A beach walk

Today's weather was sunny and mild, so I hit the beach and walked to Seal Rock. Our Pacific beaches are vast, and sparsely populated with humans and pet dogs, but a great place to walk and enjoy nature.

The bottom 2 photos show the beach heading north and south. The middle photo is the intertidal zone in Seal Rock.

The top 2 photos are birds of note. The black oystercatcher has the long red bill. This morning, I watched a pair of them taking baths at the water's edge. A pigeon guillemot is perched atop a rock.

Living on a flyway

Spring brings north-bound migrations of songbirds, raptors, seabirds and shorebirds to the Pacific coast. While we have seen many flocks of seabirds flying north out at sea, they are too far away to photograph. However, walking on the beach in early spring we are often rewarded by close encounters with a variety of shorebirds in breeding plumage.

Today, a northwest wind was blowing, and most flocks of shorebirds were flying low, within a few feet of the beach. I soon realized that if I crouched down, the birds would fly closer to me. Some came with 10 feet. Most of the shorebirds kept flying, but a few stopped and let me photograph them.

Semi-palmated plovers and western sandpipers are the shorebirds in the bottom two photos. The semi-palmated plover looks like a miniature version of its relative, the killdeer, with one less black band. Migration is exhausting work, and feeding along the way is serious business, as can be seen by the plovers' bills probing the sand for prey. The top photo is a pair of Caspian terns.

A walk in the woods

This was not a typical walk in the Oregon woods. Rather it was a guided tour of the Gerdemann Botanical Preserve in Yachats, cultivated by botanist Jim Gerdemann over perhaps 30 years. While conifers such as spruce and hemlock are certainly present in the preserve, so are unusual varieties such a tree fuchsia, tree ferns, palms, and eucalyptus (bottom 3 photos).

Many of the vast collection of rhododendrons were blooming, in a wonderful assortment of colors. And other rhodies were spectacular, even if they weren't blooming.

The preserve contains native species such as camas, and many exotic species from all over the world. It's a great place to visit.

Spring time

This time of year, whenever the weather seems dreary, I look to daffodils and their resilience. They bloom through sleet and hail , rain and cold. Their lifestyle resembles the motto of the U.S. Postal Service. So here's to all the cheer-inducing daffodil blossoms. Enjoy the spring!

Sunset from 40,000 feet

As we flew from Curacao to Miami, we had to move up to 40,000 feet to avoid clear air turbulence. Below us, some of the clouds were quite striking, particularly to the west, as the sun set.

Curacao

On our way home from Bonaire, we spent about half a day in Curacao. I have long been a fan of the Dutch colonial architecture, so I spent about an hour taking photos, mostly of buildings.

I stitched the photos together for panoramic views of both sides of the entrance to the harbor.

Flamingos

It's time to pack up the computer and follow the flamingos, that is, it's time to fly away. I hope that you have enjoyed the journey. Off to Oregon!

Have a great year.