Wednesday, May 06, 2015


Tillamook to Bandon

After our three day stay in Tillamook it was time to move further south along the coast to our next destination of Bandon. Located on the Southern Oregon Coast where the Coquille River meets the Pacific Ocean, Bandon, Oregon is 90 miles north of the California border and about nine hours from San Francisco. The drive down along route 101 offers more spectacular scenery with the ocean to the right, rolling mountains and forests to the left and river and estuary inlets along the way. With a number of stops along the route, a few times to let Black-tailed Deer cross the road, the drive down took around five hours.

Pretty poor record shot of Pacific Loon
Of interest while checking out several rivers and inlets were our first Common Mergansers of the trip and off-shore Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Common Murre, several Caspian Terns passing thorough and the usual selection of Surf and Black Scoter. The coast here has many large rocky outcrops and these are always worth a good scan, Brandt's Cormorant and Pelagic Cormorant can often be found nesting there and on one occasion the lonely figure of a Whimbrel on the beach nearby.

American Goldfinch - Regular on the trip thus far
A stop at Newport South Jetty produced another two trip firsts, a pair of Harlequin Duck and an Osprey nest atop one of the lighting buoys. Adult not in residence but a very large juvenile showing well. Here we also managed two Brown Pelican, Western Grebe and one or two Sea Lions popping up out of the water. Around some of the park areas American Goldfinch, White-crowned Sparrow and Steller's Jay, the latter yet another trip first.

White-crowned Sparrow - Image  by Dee
Finally, just prior to arriving at Coos Bay a Great Egret on one of the marshes and raptors today included several Bald Eagle and Turkey Vulture. Tomorrow a trip to Brandon Marsh - sorry Bandon Marsh!

BUBO Listing www.bubo.org