Through the Windshield -- Photo: dawn villaescusa "It was the worst for visibility" said a member of one of our NAMC teams. "... a really dreary day" opined another, admitting it was an understatement.
Rain hammered down on all six of our volunteer teams until late afternoon, by which time some of us had given up and headed home. 20mph winds with gusts up to 50mph drove the rain, making visibility practically nil. Alot of our birding was done from our cars.
Rain hammered down on all six of our volunteer teams until late afternoon, by which time some of us had given up and headed home. 20mph winds with gusts up to 50mph drove the rain, making visibility practically nil. Alot of our birding was done from our cars.
Black Oystercatchers -- Photo: Nels Nelson So when one of our teams called my cell phone and asked what in the world I had gotten them into, followed by the statement that they had seen 28 Black Oystercatchers, I thought they were pulling my leg! But Nels Nelson had proof - he got more than half of them in this photo.
Great Egrets -- Photo: Nels Nelson Covering the coast was no easy task -- across from Netarts Bay, Nels and Owen found another group of birds huddled together - this bunch of Great Egrets.
This map shows our approximate coverage for the day.
Greater White-fronted Goose -- Photo: John Woodhouse The Woodhouse team braved the elements at Nehalem sewage ponds to count the waterfowl. At the Bay City ponds, this juvenile Greater White-fronted Goose "landed on the gravel road and proceeded to nibble at the roadside herbage." Look closely and you can see water dripping from the tip of its bill.
Lapland Longspur -- Photo: Sue Norris Sue Norris, one of our "solo" teams, came up with our bird of the day. This beautiful Lapland Larkspur was one of several birds who emerged at Bayocean Spit after the weather cleared late in the afternoon.
The six teams put in 23 hours by car and a very wet 13 hours on foot to tally a superb 92 species for the day. A day when no sea watch was possible, when the mountains were covered in a sheet of rain, and it was nearly impossible to use our optics in any location.
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