Colorado Trip

 A few days ago I returned from a nine day trip to Colorado to visit with Andria, Dave, and the kids, (Nora, Soren, and Susanna).  They had a fun Father's Day celebration for me and Dave.  I also joined Dave and the kids for a backpack trip to The Great Sand Dunes National Park. Thanks, Dave, for doing the planning on that one, and inviting me along! There was also plenty of time for long dog walks with Yukon the dog, and Andria and Nora.  Susanna challenged me in Mario Kart over several days which culminated in a much anticipated championship.  Fortunately, Soren was banned from the championship because he would have easily won.  I must say, also, that Andria went way out of her way to see that I had all my favorite foods, snacks, and libations.  Thanks Johansons!

Below are some photos of the good times that were had.  

Father's Day BBQ with burgers and brats (the food, not the kids) - what indulgence!  L to R: Soren, Nora, Dave, me, and Susanna.

Me and my daughter - aah!

Father's Day feast.

Nora gave me a demonstration playing her marching tuba, or more precisely, a contrabass bugle.  This instrument is heavy, and she marches in the Colorado heat!  

Soren has been excelling in his drum skills, and I was hoping to see him perform in a concert that, unfortunately, had to be cancelled due to a family emergency the teacher had.

The backpack trip over the dunes begins.  Part way up I started to doubt I would make it.  We had to hike over North America's tallest sand dunes, 750 feet high, and descend part way down the other side to find a sheltered campsite. 

The starting elevation was 7,500 feet.  My pack was about 40 pounds due to all the water we had to carry.

One of my "Uh, oh, what was I thinking!" moments.  If you ever had to carry a load up soft sand at the angle of repose, you know what I'm writing about.

The energy the kids had was mind blowing.  Here they take a side trip up to the highest point just for the fun of it.  

The joys of youth!  Susanna has been taking gymnastics classes this year and is a real standout.

We reached the top.  At this point I was glad I didn't bail.

After setting up camp and eating some dinner, we climbed to a ridgetop to watch the sunset.

Those are the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the background of which nearby Blanca Peak's elevation is 14,351 feet.

Our campsite.  Dave and Nora decided to sleep  without tents.  Because of the brisk wind blowing, Susanna, Soren, and I opted for our tents.  Sand still permeated everything.

I love the dunes at sunset and sunrise when the shadows accent all the contours and ripples.

The End

Black Bear at First Beach

 Wednesday evening, this young appearing black bear made an appearance on our trail cam at first beach.  It looks like it could be the one we saw in May up on Bear Scratch trail across the road.

Jerry and Wanda Bring the Sunshine to River Song

 Jerry and Wanda, our special neighbors from Carlsbad, came to town for five days.  We had a therapeutic load of laughs, food, and drink.  They were even kind enough to bring some sunshine with them!  Below are some pics of us doing some of our favorite activities, plus some bonus pics from the last two days.

We took a jaunt down to the Haceta Head Lighthouse where Jerry spotted a big fin in the water.  It turned out to be a gray whale flipper.  We watched from above as it fed just offshore.

Next stop was a walk at Ocean Beach with a minus tide.

Wanda giving our baboon some love.

Jerry, aping the baboon, gets in the picture.

Gail made a delicious salmon quiche using the Buteau method known as "quiche cuite sans plat"

We had a very pleasant afternoon lounging on the lower deck.

Bonus Shots

The clematis vine outside our bedroom is having a good year.

Wednesday, we did the 8 mile Cummins Creek/Gwynn Creek loop.  This tree recently fell across the trail.  Its fall would have been something to behold!

Duck Success!

 The Hooded Merganser, April, and her ducklings have left the nest.  When I checked the trail cam last night, I saw no activity for the 18th, but a whole series of shots were taken on the 17th that had nothing on them.  The shots on the 17th were mostly at mid day, and I think the little ducklings were coming out of the entry hole and falling faster than the camera could catch them.  After seeing no activity on the cam today, the 19th, I decided to take a look in the nest box.  All the ducklings and April were gone, and there were no dead ducklings.  The egg shells were broken into small fragments, so I couldn't estimate how many eggs were laid.  There were some down feathers present.

April on Monday the 16th.

The nest today, Thursday the 19th.

There are fewer and fewer old trees and snags with cavities available for cavity nesting ducks.  Installing duck boxes can make up for some of this loss.  I have moved both my trail cams to the edge of the river, one upstream from the duck box, and one downstream.  It would be very cool to get a video of the new family!

Sarah Comes to Yachats

 My sister Sarah, who lives in Anchorage, Alaska, came to visit us the past 5 days.  She stayed in the luxurious Overleaf Lodge in a top floor suite perched over the stormy ocean washing over the rocks below.  We spent the days together here at River Song, and two evenings with Lorie and Brian.

We are having record setting rains this spring, with 9.69 inches of rain so far in May.  The outlook is for continued wet and cool weather through the end of June.  The garden may not be so great this year if things don't warm up.

Gail loves to host tea parties for our infrequent guests.  Sarah gets the full treatment!

On Wednesday evening, we had dinner up at Lorie's and Brian's home overlooking the Yaquina Bay in Newport.

Sarah and Daisy hitting it off.

Sarah and Gail at the stone shelter at the top of Cape Perpetua.

It was a very relaxing visit with short strolls around the property, long conversations, and just plain goofing around.

Hopefully, I will have a few more photos to share when I get them from Sarah and Gail.

Duck Nest Box Has A Taker

 Our duck box finally has an occupant. On April 25, I was about to weedwhack near the box, but thought I should make sure there weren't signs of a bird nesting in it.  While I was sniffing around it, to my surprise, a Hooded Merganser flew out the entry hole about a foot from face.  I was initially afraid that if she was still in  the process of laying eggs, she might not come back.  That night I set up a trail cam to see if she was continuing to use the box.  Sure enough, she has been coming and going several times a day ever since.  We call her "April".  She is usually so fast coming and going that the camera misses her, or I just get a blur.  A few times I've been lucky, though.  Below are a couple shots that came out pretty good.

"April", on April 30th, going out for food.

Today, May 4th, April coming in.

Hooded Mergansers lay a clutch of 5-13 eggs, which take about 33 days to incubate.  They all hatch within a few hours of each other and the chicks all leave within 24 hours of hatching.  They climb out of the box as the mother calls to them.  She will stay with them for about 70 days.  

It would be awesome to see her with her ducklings swimming on the river!

April Eleventh Updates

 

Saturday, SWIFTY met with Jack Hurt, on the left, an avid birder who has a lot of experience establishing Purple Martin Colonies on the Oregon Coast.  A short distance from his home is the Ghost Forest, a long stretch of ancient spruce stumps emerging from the sand.  Jack showed us some of his colonies and kindly answered all our questions.  Yesterday, Jim and Wally installed the Purple  Martin apartment at Beaver Creek that State Parks bought for our project. 

It is believed that this spruce forest was overwhelmed by a tsunami, which buried the trunks in debris and sand caused by the resulting landslides and a drop in the land from the earthquake. This occurred about 2,000 years ago and the stumps were finally exposed in the winter of 1997-98 by a series of storms that washed out the sand that had buried and preserved them.  

The wildflower "bleeding hearts" are blooming all around the house, lately.

On a hike up above Keller Creek is an area of young alders, many of which are used by elk to rub the velvet off of their antlers.

That is a black bear we saw recently not far from the house on an old logging road that we had named "Bear Scratch Trail" due to a number of alders with bear claw gouges on the trunks.  Daisy went ballistic so we had to turn around.

My e-bike finally came!  I've been having fun riding to town and back and going far up the forest service roads.  This bike is a beast, very sure-footed and has plenty of power.  It has 5 levels of assist with level 5 providing the most motor power. So far, I have only used levels 1 and 2.

I also have an e-dog to pull me up the trails!

Trillium is the first wildflower to bloom here.

Much work was done on the Amanda Trail at Cape Perpetua.  A suspension bridge was constructed to replace a smaller bridge that had washed out from a landslide.  The grotto area, above, has a statue to honor Amanda De-Cuys, an old, blind Native American woman who represents members of a forced, horrific march up the coast to the reservation that was in Yachats.  Many donors, organizations, landowners, and agencies came together to make the renovations possible.  

   Gail and Daisy crossing the 142 foot long bouncy bridge.  Daisy was not too comfortable with the sensation!  We did the 3.7 mile climb to the top of Cape Perpetua on this day.

Gail found a couple more large agates at Ocean Beach.  

We've had a couple Pileated Woodpeckers liking our dead alders, lately.  They are North America's largest woodpecker.

The Tree Swallows, and a few Violet Green Swallows, have been showing up in small flocks off and on.  They haven't settled in yet, but should start claiming our nest boxes soon.  They are checking out the boxes and discussing floor plans and such.

Our little fish pond is frog heaven.  Here are 4 bullfrogs paying their respects to Mr. Ceramic frog.

I had seen a few large steelhead trout about 3 weeks ago, and was sitting at my "sitting spot" waiting for a photo op, when this mammal came swimming rapidly by.  I think it's an otter, but I'm not totally sure.  It went by so fast, and surfaced just for and instant.  I thought it was a salmon until I looked at the camera.

From our living room we have seen elk several times, recently.  They are in the pasture on the other side of the river.  Elk in the rain.

We have a male Ruffed Grouse below the house that has been doing his chest thumping daily.  Here he is running like a little chicken.  We have also had a Sharp-shinned Hawk that has been swooping in on birds around the feeder.