Netta Smith and I just returned from a four-day trip to Oregon, mostly on and near the coast, where we enjoyed the company of Jay Withgott and Susan Masta. The avian highlight, as far as we were concerned, was the bird rookery (murrery, cormorantery) at Yaquina Head, just north of Newport. On several rocks right out in front of you there are thousands of Common Murres and a few hundred Brandt's Cormorants, also lots of Western Gulls and Pigeon Guillemots. The murres furnish much of the spectacle, as they crowd on top of the rocks, fly around and around the islands, and rest out on the water. The steady noise makes you think that the word "murmur" surely comes from their calls.

The murres aren't nesting yet, but the cormorants are on nests, and they are in full display mode. To see a bunch of Brandt's Cormorants showing off their amazingly bright sky-blue throats is surely worth the price of admission. They're not right at your feet, but with a 500 mm telephoto lens, you can get pretty good photos, and with a good spotting scope you are out in the colony.

The only caveat is that if a Bald Eagle has recently flown past, all the murres are off the colony and either in the water or in the air, and they'll stay that way for some time. That's a disturbance just about equal to several thousand iPods playing.

Migration is nearing its end, but there were still Pacific Loons and Brown Pelicans flying north.

A bonus from visiting the Oregon coast is that wonderful bird, the Wrentit, that sings from the coastal thickets.

It really is worth a trip there from anywhere in the PNW.

Dennis
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Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net