I am going to say something you rarely hear someone say here at the Oregon Coast:
It was a hot and sunny day!
No lie, we were well into the 80s today, with blue sky and sunshine
I am currently sitting on the back deck enjoying our back yard, which I love dearly.
I have been watching stellar blue jays breaking off sticks for nesting material, and I’ve been flicking these giant ants off my deck chair.
Yep, here on the coast, the first really warm day of the year, the male and queen ants fly into the air to mate. After doing so, the males crash and burn, and females go looking for a place to build the next. They are NOT welcome on our deck!
Sitting here got me thinking though, my back yard is not limited to the deck and trees outside the screen door. Truly, and I am so lucky to say this, my back yard is the central Oregon Coast.
I know how lucky I am to live here, and lord knows I do my best to get outside to enjoy it as often as I can.
Roscoe here, my fat tire bike, has taken me places, and shown me things that are so much fun this week.
There was the seal family I could see from the overlook I rode to,
The squadron of pelicans who buzzed me as I stopped to look for whales.
Ant the boiler at Boiler Bay that was high and dry from a serious low tide today!
Plusnthe green of the local wetland.
What I didn’t get a photo of was the first whale spout of the year. I was stopped, talking with Nicky, a coast thru cyclist. She was lamenting not having seen a whale on her trip yet. I was able to point out the spout for her, hopefully she has seen some closer since then.
My attention was taken away from the whale, though, by something I had only seen once before.
Right before our eyes, a bald eagle swooped down on a rookery and snagged a seabird, I believe it was a common murre, for dinner! I didn’t even think to grab the camera! I just watched at nature in action. Nature aint always pretty, not by a long shot. But if you make the effort to experience it, sit back and truly watch it, it will amaze you!
The beach walks have been memorable as well this week. Crashing Waves:
Some very cool sea glass
And one very old bottle that washed ashore! There was no note inside, and I debated taking it home with me.
In the end though, I left it. It looks like it has traveled for years. I am really hoping the tide came in and took it back out to sea to travel more. It just seemed wrong to put this on a shelf and never to be free again.
This is also the time of year for Velella velella – or By-the-Wind-Sailors, to wash ashore. These are jellyfish like creatures that float on the surface of the ocean, and the wind propels them to new feeding grounds.
This time of year the winds blow straight out of the west, causing them to come ashore and perish.
The thing about my back yard, is that nature comes to me as well. This week we had our first goldfinch visit the office.
Once again, more jaw dropping, though no real photo evidence, happened in the skies over our neighborhood. This bald eagle
Went head to head with our resident golden eagle
I was at my desk and saw these big birds in the air and I grabbed the big binoculars and ran outside (sorry customers I promise to call you back!)
These two we swooping and dive bombing, flipping upside down, and were duking it out for 15 minutes of so! I just sat there and watched in amazement as they battled.
In the end, the golden eagle chased off the bald and then took over the tree you see above.
In addition to the eagles and goldfinch, during the last week I’ve had visits from:
Pete the Possum
a Douglas Squirrel
a tiny chipmunk
evening Grosbeak
Flickers
townsend warblers
assorted chickadees
and a osprey flying overhead with branches for the nest
I love our back yard! But I love it more because I take the time to get out and enjoy it.
Whether the bike, the beach walk, or the back deck, I just get outside and do my best to open all my senses to nature. Sometimes I hear it first, or catch a glimpse, sometimes there is a smell, and others its just a feeling something is there! Let nature come to you and be open to experience it!
So get outside, and I to your back yard, I bet it is bigger, and more amazing, than you think!
Oregon Coast Cyclist 