Lake Marie
Thursday was a quiet day (sort of). In the afternoon, we experienced our first Chain Saw Competition. An annual event in Reedsport, OR and their 19th. Competitors came from as far as Japan (3 of them) and one from Argentina. About 40 competitors in all. Unreal watching these guys with chain saws carving 300-500 lbs & more of a tree trunk into beautiful works of art.
Yesterday was
another birding day. Unfortunately, it
was not a very successful one.
Previous birding was
done in Bandon, OR. A small fishing
village about 40-45 miles south of our current location. Yesterday we went north on the Scenic Coastal
Highway or US 101. Visited another small
village called Yachats. En- route we saw
Heceta Lighthouse & State Park.
Incidentally, it is our sister lighthouse. Identically built but different lens (no red
lens) and no longer allows visitors to enter it. Also visited Cape Perpetua and its State
Park.
A gorgeous ride up
the coast to about 60 miles north of our location. Plenty of spots to stop along the way and
enjoy the view. Only at Heceta Point,
across from the lighthouse, did we see more Stellar and California Sea Lions,
Elephant and Harbor Seals. At this
location we also spotted a young Bald Eagle walking on the beach during low
tide. Aside from this sighting, we also
saw some western gulls, no other species of birds were seen. We were all surprised since eBird and other
apps, had lists of birds seen at these locations only 24-36 hours earlier. Go figure! When we got up to Yachats, we did
see some Brandt
Cormorants and another Harlequin duck.
Today, Saturday; we
finally kayaked. The delay was mainly
due to licensing issues. Oregon has
strict laws due to the "Invasive Species Act". We learned that our boats should have been
inspected upon entering the state. In
addition, licenses are needed for each boat.
After researching on the State's website, the permits are only needed
for boats/kayaks exceeding 10 ft. We
carefully measured ours and they are exactly 9.6ft. Wooohooo!
No permit needed.
Lake Marie is a
small lake. It is close-by and we have
walked the 1 mile path around it a few times, after dinner. Since it is a small lake, we went twice
around it. We elected to kayak at this
lake due to proximity to us as well as being well insulated from wind. Today, is a very high wind day gusting to
over 20 mph.
Wow...great stuff guys. It's a bummer I had to bow out of the chainsaw competition this yr but next yr....look out! Pretty amazing seeing an eagle waling along the beach. Hopefully you kept your bag of pretzels hidden from view.
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