Yaquina Head, continued 5-24-10. Final views of Common Murres and their large nesting colony. Most will winter at sea. Clickable

Yaquina Head, continued 5-24-10. This wildlife viewing area is about ½-mile from the lighthouse. Spotting scopes are set up and manned by knowledgeable volunteers willing to answer questions (first photo). A wooden staircase (second photo) leads to a cobble-stoned beach and tidepools below the lighthouse (third photo) Clickable

Yaquina Head, continued, 5-24-10. Tidepools at Cobble Beach. Clickable


Cobble Beach and intertidal area

Sea Star

Purple Sea Urchins

Yaquina Head, continued, 5-24-10. Final photos from tidepool, including views of Giant Green Anemones, Sea Stars, barnacles and mussels.

Ed, looks like you and Pat had a fantastic time on the Oregon coast. We travelled up the coast with the boys when they were young way back in 1982. We went to the sea lion caves but didn't go right down into the caves. I'm sure it was very 'smelly' in there I don't know how the murres would ever find their own young amongst all those others When we were out at sea on the tour boat near Topolobampo in the Sea of Cortez there was a murre who was following us and diving right beside the boat. I got a pic of it that I'll put into my album later. We went to Bird Island which is a breeding habitat for brown pelicans, blue footed boobies, cormorants, blue herons, roseate spoonbills, egrets, turkey vultures, and a few other breeds I can't remember right now. Isn't nature wonderful

Hi Kay: Yes, Very smelly, very loud and very dark in the cave. No flash allowed so you’re using available light, but there’s just enough light from the cave entrance for photos, albeit not too good. As for Murres, my bird book says that unique egg markings may help adults recognize their own eggs. We saw thousands of Murres, but none up close so it will be nice to see your photo. They look a lot like penguins. I’m still trying to get caught up with this trip before leaving for Alaska, where the weather has been a lot better then our area. I’ll be looking forward to seeing your photos. And, yes, nature is wonderful.

Hi Ed, I haven't created an album yet for my vacation pics, and I can't attach a pic to a PM, so I've attached 2 pics of the Common Murre flying right beside our boat near Bird Island. It was difficult to get these pics as the boat was rocking and rolling

Hi Kay: Thanks for sharing your photos of the Murre. Being on a boat certainly helps. They never seemed to come close to the shoreline while we were watching them. It would have been interesting if an eagle had swooped down on the rocks where they were clustered. There could have been a mass exodus of thousands of Murres.