The Sandpipers Have Returned

It is spring on the Oregon Coast and the sandpipers have returned.  

Delightful.  Playful.  Charming.  Amusing.  Entertaining.  Captivating.  Enchanting.

 

Sandpipers on the Oregon Coast.

Pelicans, Sea Lions, and Seagulls

Fall has returned to the beautiful Oregon coast.  The rain is gently falling, the skies are cloudy and gray, and the waves of the mighty Pacific crest and curl in an even and gentle rhythm.  It is the season of transition between the gloriously sunny summer (that has continued this year into October) and the wild, windy, rainy weather with the crashing surf of a coastal winter.

The wildlife of the beach also seem to be in transition.  Flocks--or a brief, pod, pouch, scoop, or squadron as I learned they are called--of pelicans follow each other evenly spaced in single file just inches above the cresting waves.  They wheel in unison then suddenly spy just below the surface of that mighty ocean a delightful dinner and fold their wings and dive, surfacing and joining the line-up once again with supper in that dinner pail of a beak pouch.


The sea lions have also been fishing in our waters.  Their sleek heads appear above the surface of the ocean as if to check their bearings, then just as suddenly they disappear looking for that elusive salmon.  Some mornings they seem to follow us up the beach keeping up with us or jaunting ahead and reappearing just to let us know they are still in our midst.

The seagulls gather in groups as if they are in school preparing themselves for the mighty winds that will rake our beach in the coming months.  The junior birds, our Jonathan Livingstons, have gotten their bright white plumage, have learned their distinctive call, and show off flying high in the air surveying the beach for miles around.

Fall on the Oregon coast--a time to be treasured!

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White On White

After nearly two days hurricane force winds, blistering hail, and relentless rain pounding our little house by the sea while watching the ocean become a ferocious force 

with 25' swells and pounding surf, 

suddenly 

all was totally and perfectly still.  

Even the ocean 

quieted itself.

Dropping from the sky were heavy perfectly formed white flakes of snow.  Snow that covered every wind-battered branch of every shorepine, snow that covered every beaten down blade of grass and struggling daffodil and primrose, snow that covered every piece of mighty driftwood and every smooth and shiny rock on the beach.  Our wold was covered perfectly and evenly by five inches of the gentle beauty of snow.  Even our favorite seagull sitting high on his snow covered perch was unable to dodge the snow.  

White on white.  

God's "rainbow" after the storm.

Breakfast with the Whales

This morning my husband I were treated to bright blue sky, dark blue ocean, and the sun glinting off the stark white surf!  All this magnificence on the Oregon Coast in late December!  This is an is courtesy of unexpected and glorious Christmas gift for all of us beach dwellers.

As we sat enjoying our breakfast while relishing the clear blue sky and the ocean views, we were treated to yet another unexpected and happen-chance sight:  the spouts of whales just off shore!  There must have been a pod of whales enjoying their breakfast at the same time as we were enjoying ours.  Needless to say, we lingered over our eggs and toast just a bit longer than usual.  The whales, judging by the movement of the spouts, seemed to linger over their breakfast a bit too, before moving onto the work of their day.

So the whales (probably gray whales) are making their annual migration from the cold Alaskan waters to the warm waters of Baja just in time for "Whale Watch Week" along the Oregon Coast.  Isn't it great that they timed everything so perfectly.

Gray Whale

Welcome tourists to the Oregon Coast.  Enjoy "our" whales. 

Orcas! Starboard!

Was it a pod, a pair, or only one?  All I know is that when the captain of the ferry boat I was taking between Seattle and Bremerton, said over the loudspeaker, “Orcas starboard”, I thought the ferry was going to roll onto its side.  

Whale watching in the Puget Sound, and all along the Washington and Oregon coasts for that matter, is a common activity.  Whales, usually gray whales, travel the Pacific Coast in their bi-annual migrations between Baja and Alaska providing tourists and locals alike the opportunity to “see a whale”, the largest mammal on the planet. 

Gray Whale

As a Oregon coast local, I know that actually “seeing” a whale is pretty rare even though there are numerous “Whale Watching Stations” and “Whale Watching Week Activities” (December 26-31, 2011 is the next one) throughout the year designed to give the tourist (and local whale watching guides) the thrill of “finding Waldo” in the vast reaches of the Pacific Ocean.  Usually the very fortunate whale watcher is lucky to see a whale spout—a plume of air rising from the surf.   

Intrepid whale watch guides in those dedicated whale watching centers dutifully and faithfully “count” the whales on a daily basis.  These people are sometimes more fortunate than the tourist in “seeing” a whale.  They may actually see the hump as the whale surfaces briefly to breathe, or once in a very great while, they may see the tail or wonder of wonders, they may have the thrill of seeing a whale breach.   Of course these are the sightings one might expect from the safe reaches of the shoreline.

Breaching whale!  Amazing!

There are opportunities to get closer to these giants, though.  Many companies offer whale watching cruises and tours in boats large and small.  Tours that take you where the whales might be on a given day for that up-close and personal encounter.

Or, there are always the ferries playing their way back and forth across Puget Sound.  Maybe that is really the best way not to just “see the whales”, but see the resident Orca whales of that part of the world.  An amazing sight whether you are a local or a tourist from afar!  “Orcas starboard!”