Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Five Years as Fulltime RVers

Molly in her Christmas Sweater

Molly Update:
Molly is doing great! We have her diet supplemented with a high protein Fish and Sweet Potato dog food and she has put on 4 pounds since we got her. Her vet says she still needs to gain another 5 - 8 pounds. Also her coat is coming in, thickening up and curling. As Molly has settled in to her new home her personality has come out. Like all Golden Retrievers she loves people. On her walks she head towards everyone she sees so that they can pet her. She also likes other dogs both big & small, but after a quick sniff is looking for the dog owner to pet her. She does have a big black Lab boyfriend that she loves to play with. Even with their leashes on they run and wrestle with each other no matter where they meet. She has also started playing with some of her toys. If we throw a ball she will chase after it. She my bring it back or she may bring it part way back or she may just run up to it then walk away. 

Our Five Years as Fulltime RVers:
WOW, where did 5 years go? It doesn't seem like it could be five years already, but I must admit that I can barely remember my "work life". This year with so many months of volunteering and doing Lighthouse tours, we met more people than ever from all around the world. We worked with a great group of volunteers and rangers at the state parks.
 
Our past year in review:
I wrote a year ago that our Plans and Resolutions for 2012: were none and none. I also wrote: "We have been so focused on Kathy’s health issues that we haven’t even thought about where we might go or what we might do in 2012." As our regular readers know we Volunteered for 3 months at Kartchner Caverns State Park in Arizona and then decided to return to the Oregon coast and to volunteering at Coquille River and Cape Blanco Lighthouses. We volunteered at Cape Blanco Lighthouse for 4 months, our longest stay in any one place since we have been on the road. We finished out our year by returning to Arizona staying at the SKP Co-op in Benson and with me volunteering one day a week back at Kartchner Caverns. 

Plans for 2013:
Our only plan so far is to stay here at the SKP Co-op and to continue to volunteer at Kartchner Caverns State Park through the end of March. It will make this 5 month stop our longest yet. As much as we love the Oregon Coast we are thinking about returning to the Rocky Mountains this coming summer. Also after 8 months of volunteering this past year we have not decided about volunteering in 2013.



Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas

We want to wish all of our readers a

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Grant, Kathy and Molly

Please click here for eCard

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Our New Addition

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Meet Molly !!!

Our new Best Friend is a 1 to 2 year old Golden Retriever .  We have been really wrapped up trying to get her settled in. She is the smallest Golden Retrieve I have ever seen. It is obvious that she recently had puppies and she is so malnourished that you can see her ribs.

She came with the name of "Meadow". It doesn't strike us as good name for a dog. We couldn't think of anything that rhymes with Meadow, so we have decided on "Molly". We are hoping that the "M" of Meadow and Molly will be close enough for her to make the transition easy. So far it seems to be working.

Molly was picked up last Wednesday morning at the Animal Shelter by Southern Arizona Golden Retriever Rescue. They took her to the Vet to be spayed and we picked her up at the Vets that afternoon (80 mile round trip).

Molly is housebroken (coming directly from the shelter no one knew if she was or wasn’t) , walks well on a leash, loves people but is shy around other dogs. She doesn't run from them but she doesn't go toward them either. She doesn't seem to have any vocabulary beyond "come" and "sit". We bought her some toys but, when we tried to get her to play she hasn't shown any interest in them at all.

As we were considering getting another dog, one of the things we talked about was that we think most of the people we have met since being on the road was because of Raider. He loved people and people couldn't help but come up to him and pet him. We try to walk 10,000 steps a day and do laps up and down every row of whatever RV park we are in. RVers are always friendly and Escapees are especially so; they wave or say "Hello" as we or they walk by. However, when we are walking Molly everyone has to stop and pet Molly. Naturally that leads to a conversation. So, after 3 weeks of passing these people everyday on walks; thanks to Molly we can say that we have actually met them. Our walks now take twice as long to cover half the distance. :-) Yesterday a couple that met Molly the day before invited us to their Casita for Happy Hour. We have been 3 sites away from them for 3 weeks never heard from them; now with Molly we are getting to be part of the "in crowd".

We were nervous about leaving her alone while we went to the RV Park's BIG Thanksgiving dinner but, when we got back she was standing at the door wagging her tail. There were no surprise packages, or wet spots and nothing had been chewed while we were out. The next day we left her for 15 minutes and she tried to claw her way through the screen on the slide window nearest the couch. Another day we tried to leave her leashed to the dinning room table. We hadn't even made it to the truck and we herd something fall. She managed to get on the couch and pull down the window shade above the couch. Clearly, she has abandonment issues.

2002-12-08 12.00.00-2-1 The screen to our slide window

Tuesday we returned to Sierra Vista for Molly’s post operation visit (another 80 mile round trip). We also stopped at Petsmart and got a crate for her. 

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Molly’s new crate.

We think Molly may have been crate trained. Sometimes she walks into the crate on her own then curls up for a nap. It does however take up a huge part of the living room!

Molly in chair

Molly makes herself at home by taking over my recliner.

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After just a few days with us Molly seems very relaxed and settled in !!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Life is Good in Arizona

Benson site

We have been here at the Escapee co-op for about a week and have really settled in. This is a picture of our site. Somehow in one week we have put out so much stuff it will take us a month to repack.

Our temps had been low 80s during the day and low 50s at night. After our very cold summer at Cape Blanco, we are relishing the warmth. We have sat out on the patio more in the first week that we did all summer. However the weather change to wind and then cold with over night lows at 32 degrees.

Since the weather has been so nice and this is such a good place to walk; we have been walking everyday and trying to get back to 10,000 steps a day. We have also become social butterflies. Kathy has been going to the Beading Group meetings and I have had my first Boccee Ball lesson. We have also been to the Ice Cream Social, a few Happy Hours and have tickets to a community dinner.

I started volunteering at Kartchner Caverns again and it was great getting back into the cavern.

You are probably wondering why I said "I start volunteering" and not "We start volunteering". We have been grieving over the loss Raider now for over a year and just can't get past it. Whenever we see another Golden Retriever we have to run to it to give it a hug and then walk away with tears in our eyes. We have had several friends who have lost a dog tell us, "the only way to get through the loss of your dog is to get another to fill the hole." So far we haven't been able to do that, but have now decided to get another Golden Retriever. We tried the Golden Rescue in the SF Bay Area that we got Raider from. However, they aren't comfortable with the whole fulltime RVing thing and no yard. We have been in contact with two Golden Rescue places here in Arizona (one in Phoenix and one in Tucson), they both said that they adopt out to Snow Birds all of the time so the fulltime RVing isn't a problem. So, we have been approved for an adoption and are just waiting for a dog to become available. We don't want to leave a new dog alone in a new environment, so Kathy is postponing volunteering until we think the dog as settled in.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

We are fine.

Kevin 30th birthday

Our youngest son Kevin at his Birthday Lunch.

Since I haven’t updated the blog for 2 months we have been hearing from blog Readers asking “if everything is okay.”

We are fine. We left Cape Blanco Lighthouse on October 1st and have been back in our home town of San Jose, California the past few weeks. We have been through the yearly blood test, doctor visits, eye doctors, etc. As well as visiting with our youngest son, Kathy’s parents up in Mariposa (near Yosemite National Park) and close friends. We have also been eating out way too much!

Doctors say we are good to go so, tomorrow we start heading south to Benson, Arizona.

This winter rather than stay at Kartchner Caverns State Park as volunteers; we are planning to stay at the Saguaro Escapee Co-op Park near Benson and only volunteer a day or 2 each week at the Caverns. After volunteering for 8 of the last 10 months we want more days off this winter. However volunteering in the Caverns is too good to pass up.

The Saguaro Escapee Co-op Park can be described as an “active seniors” park, with activities, dinners, entertainment, and many different kinds of groups. Yes, there is a Beading Group! We have never stayed at a RV Park with planned activities and are looking forward to branching out from our usual activities.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Cape Blanco August 2012

This is Grant at the beginning of the tour talking about life at the Lighthouse in 1870

Grant at the beginning of the tour talking about life at the Lighthouse in 1870.

Almost a month without a blog entry! I guess there just hasn’t been a whole lot going on.

The BIG NEWS is our refrigerator got fixed!! We were without a refrigerator for 3 weeks waiting for the part to arrive and then scheduling when we could get back to Coos Bay to have it installed. Our trailer isn’t even 2 1/2 years old and so far our Norcold refrigerator has been recalled twice and had two cooling units replaced. This isn’t a good trend! Also good news we haven’t had any mice in the trailer for over a month. Let’s hope that is a trend.

I wrote last month “Our weather cycle is pretty much: clear & windy, foggy & windy, foggy & not windy and REALLY WINDY!”. In August it has been foggy & windy more than anything. We went 11 straight days with the fog so thick we couldn’t even see the ocean from the lighthouse and some days we couldn’t even see the parking lot. Notice how bundled up we are in the picture at the top of this post? I was also wearing a down vest under my jacket. That day the wind was 35 mph with gusts to 43 mph!

We have a sunny day!

A sunny but very windy day.

We have foggy days

A very typical foggy day.

Yes, there is a Lighthouse out there in the fog

Yes, there is a lighthouse out there somewhere.

Although, it has been very windy all along the coast, the fog is mostly just out here. Visitors tell us all the time that the fog didn’t start until they were 2 or 3 miles off the main highway. August is the peak visitor month here. Regardless of how windy and foggy it is, we have been getting 200 or more visitors a day. While the rest of the country has been having heat waves, we seldom make it to 60 degrees and we get a lot of people that have come to the Oregon Coast to cool off.

Probably our most interesting visitor this month was an 82 year old woman that came out for her annual visit. Her father was a Lighthouse Keeper here both before and after the Coast Guard took over the lighthouse in 1939. She said that she lived out here for 12 years. Unfortunately, she was here on one of our busiest days so we didn’t get very much time to talk with her.

However, Kathy did get a chance to ask her, “how did you deal with the insane wind?”

She lit up, “oh my, I have a vivid memory of my father crawling on his belly from the house to the lighthouse one extremely windy day!” Their house was right across from the lighthouse  about 100 feet! We know that when the wind hits 57 mph you can’t stand up straight, you have to bend forward at the waist or you will be blown backwards! How fast was the wind blowing that the Lighthouse Keeper had to crawl to work?!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Change of Plans, more of Cape Blanco, it is always something

Cape Blanco download test

Our friend Sue took this picture of me up at the Lens while she was on a tour.

Once again it looks like the blog has gotten away from me.

Change of plans:

We have had a slight change of plans, rather than moving from Cape Blanco Lighthouse, back to Coquille Lighthouse on July 1st and then back to Cape Blanco in August we are just staying here at Cape Blanco.

We were contacted by 2 of our blog readers, Nina and Paul, they said they would be coming to Cape Blanco as volunteers for July. Ever since then I have been following their blog Wheeling It.

Well it turns out Paul hurt his back toward the end of June. I talked to them and  they were concerned about him doing a lot of standing. At this time of year here at Cape Blanco we are so busy we are standing all or most of the time at each of the 4 different stages of the tour. 

Paul and Nina were already staying at Bullards Beach State Park (where the Coquille Lighthouse is) and I came up with an idea to help them out.  They were ecstatic when I told them of my idea.

My thought was that we switch jobs for July. We would stay here for another month and they would be Lighthouse Hosts at the Coquille River Lighthouse. At Coquille there is a chair up in the Lantern room. The person doing that job can just go up once and stay for the entire shift. There are less steps to climb at Coquille and you work 3 hour shifts. Plus at Cape Blanco Lighthouse there's the up and down the steps from the Watch Room to the Lantern Room with each group of 5 visitors. That's a lot harder on a sore back. Also Paul would be closer to his treatments.

The only downside is that Bandon is a real town, where as Port Orford is barely a town. We drive the 60 miles round trip to Bandon every week to get groceries and do the laundry. Although, Cape Blanco isn't as convenient to shopping and restaurants as Coquille is, it is a very quiet campground. Also we get 3 days off a week rather than 2 at Coquille. This will also save us the hassle of moving twice.

Since we were already scheduled to be here for August and September we will end up being here for a total of 4 months. It will be the longest that we ever stayed in one place since we started full-timing. I hope we can say we still like it here at the end of the 4 months. :-)

4th of July Parade:

We were off for the 4th of July and attended the Port Orford Parade. There is nothing quite like a small town parade. There are as many people in the parade as there are spectators. Here at Port Orford the biggest group in the parade and the only band was the “Friends of the Library Kazoo Band”.  The slide show has the entire parade, which was 45 minutes long, down Main St. that is also Hwy 101.

Volunteering at Cape Blanco Lighthouse:

Since we are into our second month here I guess things have settled into a regular cycle. The weather for the most part as been surprisingly good with very little rain. Our weather cycle is pretty much: clear & windy, foggy & windy, foggy & not windy and REALLY WINDY! We continue to meet a lot of interesting people. Being at the height of vacation season, we are very busy.

It is always something:

After 4 1/2 years on the road we had our first mice invasion! One evening while reading we heard a noise under the sink. Kathy looked in and found a mouse trying to jump out of the trash pail, but he was too short to get out. He was tossed outside. The next morning we awoke to find we had 3 more mice in the trash pail. They were relocated down the hill. Off to the hardware store for traps and month balls. We caught 2 more mice over the next 3 days. It has been 2 weeks now so apparently we have won the mouse war.

After getting groceries on Monday of last week, we found out that our refrigerator wasn't working on Tuesday morning. We had thought that it hadn't been as cold as it should be. We were only 18 days out of warranty from having it replaced last year.

Spent a lot of time Tuesday talking to Porter's RV in Coos Bay. We were hoping that they would just order a new cooling unit without me taking the rig to Coos Bay, so that they can look at it to say "yes, need to replace the cooling unit". Last year it took 10 days for the part to arrive! Taking the rig to Coos Bay is a big hassle,and will delay the ordering the new cooler by days. We were also hoping that Norcold would still honor the warranty.

Thursday we made the trip to Coos Bay, as we thought, the cooling unit is definitely out again in the refrigerator. Even though we were 18 days out of warranty Norcold said that will replace the part, but will not pay for the labor to install it. Like last year they say 10 days to get the part to Coos Bay. We aren't sure if they are counting from Friday or Monday and we don't know if they are talking just days or "work days". Then of course, we need to fit the installation into our work schedule and another 120 mile round trip to Coos Bay. So we are looking at a week or two with out a refrigerator. It is a 24 mile round trip to the nearest store to get ice! Currently it is a double wide ice box!

Bird List: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Brandt's Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Wild Turkey, California Quail, Snowy Plover, California Gull, Western Gull, Caspian Tern, Common Murre, Band-tailed Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Rufous Hummingbird, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, Cedar Waxwing, Pacific Wren, Swainson's Thrush, American Robin, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Steller's Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, Orange-crowned Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, American Goldfinch

Wildlife List: Field Mouse, Chipmunk, Squirrel, Deer

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Cape Blanco Lighthouse June 18th–26th 2012

Blacklock point

This picture of Blacklock Point was taken by Sue

Date: June 18th–26th 2012

Location: Cape Blanco Lighthouse

Monday was again our day off so we headed to Bandon, picked up our mail and get groceries. We also stopped at the Bandon Fish Market for lunch. They have the best Fish Chips on the coast. They are made from Pacific Cod and come with very good & some how unique fries. We like them so much that we never ordered anything else from the menu. I learned the last time we were there that their Fish Tacos are also made with there awesome deep fried Cod. So, we both gave them a try and they were great. The weather was beautiful both in Bandon and Cape Blanco. After putting away the groceries we walked around the campground looking for birds.

Tuesday another day off. The day was mostly overcast so, we didn’t do too much, Kathy mostly beaded and I read. We did head into town to get this week’s laundry done.

Wednesday was a day off, because we get three days off a week but the third day off changes weekly. It was a beautiful day here on the coast. John and Sue picked us up for a Bird Hike (more hiking than Birding) to Blacklock Point. Oregon Live describes Blacklock Point as “No. 2 on list of Oregon's best landscapes”. The hike is 4 miles round trip through a mix of forest, bogs, grassy area until you suddenly breakout on to a cliff 100 feet above the ocean. With this mix of habitat there are a lot of birds and many flowers in the area. No doubt our best birds of the day was a pair of Peregrine Falcons. They must have had a nest near by as we saw them tearing up a kill to take back to their young.

Blacklock point group

Sue took this photo of us soon after we arrived at Blacklock Point.

After completing our hike we drove up the Sixes River to a BLM campground to have lunch and look for more birds. The entire time we were there we could hear a Warbling Vireo singing in the trees near us, but none of us could ever locate it.

Thursday, yesterday’s great weather continued and we had our busiest day of the year so far at 238 visitors. Visibility from the top of the Lighthouse was incredible! Since we were so busy our time flew by. After our work day we walked down to the over look for Happy Hour. Although we tried we did not see any whales

Friday was foggy and it rained all day from before sun up until after sundown. The local rain gauge in Port Orford had 2 inches of rain for the day. It was also our “all day” shift. The fog was so thick at the Lighthouse that we never could see the ocean and frequently couldn’t even see the Lighthouse from the parking lot. Although we had nothing like the 238 visitors of yesterday, we did have 77 people come out in the fog and rain to see the Lighthouse. One thing about the fog it makes the Lens appear to glow as the light goes through it.

Saturday had a 60% chance of showers, but they never materialized and as the day went on the nicer the weather got. With the nice weather we had a return of visitors in droves to the Lighthouse.

Sunday was a beautiful day, the wind was pretty mild for here. We were off so after church we did a quick grocery stop and after lunch we went hiking around the park. There aren’t a lot of trails at Cape Blanco but you can string together some nice loop hikes. We didn't see many birds, but our best bird of the day was a Savanna Sparrow. We also went out to the overlook again for Happy Hour. This time we saw a pair of Gray Whales. They stayed around long enough for us to show them to some of the other Volunteers. Always exciting to see whales!

Monday was intermittent showers all day. We had our biggest crowd yet for the volunteers breakfast and for some reason the restaurant was the busiest I have ever seen it. I don't think there was an open seat anywhere. Since all of the Volunteers will be leaving next Sunday on the first of July, the main topic of conversation was “Where are you headed next?”. After breakfast we went to Bandon to get the mail, and groceries. The rest of the day was spent reading and beading.

Tuesday was a very mild clear day. We started to get some of the preliminary things done for our departure on Sunday. Most of the rest of day Kathy beaded in the sunshine and I worked on the blog. We headed down to the overlook to see any whales and weren’t disappointed! There were Gray Whales in close near the rocks and Humpbacks Whales about half way to the horizon. We could see their “blows” and backs as they dove without the binoculars! Fortunately, we had other volunteers down there to share them with!

Bird List: Wrentit, Savanna Sparrow, Osprey, American Robin, Barn Swallow, Turkey Vulture, Common Raven, American Crow, Purple Finch, White-crowned Sparrow, Wilson’s Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Rufous Hummingbird, Song Sparrow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Steller's Jay, American Goldfinch, Swainson’s Thrush, Peregrine Falcons, Pelagic Cormorant, Brandt’s Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Common Murre, Brown Pelicans, Surf Scoters, Cassin’s Vireo, Wild Turkey, Purple Finch, Warbling Vireo (by song only)

Wildlife List: Gray Whale, Humpback Whale, mole, chipmunk, squirrel

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Cape Blanco June 12th - 17th 2012

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The lens of the Cape Blanco Lighthouse.

Date: June 12th–17th 2012

Location: Cape Blanco Lighthouse

Tuesday was another day off. The weather was the foggiest since our return this year. The kind of heavy, thick, wet, fog that you aren’t quite sure if there is a light rain or is it just the heavy mist from the fog. So, Tuesday was a inside day to clean, write the blog and to get caught up on computer things and read.

Wednesday we did the morning shift at the Lighthouse. All of yesterday’s fog was gone due to the strong 20 – 25 MPH winds that were blowing. Even with the strong wind we had more visitors Wednesday morning than we did all day last Sunday, when the weather was so much better. Kathy decided that this afternoon was a good time to do the laundry so we drove into Cape Blanco. The Laundromat there has been refreshed with 18 new washers and 30 new dryers. When we arrived no one else was there. Didn’t take too long and we were done and headed back to Cape Blanco. It was too windy to go down to the overlook to look for whales.

Thursday, yet another day off and the wind still blowing like yesterday. We had a slow morning checking out blogs on the Internet until about 10 AM. We decided that if we walked around the campground loop it wouldn’t be too windy and we could see what birds were around. As we were approaching the paved road of the Park we saw a familiar truck. Birding friends John & Sue had decided to take a ride down to Cape Blanco. Since we were already out birding and because like all birders John & Sue had their binoculars with them, they joined us on our bird walk. By 1:00 the birds had settled down so we all went to Port Orford for lunch at Bonnie’s Bistro.

Friday we had the afternoon 12:30 to 4 shift at the Lighthouse. The winds continue in the 20s with gusts at 30 mph. It was clear with near unlimited seeing at the top of the Lighthouse. We had just a enough people visit to make the time go by very quickly.

Saturday we had a change in the weather with heavy fog and winds reduced to about 10 mph. It was the kind of day when there was no view from the top of the lighthouse but people came anyway to see the lens.

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday heavy fog but also big crowds of visitors.

Kit and Kathy

Kit and Kathy

Editor’s Note:  Over the last 4 years, Kathy has chatted via email with a group of ladies every day! On our eastern trip in 2010, we met every one except Kit in Georgia. As we buzzed through her state she was recuperating from some medical issues and really couldn’t have visitors. Fast forward to 2012. Kit, her husband David and their 3 Labrador Retrievers are on a cross country trip. Their destination and favorite place to visit: the Oregon Coast, specifically Cape Blanco State Park, while we are hosting!!  Oh Yeah!! We finally get to meet, but it’s like we already knew each other! It was so fun to share “our” over look at “whale rock” with them, looking for whales. In fact, they both spotted whales one evening! We had a “girls only afternoon” and Kit treated me to a delicious crab melt sandwich in Port Orford, with a spectacular view of the ocean. Despite the weather’s moods, (sunny and windy, foggy and windy, or drizzly and windy), it was special to be able to share our experience here with them. Monday it was almost 2 weeks, the most you can stay here, so they had to move up the coast to perhaps find a warm beach for the Labs to run on! We hope to see them again in a few weeks!

Tiger Lilly in Kit's Camp Site David and Sassy

Tiger Lilly in Kit's Camp Site           David and Sassy

Uh oh, the Navigators! I thought we buried the treasure here.

  Kit's Hummer feeder suspended from David's Tripod  Kit's Hummer feeder suspended from David's Tripod

Looking toward Port Orford from Cape Blanco "Look out"    

Looking toward Port Orford from Cape Blanco "Lookout”.

 Waves breaking down on the beach 100' belowWaves breaking down on the beach 100' below

Bird List: Wrentit, Savanna Sparrow, Osprey, American Robin, Barn Swallow, Turkey Vulture, Common Raven, American Crow, Purple Finch, White-crowned Sparrow, Wilson’s Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Rufous Hummingbird, Song Sparrow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Steller's Jay, American Goldfinch, Swainson’s Thrush.

Wildlife List: Deer, mole, chipmunk, squirrel 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Cape Blanco Lighthouse June 5th–June 11th

View from the top of Cape Blanco Lighthouse

View from the top of Cape Blanco Lighthouse.

Date: June 4th, – June 11th

Location: Cape Blanco State Park, Oregon

Tuesday we had a domestic day. When staying here at Cape Blanco we drive the 30 miles back to Bandon, they have both a much larger Laundromat and much larger grocery store. So we stopped in at the post office to pickup our mail, did the laundry, took a break to have lunch at the Bandon Fish Market (best fish and chips on the coast), got groceries and of course made a stop at the local Beading store on our way out of town.

Once we got everything put away we did venture out for a little walking and birding. We did come across a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers.  We were returning to the campground through the Horse Camp after birding along an old service road. We stopped to let a C-class RV get by us. As they came closer Kathy realized it was our friends, Kit & David, from Georgia arriving!

Kathy has been reading Kit’s blog and keeping in almost daily contact during the past 4 years. However this is the first time they have met in real time. Needless to say there was a lot of hugging and getting acquainted after that.

Wednesday was our “all day” work day. It was clear and windy with a steady stream of visitors. That evening we joined Kit and David at our beach overlook when they spotted 2 whales not too far away. The whales stayed close together during the half hour or so that we watched them. We think that it probably was a mother Gray Whale and her calf.

Thursday it was gloomy, rainy, windy, it was also the morning we had the outside jobs at the Lighthouse as Greeter and Storyteller. Even on a bad day like this with no real view from the top of the Lighthouse we had 107 visitors!

Friday we had another day off. However, for most of the day it was a repeat of Thursday’s gloomy, rainy, windy weather. When the weather improved somewhat in the evening, we walked down to the beach over look. No whales today but we did have a Hawk using the updraft of the cliff to just hang in mid-air not more than 20 feet in front of us. At first, everybody on the cliff asked us, “what kind of bird is it?”  Definitely a hawk, but no red tail.  When we got back to the rig we went through all of the bird guides and identified it to be the Immature Red Tailed Hawk.

Saturday was a free admission day at the Lighthouse and the view was spectacular. All of the previous days’ bad weather had moved on. It was a another very busy day.

Sunday was a very surprising day. The weather remained very nice and the view was great. However it was one of our slowest days since we have been here. We had half the number of visitor as we had on our gloomy, rainy, windy Thursday when we had no view.

Monday after the weekly Volunteers Breakfast we had another domestic day. Back up to Bandon for a Post Office stop and groceries. We were both still too full from breakfast to even think about lunch and the local Bead store is closed on Monday. (Kathy could probably set up her own store by now! )

Bird List: Turkey Vulture, Peregrine Falcon, Rufous Hummingbird,  Barn Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Cedar Waxwing, American Robin, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Steller's Jay, American Crow, Wilson's Warbler, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, American Goldfinch, Immature Red-tailed Hawk. Hairy Woodpecker and the Swainson’s Thrush.

Wildlife List: California Gray Whale, Chipmunk, Rabbit, Squirrel, Deer

Monday, June 4, 2012

Transition from Coquille River Lighthouse to Cape Blanco Lighthouse May 29–June 4th

Cape Blanco Lighthouse

This is a picture of the Cape Blanco Lighthouse taken last year before it was painted this past fall.

Date: May 29 – June 4th, 2012 

Location: Bullards Beach State and Cape Blanco Lighthouse State Parks

If it’s Tuesday it must be Birding Day with John & Sue. They picked us up and we headed to the Great Egret rookery on the Coos River that I wrote about back on May 6th. This time however, we stopped at wide spot in the road behind but much closer to the rookery. There were still several pairs sitting on eggs and also a few baby Great Egrets that had hatched. The beaks are amazingly big for such a small bird. Unfortunately, we were looking through a lot of leaves and just could not get any decent pictures. (Who brought the pruning shears?!)

Our next stop was Millicoma Marsh near Coos Bay. We had fantastic weather and great birding. John & Sue were able to add two birds to their Life List. We ended up with 29 species for the day and most of them were from Millicoma Marsh.

Wednesday and Thursday we worked the afternoon shift at the Coquille River Lighthouse. As expected after a 3 day weekend, the mid-week crowds were small. Wednesday was a continuation of Tuesday great weather and Thursday started out the same. However, as we drove out to the lighthouse we could see the fog bank coming up the river. We were shocked by how foggy it was at the lighthouse. It was undoubtedly the foggiest we had ever seen at the lighthouse. The fog was so thick that we could not see across the river, nor to the end of the jetty. No doubt this was one of the reasons that the number of visitor on Thursday afternoon was very light.

Friday was the 1st of the month, the day when Volunteers are on the move. It is a sort of choreographed thing. We had to move out of our site so that our replacements can move into it and still have time to get to their orientation.  Then we had to get to our next site in Cape Blanco State Park and hope that whom ever we are replacing has moved out. Then get unhitched and everything connected in time to get to our orientation.

When we arrived at Cape Blanco State Park it was the warmest we have ever experienced here. It was T-shirt weather!! When we were here last July it never was T-shirt weather and it usually was sweatshirt and down vest weather.

Orientation lasted most of the afternoon. First there is all of the general park volunteer things to go over. Then all of the Lighthouse Host Volunteers go out to the lighthouse to go over the lighthouse specific orientation. The fog started rolling in about 3 PM and by the time we got out to the lighthouse the rain had started. So, the new volunteers that had never been here before, first view from the lighthouse was fog and rain.

We had the morning shift for Saturday, it was a light crowd, so we had time to settle back into Cape Blanco Lighthouse routine. Fortunately the weather had improved from Friday evening, what fog there was moved off quickly and we had high overcast clouds, However, underneath the clouds we could see for miles. One thing for sure is that Kathy, definitely spent too much time at the Gatehouse at Kartchner Caverns State Park. Twice she welcomed people to Kartchner. LOL (Editor’s note: she was getting hungry and punchy! Where are we now?!)

What a job! Work a day and then get 3 days off! Just the way the schedule happen to work. Sunday as we were getting into the truck after church in Port Orford we saw our friends Gordon & Juanita’s truck go by. They saw us as well, Gordon did a U-turn and they stopped to chat. As I have written in the past Gordon’s other name is The RAIN MAGNET! It started to rain while we were talking and continued to rain all of Sunday and all of Sunday night. Yes, if your are wondering it is STILL RAINING so far all day on Monday.

Rain or shine if it is Monday morning it must be the Volunteers Breakfast at a local diner. This morning we had 17 people show up for breakfast. These are most of the volunteers from the several Oregon State Parks in the area around Port Orford. It is always great to meet other volunteers and compare notes on places they have or plan to volunteer.

Bird List: Common Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, Wild Turkey, Western Gull, Band-tailed Pigeon, Rufous Hummingbird, Western Wood-Pewee, Tree Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Cedar Waxwing, Marsh Wren, American Robin, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Steller's Jay, American Crow, Yellow Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Black-headed Grosbeak, Red-winged Blackbird, American Goldfinch

Wildlife Count: Deer, Rabbit, squirrels, chipmunk

Monday, May 28, 2012

Bullards Beach State Park May 19–28, 2012

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Date: May 19–25, 2012

Location: Bullards Beach State Park

Weather: Rain, overcast, occasional sun breaks

Our recollection of last May here at Bullards Beach is the first 3 weeks it either rained or it was heavy overcast. The 4th week it was sunny and nice. This year has been the exact opposite. We have enjoyed unusually nice weather for the first 3 weeks this year, but this past week has been rain and heavy overcast.

The rain has cut way down on our bird walks and attempts to get in 10,000 steps a day. Traffic at the Lighthouse has been less than in past weeks. When it is raining no one comes to the lighthouse. If there is break in the rain a few people come to visit. One of the great things about volunteering at this little lighthouse is that it sits next to a jetty and the mouth of the Coquille River. With the wind blowing and the rain coming down it is a very dramatic location. We can watch waves breaking over the jetty, huge waves hitting the beach and waves hitting the rocks at the base of the lighthouse!

After 4 years and 5 months we had our first drop-in blog reader visitors. Last year when we were here a couple came to the Lighthouse and asked for us on a morning we were working the afternoon shift. They were heading down the coast and couldn't come back when we were on duty that afternoon.

This week, when we were working the morning shift a couple came by in the afternoon asking for us. This time the couple were staying here in the park campground. The other Lighthouse couple directed them to our site. Just as we were sitting down to dinner there is a knock on the door.

"Hi, we are your blog followers and are also Escapees and Boomers.” It was Keith & Brenda Krejci from the Damn Near Perfect Couple blog.

Rather than stand around outside with the mosquitoes and let dinner get cold, I suggested that we meet for breakfast to chat.

We met for breakfast the next morning with Keith & Brenda  and had a nice chat about all things RVing and Volunteering related. They have been RV fulltimers for over 6 years and have done a lot of volunteer assignments.

That afternoon friends Gordon & Juanita from the Seeing the USA in our Chevrolet blog came by to visit at the lighthouse during our shift, shortly after that Keith & Brenda arrived. It being the small world that RVing seems to be, Keith & Brenda read Gordon & Juanita's blog but had never met them until then. They noticed Abby, the beagle waiting patiently at the door, which got the ball rolling of who they all were!

These Oregonians are tough, so even with the threat of rain this weekend, the park, as expected, was completely full for Memorial Day Weekend. Lots of kids and family reunions. It was a very busy  weekend for Bullards Beach State Park in general and especially so for the Lighthouse.

We had a number of people young and old say that they had never been in a lighthouse before. Also several people told us how fascinating the stories and history of the lighthouse were.

Since we had been through this busy holiday weekend last year we took it all in stride. Now that the holiday crowd has headed back home, the park seem so quiet.

Bird List: Pacific Loon, Western Grebe,Brown Pelican,Double-crested Cormorant,Pelagic Cormorant,Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, California Quail, Black Oystercatcher, Western Gull, Caspian Tern, Rock Dove, Rufous Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, Cedar Waxwing, Bewick's Wren, Swainson's Thrush, American Robin, Wrentit, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Steller's Jay, American Crow, European Starling, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Brewer's Blackbird, Purple Finch, American Goldfinch

Most notable were our first of the year: Cedar Waxwing, Bewick's Wren and the Swainson's Thrush

Wildlife Count: Harbor seal, rabbit, ground squirrel, chipmunk, Sea Lion

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Bullards Beach State Park May 15th - 18th, 2012

 

This is a picture of Elk Creek Falls taken by Sue, as I had left my camera in the truck.

Date: May 15, 2012

Location: Bullard’s Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

Weather: Overcast before 10 AM but, sunny after that

Temperature today’s Low: 48º

Temperature today’s High: 52º

Bird List: Double-crested Cormorant,Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Canada Goose, Mallard,Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, California Quail, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Violet-green Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Barn Swallow, American Dipper, Pacific Wren, Marsh Wren, American Robin, Steller's Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, Cassin's Vireo, Yellow Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, House Sparrow

Wildlife Count: Roosevelt Elk

Last Wednesday when we went to the Audubon meeting in Coos Bay, before the main program started, there was an announcement for the Field Trip that would be on Sunday to the town of Powers, Oregon. We couldn’t go as we had Lighthouse duty and John and Sue couldn’t go because they had “Plover People” duty on Sunday. However, if the locals think this place is worth an hour’s drive, then we thought we should check it out as well. Sue emailed the Leader of the Field Trip and explained why we couldn’t go on the field trip, bot asked for some guidance as to where we should look for birds when we went to Powers by ourselves. He sent her several suggestions on places to tryout.

So this morning we got an early start (7 AM) and headed to Powers.

Elk Falls2

A picture that Sue took of us at Elk Creek Falls

Date: May 16, 2012

Location: Bullard’s Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

Weather: Steady wind all day

Temperature today’s Low: 46º

Temperature today’s High: 51º

Bird List: Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Brown Pelican, Turkey Vulture, Pacific Loon, American Crow, Western Gull, Song Sparrow

Wildlife Count: Harbor Seal

We are working the 2 PM to 5 PM “late shift” at the Lighthouse this week. Kathy said that we couldn’t put off doing the laundry any longer,  so before work we went into Bandon to do the Laundry.

We got back had a quick lunch and went out to the Lighthouse. Don and Karen said they had a light day for visitors. With it being mid-week and with a steady wind blowing we didn’t expect many visitors either. During our shift we only had 24 visitors. I checked our log entry in the Lighthouse log for the same day last year. This year we had almost twice as many visitors! On May 16th last year we only had 13 visitors.

After work we attended the first Volunteer’s Potluck of the year. Even after these 3 weeks there were still a few volunteers that we hadn’t met before.

No Bird Walk or walks around the campground loops today.

Date: May 17, 2012

Location: Bullard’s Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

Weather:  Sunny, cool and windy

Temperature today’s Low: 46º

Temperature today’s High: 51º

Bird List:  Pacific Loon, Western Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Canada Goose,  Western Gull, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, American Robin, American Crow, Steller's Jay, European Starling, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow

Wildlife Count: Squirrel

Today we walked the campground loops and went to the boat ramp looking for birds. it wasn’t a very productive day for birds as they were installing the floating docks for the season at the boat ramp and we found too many people to stop and chat with during our walk.

Due to the wind, visitation to the Lighthouse was only 34 visitors.

Date: May 18,2012

Location: Bullard’s Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

Weather: Sunny, cool and windy

Temperature today’s Low: 42º

Temperature today’s High: 49º

Bird List: Pacific Loon, Western Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, California Quail, Western Gull, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, American Robin, American Crow, Spotted Towhee, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Steller's Jay, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Brewer's Blackbird

Wildlife Count: none

We started the day getting groceries. When we arrived back at the the campground we found out there had been an attempted break in to the lighthouse overnight. Fortunately, they weren’t able to get in to the Lighthouse and only one window was broken.

Since we had time before our afternoon shift at the Lighthouse we went to the boat ramp looking for birds. The installation of the floating docks was completed yesterday so the area around the boat ramp was much quieter. Unfortunately, we were there as high tide was coming in.  With the strong current there weren’t many birds about.

The high winds continued today and visitation to the Lighthouse was even less than yesterday with only 18 visitors.

New blog format:

I have given this new blog format a 3 week trial, but I don’t think it is working out. I am certainly writing and posting more often. However, most of the entries are repetitious because we do the same things from week to week and bird most of the same places.

I am going to try a weekly summary format for the next few weeks to see how that works out.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Bullards Beach State Park May 13th & 14th, 2012

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Date: May 13, 2012

Location: Bullard’s Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

Weather: Clear and sunny, Light winds, After 4 PM winds picked up and fog rolled in

Temperature today’s Low: 45º

Temperature today’s High: 54º

Bird List: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Canada Goose, Cackling Goose, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Osprey, Western Gull, Caspian Tern, Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, American Robin, American Crow, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Pacific Loon

Wildlife Count: Squirrel

We had people waiting when we went to open the Lighthouse at 11 AM and had a non-stop stream of people until 12:40 PM. About 1 PM the steady stream of people started up again. We had another 50 visitors today to the lighthouse during our shift. However, what a difference from yesterday on the river, we didn’t see any crab traps and only 2 boats.

After our shift we walked all of the campground loops and walked to the Boat Lunch Ramp. It was about 4 PM. The wind was causing whitecaps on the river, the fog was rolling up the river and the temperature was dropping fast. On our way back to our site we stopped to chat with several of the other volunteers along the way.

 Date: May 14, 2012 

Location: Bullard’s Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

Weather: The day started overcast but got sunnier as it went on and turned out to be a surprisingly nice day.

Temperature today’s Low: 47º

Temperature today’s High: 54º

Bird List: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Black Oystercatcher, Western Gull, Caspian Tern, Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Rock Dove, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Western Wood-Pewee, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, American Robin, American Crow, Common Raven, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, House Finch, American Goldfinch

Wildlife Count: Harbor Seal

Today being Monday it was the weekly volunteers breakfast at the Minute Café in Old Town Bandon. We had quite a crowd as 17 of our 25 volunteers made it to breakfast today.

Being our day off, after breakfast we headed out to check some of the local spots for birds. First we went to the south jetty of the Coquille River. Then we went on to Coquille Point.  with large sea stacks just off shore and nesting birds. It is probably the most visited wayside as it is closest to town and for shear number of birds. A little further down the road is Face Rock Wayside. Face Rock is probably the most scenic and on this day had the largest number of shore birds. Still further down the road is Devil’s Kitchen and China Creek Wayside.  One thing every site we visited had A LOT of WIND. China Creek is also where the very endangered Western Snowy Plovers nest and is the site where the “Plover People” John & Sue and Michael & Diane spend most of their volunteer time educating the public about the Snowy Plover nests and trying to keep dogs and people out of the nesting area.

After stopping at the trailer for a late lunch we decided to give ourselves a break and not do laundry today. So, we piled back in to the truck and headed to the recently restored section of Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge. The restoration of the Ni-les'tun Tidal Marsh area was just completed in the fall of last year. The best bird we saw there this visit was our first sighting of a Savanna Sparrow for this year. We also observed a Red Tailed Hawk hunting in the marsh, pick up some “lunch” and landed in the pine tree across the road from us!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Second week back at Bullards Beach State Park May 2012

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The door to the Lighthouse.

Date: May 7, 2012

Location: Bullard’s Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

Weather: Another beautiful clear day.

Temperature today’s Low: 44º

Temperature today’s High: 54º

Bird List: Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Surf Scoter, Turkey Vultures, Whimbrel, Western Sandpiper, Western Gull, Common Murre, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Violet-green Swallow, American Robin, American Crow, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Red-necked Phalarope

Wildlife Count: none

Monday is the morning of the weekly volunteers breakfast at the Minute Café in Old Town Bandon. Since there are so many volunteers here and since we all have different jobs we don’t see each other all that much during the week. The weekly volunteers breakfast has been going on for years. Although not everyone makes it to every breakfast, most people make it to most breakfasts. 

Since Monday is our day off, after breakfast we headed out to check some of the local spots for shore birds. We went to the south jetty where the Coquille River meets the ocean first. Since there is beach, the river and the ocean this is where we saw the most kinds of  birds. Along the cliffs that make up much of the coast in this area, there are several State Park Waysides. We stopped at all of the waysides that are close to Bandon. Coquille Point with large sea stacks just off shore and nesting birds, is probably the most visited wayside as it is closest to town and for shear number of birds. A little further down the road is Face Rock Wayside. Face Rock is probably the most scenic and on this day had the largest number of shore birds. Still further down the road is Devil’s Kitchen and China Creek Wayside.  One thing every site had was A LOT of WIND. China Creek is also where the very endangered Western Snowy Plovers nest and is the site where the “Plover People” John & Sue and Michael & Diana spend most of their volunteer time educating the public about the Snowy Plover nest and trying to keep dogs and people out of the nesting area.

The afternoon was spent doing laundry. Just as the laundry was finishing up in the dryer we got a call from John & Sue. They were at China Beach and had a Red-necked Phalarope hanging out in the creek close to there location. As soon as the laundry was done we headed back to China Creek. The Red-necked Phalarope was still there in the fresh water creek huddled out of the wind against the bank of the creek. Although, the bird was mobile his odd behavior made us think that he may have been sick or injured.

Date: May 8, 2012

Location: Bullard’s Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

Weather: Clear day and windy day. Wind gust to 23 mph.

Temperature today’s Low: 47º

Temperature today’s High: 52º

Bird List: Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Turkey Vultures, Western Gull, Violet-green Swallow, American Robin, American Crow, White-crowned Sparrow, Horned Grebe, Canada Goose, Stellers Jay, Western Grebe, Barn Swallow, Osprey

Wildlife Count: none

Tuesday is another day off. We started the day by walking the campground loops and visiting the boat ramp looking for birds. We saw pretty much the “usual suspects”.

Traveling friends Gordon & Juanita from the blog Seeing the USA in our Chevrolet are spending there third summer in Port Orford, Oregon. If you have been reading our blog for a while you know that we first met Gordon & Juanita in Alaska back 2008. Between emails, blog entries and the fact that our paths cross occasionally we have managed to keep up to date on each others lives. Also in Port Orford is a restaurant called the Crazy Norwegian’s Fish and Chips. Last summer we had one of the best Crab Sandwiches you could every hope for and the absolutely best Fish Tacos I have ever had. 

Obviously, we had to go to Port Orford to have lunch with Gordon & Juanita at the Crazy Norwegian. They still have great Carb Sandwiches and Fish Tacos.

After lunch we went over to Gordon & Juanita's summer home. This is a small but very friendly RV Park with many people returning year after year. While we were at Gordon & Juanita's their beagle, Abby,.must have known I needed a puppy fix. She jumped into my lap, put her paws on my chest and stared at me with her big dark eyes.

 

Date: May 9, 2012

Location: Bullard’s Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

Weather: Very windy day. Wind gust to 36 mph.

Temperature today’s Low: 44º

Temperature today’s High: 49º

Bird List: Brown Pelican, Pacific Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Western Gull, Song Sparrow, Pigeon Guillemot

Wildlife Count: none

Wednesday was our first “work day” with the Lighthouse opened to the public. The wind was blowing strong from the north when we opened the Lighthouse at 11 AM and got stronger as the day progressed. It wasn’t a very busy first day but, considering the wind and that it was mid-week in early May, 15 visitors seemed about right.

Not long after we were done with our shift at the lighthouse. John & Sue came by to pick us up for a trip to Coos Bay. There we were joined by Jim & Barb. They are volunteers at Simpson Reef that I wrote about in the last blog posting.

Visiting Coos Bay were the Tall Ships Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain. The Lady Washington is a replica of a 1787 merchant ship. The Hawaiian Chieftain is a replica of a 19th century trading ship. These 2 ships travel the west coast offering sailing trips and tours at various ports in California, Oregon and Washington. None of our schedules would work for a sail trip so we went for a tour.

After touring the ships we went to a near by German Restaurant that Jim liked called the Blue Heron. I think we all had a different item but, all came away happy and full.

We next went to a meeting of the Cape Arago Audubon Society. It has been a few years now since Kathy and I attended an Audubon Meeting. The presentation at the meeting was from a local Birder that set a new Oregon Big Year Record. Russ Namitz saw 381 bird species all in Oregon and all in the same year  beating the previous state record of 363. The statistic that amazed me most was that he drove 41,000 miles in pursuit of this record. That is more than one and half times around the world without leaving Oregon.

Our "crew" standing in the wind

Our “crew” standing in the cold

Figure head of the Lady Washington     A view of the Hawaiian Chieftain

Bow of the Lady Washington                     The Hawaiian Chieftain

Both of these ships have way too many lines     The Helm

The rigging of the ships                              The helm of the Hawaiian Chieftain

The Lady Washington has a tiller not a wheel     More rigging

The tiller of the Lady Washington              More rigging of Lady Washington

Date: May 10, 2012

Location: Bullard’s Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

Weather: Are windiest day yet. Wind 25 mph, Wind gust to 36 mph.

Temperature today’s Low: 39º

Temperature today’s High: 49º

Bird List: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Western Gull, Song Sparrow, Northern Harrier, Pigeon Guillemot

Wildlife Count: Squirrel

Today we opened the Lighthouse early for the annual visit by the 5th graders from Melrose Elementary School of Roseburg, Oregon. This is the 34th year they have had a field trip to the Coquille River Lighthouse. The teacher told us that he had been on this field trip at the same school when he was in 5th grade. This school group is very well organized and they are really good for 5th graders. They are however noisy. All sounds just echo in the lighthouse. Our total visitors for the day was 75. All but, 10 were with the school group.

We didn’t go for a bird walk or walk the campground loops today. After our busy morning, we were wore out! I went home a took a hour and half nap.

Date: May 11, 2012

Location: Bullard’s Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

Weather: Clear and only half as windy as yesterday. Wind 15 mph, Wind gust 20 mph

Temperature today’s Low: 40º 

Temperature today’s High: 50º

Bird List: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Western Gull, Song Sparrow, Pigeon Guillemot, Rufous Hummingbird, Turkey Vultures, American Crow, White-crowned Sparrow, Stellers Jay, Western Grebe, Barn Swallow, Osprey, Pacific Loon, Black-capped Chickadee, Great Blue Heron

Wildlife Count: none

Today we had a quieter day at the lighthouse. We had 17 people total for our shift and they seemed to come in a continuous but not hectic pace.

After working at the lighthouse we got groceries.

After putting away the groceries we walked the campground loops and visited the boat ramp. We found 4 Western Grebes, where up until now we have only seen one grebe at a time. Also the Pacific Loon has found a friend.

On our way back to the trailer we stopped by to have a glass of wine with John & Sue and start planning our Tuesday Bird trip. 

Date: May 12, 2012 .

Location: Bullard’s Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

Weather: Sunny and Clear. Wind 3 mph.

Temperature today’s Low: 41º 

Temperature today’s High: 53º

Bird List: Double-crested Cormorant, Western Gull, Song Sparrow, American Crow,

Wildlife Count: none

We had 50 visitors at the Lighthouse, a typical number for a beautiful Saturday on the coast. The visitors came in a nice steady stream so it never got to be overwhelming and the time flew by. The river was full of fishing and crabbing boats, so there wasn’t much bird activity.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Around Coos Bay May 6, 2012

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A small part of Simpson Reef

Date: May 6, 2012

Tonight’s Location: Bullard’s Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

Weather: Clear skies with the wind picking up as the day went on

Temperature today’s Low: º 41

Temperature today’s High: º 52

Bird List: Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Egret, Mallard, Turkey Vultures, Bald Eagle, Western Gull, Rufous Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Black Phoebe, Violet-green Swallow, American Robin, American Crow, Wilson's Warble, White-crowned Sparrow

Wildlife Count: Harbor Seal, Steller Sea Lion, California Sea Lion,

We awoke to a beautiful clear day. Our friends, John & Sue, as part of their volunteering with US Fish & Wildlife Service, were leading an 8 am Birding\Tidepool walk at Coquille Point here in Bandon. We had tentatively planned to go on their walk, but the prospect of fresh Blueberry pancakes won out.

Now a great day like today just can’t be wasted. We decided to head north to visit some of the Oregon State Parks near Coos Bay. Our first stop was at Simpson Reef Overlook. While standing there talking to the volunteers on duty, our first Bald Eagle of the season came gliding by the overlook at eye level and only about 15 feet out. Unfortunately, he moved too fast for me to get my camera ready before he moved off. The volunteer told us that the day before there had been 2 Gray Whales just north of the reef. No whale sightings today.

After our stop at Simpson Reef we continued down the road to Cape Arago State Park. Cape Arago is about 15 miles southwest of Coos Bay. It is one of those places on the Oregon coast the sticks out into the ocean. This cape does not stick out as far as Cape Blanco, but it sticks out far enough to get a strong wind. We could see forever, but there weren’t many birds around.

Leaving Cape Arago we next stopped at Shore Acers State Park. This park was once the estate of timber baron Louis Simpson. The house burned down years ago, but the gardens are still kept in shape. Even here in early May there were flowers in bloom. Rhododendrons and azaleas especially.

P1060457     P1060449

P1060447     P1060444

P1060452     P1060440

Strange plants and strange rocks at Shore Acers

To read about our 2009 visit to Simpson Reef, Cape Argo and Shore Acers State Park checkout our North Bend, Oregon Revisited blog entry.

Sue & John frequently go to the Fishermen’s Grotto in Charleston, Oregon. So naturally we had to try it out. I had the most unusual sandwich. It is called the Oyster Philly. Think of a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich but have the steak replaced by deep fried oysters. It is an amazing good sandwich.

One final stop for the day was a Great Egret Rookery along the Coos River that John & Sue had told us about. There must be 100 Great Egrets nesting in the trees at the rookery and another 25 – 50 Double-crested Cormorants sharing the same trees.  Our viewing site was across the river from the rookery so I just could not get a decent picture.