Towheeblog

That fluke shot was not a fluke. We watched these gray whales feeding back and forth across Depoe Bay this afternoon. I finally got their rhythm. Rise and spout, three to six spouts, then a final fluke show as the whale(s) dove until the next resurrection. We never saw more than a single whale back at one time but we guessed there were three or more, back anbd forth, north to south and then back north. The whale-watchers’ boats were out much further than the watched whales.

At Boiler Bay we ate in the car–61 degrees feeling cold after weeks of Willamette summer. Brown Pelicans, feeding cormorants, murres, guillemots. Two godwit flocks heading south, the second laced with three dowitchers. Scuzzy young crows, dark young Western Gulls. Oystercatchers lounging on the rocks.

Lincoln County roadsides, Lincoln, Oregon, US
Aug 31, 2022. 15 species

Canada Goose  X
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  X
Eurasian Collared-Dove  X
American Coot  X
Ring-billed Gull  X
Western Gull  X
Glaucous-winged Gull  X
Brandt’s Cormorant  X
Pelagic Cormorant  X
Great Blue Heron  1
Great Egret  2
Turkey Vulture  X
American Crow  X
European Starling  X
Brewer’s Blackbird  X
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Boiler Bay State Wayside, Lincoln, Oregon, US
Aug 31, 2022. 14 species

Black Oystercatcher  3
Marbled Godwit  40
Short-billed Dowitcher  3
Common Murre  3
Pigeon Guillemot  8
Cassin’s Auklet  1
Ring-billed Gull  X
Western Gull  25
Glaucous-winged Gull  4
Brandt’s Cormorant  X
Pelagic Cormorant  X
Double-crested Cormorant  X
Brown Pelican  7
American Crow  10
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Depoe Bay State Wayside/Depoe Bay Whale Watching Center, Lincoln, Oregon, US
Aug 31, 2022. 6 species
Checklist Comments:     gray whales feeding in the bay

Western Gull  X
Glaucous-winged Gull  X
Brandt’s Cormorant  X
Pelagic Cormorant  X
Turkey Vulture  4
Common Raven  X