’s house in The Dalles. We had supper provided by an Indonesian friend of Billy’s and then Billy took us out to the Dalles Dam. There were about twenty American White Pelicans braving the turbulent water!
American White Pelican, The Dalles, Oregon — this bird may actually be in Washington as the state line runs down the Columbia River.
Now we had only one target species left- the California Quail! Billy said that it would be easier to find them in the early morning, so I reluctantly agreed to get up by 5:30 AM on July 3rd. I joined Billy in his electric Nissan and we drove the roads in the fruit trees and wheat fields. As we rounded a bend a male California Quail ran across the road in front of us and stopped in the bushes at the side of the road. I got one photo, but only of his head! We never saw another one!
California Quail, The Dalles, Oregon.
My daughter and I then drove north to Yakima and briefly visited the Yakima Greenway Park, which seemed a bit unkempt, but yielded 15 species, including a Yellow-breasted Chat and three Belted Kingfishers, plus a Black Saddlebags dragonfly and a Western Tiger Swallowtail. We had lunch at a Honduran restaurant in Yakima and proceeded back to Edmonds without incident.
I am amazed that I set a goal of seeing four birds and we did see them, plus a lot more. All tolled 42 species! I owe Billy and my daughter a great debt. Thank you both!
All photos, except one as noted, are by me, using a Canon Powershot SX70HS bridge camera.
