Finally, the day has come that I will finish this trip report! So in May of 2017 (Yes, I know that was almost a year ago), my family and I went to Astoria, Oregon for a 10 day trip. It's one of our most favorite vacation places! The whole atmosphere is just really nice. So now I'm going to have trouble remembering everything we did in chronological order, but here's a rough overview. After driving the 10 or so hours to get there, we checked into our hotel and enjoyed the view from the balcony: While looking out at the water, I spotted two Pelagic Cormorants, a beautiful west coast specialty that's distinguished by white rump patches. Then we went across one of Astoria's bridges and birded there for a little while, getting yearbird Common Yellowthroat: And getting to see some cute little Mallard ducklings with their mother: Also I got some good photos of a Barn Swallow and Song Sparrow: The view from the hotel with clear skies (a rare occurrence in Astoria). You can see the Jetty in the distance, just beyond which is the Pacific Ocean. A Bald Eagle soaring by the hotel: A lame Olympic Gull, super common hybrid between Western and Glaucous-winged Gull: Two massive cargo ships: The next day, we woke up to a Great Blue Heron sitting in the next-door pier And there was also a rare Palm Warbler flitting around on the pier: We rented bikes and went bicycling on the paths lining the Columbia River. Here's a spider on a stool: A Caspian Tern: View of the Bridge from the other side: A Sea Lion: Another presumed Olympic Gull: A Pelagic Cormorant showing off its glossy nature: Bad photo of a Golden-crowned Kinglet: Believe it or not, this is a Chestnut-backed Chickadee: Too bad that branch was there... Yellow Warbler: Evening Grosbeak: Pacific Wren: Some Bald Eagles soaring: Barn Swallow showing off its sheen: Bonaparte's Gull: The Pacific Ocean from the South Jetty. Last time I was here, it was a gale with extremely high winds. You can imagine how crazy that was! Lifer Semipalmated Plover: A couple Whimbrel: The sand flowing across the beach is mesmerizing: Wreck of Peter Iredale: A Pelagic Cormorant sitting on a pier next to the hotel: A pretty millipede: Some Brandt's Cormorants, distinguished by their blueish faces: A Ring-billed Gull at the Bowpicker, otherwise known as the best fish and chips in the states: Some of the usual fog: Great Blue Heron in fog: The bridge at Under-the-Bridge Coffee Bald Eagles sitting together. I believe we counted roughly 50 at this location: The tiny black-and-white bird in the foreground is a Black-bellied Plover. The white-rumped bird right behind it is a Brant. Kudos if you can find the Dunlin -- I'm not sure even I can find it: Red-throated Loon: Brant at the North Jetty: Red-necked Phalarope: Brown Pelicans: Brandt's Cormorant: Caspian Terns: Some cool skies: Common Murres, a Tufted Puffin, Harlequin Ducks, and a Bald Eagle at Haystack Rock: Song Sparrow in Seaside, Oregon: Some pretty cool sea life: On the walk to the Astoria Column, I got lifer Hermit Warbler and Black-throated Gray Warbler: An interesting subspecies of Steller's Jay with no white on the crown. The Column The view from the top: A cool beetle: Lifer Band-tailed Pigeon: Lifer Pacific-Slope Flycatcher Common Yellowthroat singing: Great Blue Heron: Pacific Wren singing from a branch: Wilson's Warbler: American Crow: Brown Pelicans diving for fish: Seal adorableness: A Harbor Porpoise: A Savannah Sparrow: Bald Eagle: Caspian Terns: Great Blue Heron: Franklin's Gull: Well, I'm pretty sure I got everything! I didn't include every single photo, so if you'd like to check out all of them, they're in the gallery. The next report will be on an August Seattle/Northern Idaho trip, hopefully that will come out soon, maybe even today!
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