| Date: July 11, 2009 | | Location Tahkenitch Dunes Trail Birding | | Where: Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area | This is a trip that took several interesting turns. First it was to be a hike on Friday, but when we woke up to rain Friday morning it was postponed to Saturday. The original idea was also to hike cross-country across the dunes from the Tahkenitch Dunes Trail to the Tahkenitch Creek Trail. However when we arrived at the dunes on the Tahkenitch Dunes Trail it was so foggy we could not see the dunes, so we changed from going cross-county to staying on the trail, which we could see.
As we started through the dunes our attention was immediately caught by numerous White-crowned Sparrows in the shore pines, then a Spotted Towhee, and in the distance a Steller's Jay could be heard. We continued on through the shore pines, and when we broke out at Tahkenitch Creek, we looked over on the beach and spotted a lone Turkey Vulture and then a pair of Bald Eagles. We stopped for lunch at a good viewpoint over the creek and the Vultures flew in until there was a group total of six. A lone Belted Kingfisher watched from his perch. Killdeers could be heard just around the corner, and a flock of Sanderlings made a quick pass by. The two Bald Eagles flew by out over the surf, and a Great Blue Heron made a couple of close passes up the creek. At this point we decided that this was actually a birding trip more than a hike.
|  | | Jeanette bird-watching at our lunch spot |  | | Belted Kingfisher |  | | Great Blue Heron |
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