Synopsis

 After being house bound for too long over the summer, this early fall trip down to the Bay Area was a much-needed escape. The goals of the long road trip were to visit friends in the Bay Area, to get away from it all, and to see some birds along the way. We were also hoping to take advantage of campground and roads being emptier due to the kids being back in school.

Monday, September 21st

We left midmorning on Monday, buzzed down I-5 and stopped for lunch at the Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge right outside of Salem. In the afternoon heat, the slough was pretty quite. Just a few Canada Geese and lots of blackbirds working the mowed fields. We continued our journey southward and cut over to the coast on one of the small windy highways where we encountered the first of the many road construction sites we’d go through. After the minor hold up, we followed highway 101 along the coast to Cape Blanco State Park.

 Even though it was a Monday, the park only had one site and one cabin available. We decided to splurge, spent the $35, and took the cabin for one night. I was surprised at how full the campground was, but seeing that they were mainly RVs with older, retired people it made more sense. After settling into the cabin, we walked down to the bluff below the cabin and watched the sunset over the Pacific Ocean.

 After dinner, we walked down to the beach and wandered around on the sand. The Milky Way arched over us in a dusty haze and hundreds of stars twinkled in the black sky. From the northern blackness, the lighthouse blinked at us from the rocky cape. At out feet large sand fleas partied in the light of our headlamps. They seemingly swarmed around us crawling along the ground then flipping in the air.

 We left the beach and settled into a picnic table near our cabin and watched the starlit sky. A few pieces of space junk floated by. All the major constellations were lost among the more numerous smaller stars. I could make out Hydra’s head peering out from behind the doug firs and hemlocks. 

Tuesday, September 22nd

 We woke up early and quickly packed up, aided by the fact we only had our sleeping bags to pack away thanks to the cabin we stayed in. We left the campground and stopped at the lighthouse parking lot. From the bluffs, I could scope out the large rafts of Pigeon Guillemots, Common Murre, Pacific, Common, and Red-throated Loons, all three cormorants, and Western and Hermman’s Gulls. Two Caspian Terns flew over the cape heading south and a flock of American Pipits silently fed in the grasses only to call when in flight. A Peregrine Falcon was enjoying its breakfast on the cape, plucking feathers and chowing down on its meal. While I was watching the seabirds bob up and down on the waves, Tor spotted a Botta’s Pocket Gopher scurrying along the ground toward us. It’s fat shovel face head poked along the ground and it’s beady small eyes peer out from its furry head. It finally settled on a patch of grass and began to burrow. It was so intent on burrowing it didn’t mind us standing over it as it clawed at the dirt.

 We stopped at the marsh before leaving the park. The Sixes river was running high and the trail through the marsh was flooded. Three long-billed dowitchers flew over, perhaps flushed by the Cooper’s Hawk that was buzzing through.

 Continuing our journey down to California, we made the mistake of going back over to I-5 instead of staying on highway-101. As we found out, even though highway-101 is slower, it takes longer to travel between the two roads. We drove from Gold Beach on a narrow curvy two-lane road over the mountains and through the forest toward Grant’s Pass. Although the road was slow and time consuming, we were rewarded by the sights of Western Gray Squirrels dancing in front of our car. They couldn’t decide to go left or right. We also saw two single female Blue Grouse on the side of the road. And at a vista stop, we saw Red Crossbills at a clay lick. The crossbills sat in a shallow bowl in the shade of a large pine and were so busy consuming clay that we could easily watch them.

 Back on I-5, we ran into more road construction, but luckily didn’t have to come to a complete stop. We did come to a complete stop when all 4 lanes were reduced down to the shoulder when a semi spilled half of its hay bales across the freeway.

 As we were still 200 miles away from Sacramento with 4 hours of daylight left, we began debating whether we should drive into our targeted campground (Samuel Taylor St Park outside of Point Reyes National Park) arriving there at night or if we should stop at one of the many redwood campgrounds close to highway-101. We were worried the campground might be full (since we were surprised how full Cape Blanco was), so we decided to drive back over to hwy-101 to find a campsite outside of the Bay Area.

 The drive over to 101 started smoothly until we hit Clear Lake, which was lined with small towns that ran into one another. Going through the towns was slow (and adding to the fact that there was more road construction). We were lucky to reach Hendy Woods with still a sliver of daylight left. In the waning light, we drove into Hendy Woods St Park and were amazed that we were the third campers to show up for the night. There were 2 loops of campsites with over 90 spots, so we stayed in our own loop for the night. Even though the cost for a site was $35 (and not even a cabin), we thought it was worth it to have half of a campground entirely to ourselves.

 In the dim light that filtered through the tall fir and oak trees, we set up camp and ate our dinner. As darkness set in, a Barred Owl hooted in the distant and a pack of coyotes howled. We took an after dinner stroll through Little Hendy Grove. Even in the dark the large redwoods are still impressive. It’s not the same as in the sunlight, but perhaps the inability of seeing the entire tree adds to the mystic or allows the imagination to build upon just the grand tree trunks. 

Wednesday, September 23rd

 Acorn Woodpeckers started off the morning with their raucous and loud calling. I couldn’t spot them through the trees, but their presence was unmistakable. In the morning, we hike around the Navarro River, meadows, and Big Hendy Grove. The river was dry, with a few holding ponds filled with small fish and snails. Walking along the dry riverbed, I accidentally flushed a Green Heron that was taking advantage of its trapped prey. A small group of Common Yellowthroats chatted noisily from the riverside brush.

 In the meadow, a gang of 5 turkeys wandered through the tall grass. They pushed into the adjacent redwood forest as we followed them up the trail. A couple of young Western Fence Lizards sunned themselves on the path, and the Western Scrub Jays called from the tops of the oak trees. We followed the trail into the towering redwoods and walked between the “gentle giants.” The trail looped around and we spotted the turkeys again walking among the oxalis and vanilla leaf that blanketed the forest floor.

 We returned to the car and continued our drive downward (through more road construction). After a slight accidental detour to highway-1 due to inadequate maps and signage in Petaluma, we found our way to the Point Reyes National Park visitor center. We got orientated and headed to the Samuel Taylor St Park. The campground was located in the redwoods on a creek and was also parallel to the main road. Since the campground was situation on the upward slope from the road, it was fairly loud from the passing trucks and cars. Although it wasn’t a major road, it still had plenty of through traffic. There were plenty of sites and we set up our tent and headed back to Point Reyes.

 While it was sunny and warm inland, the heavy fog set in once we started out to the lighthouse. Driving out to the lighthouse, I was surprised at how much of the parkland was used as “historical ranches” or dairy farms. Some of the farms seemed like the ones in the commercials with the “happy cows.” A few seemed like feedlots – not so happy I guess. It was a disappointment to see how portions of this great park were still overrun by cows that overgraze and damage the land. It seemed like a good portion of the northern half of the park was farmland. I wouldn’t count that as national park. We did still see a fair number of raptors. Red-tail Hawks were the most numerous. There were also a number of Northern Harriers roaming the open grasslands. On our drive out, we also spotted a small herd of female elk and later two male elk.

 When we reached the lighthouse parking lot, the fog was heavy and the wind whipped through the air. We walked out to the lighthouse and were rained on by the trees that would catch the mist and efficiently turn it into rainwater. It wasn’t too surprising that we couldn’t see the lighthouse when we reached the platform. We heard the fog house below, but the 300 steps that lead to the lighthouse were closed and the fog enveloped them at around step #35.

 Too windy for a lunch outdoors at the lighthouse, we drove to the Kennith C. Patrick visitor center and hoped it would be protected from the wind. Although still a bit windy, we found shelter at some picnic tables next to the closed restaurant. Apparently, the Western Gulls thought we brought enough for them as well and swooped in to join us for lunch. When someone in the parking lot began throwing out food to the gulls, we quickly lost our lunching companions, except for one young gull who still held on to the hope that we’d feed it something.

 After a quick stroll on the wind swept Drake Beach, we headed back down the road and stopped to look out at Schooner Bay. There were a few Great Egrets, Willets, and Lesser Yellowlegs in the shallow marsh grass. A first year White-tailed Kite was perched on the wires while scoping out the ground below. It swooped down over the wet meadow, pausing on a fence post before gliding farther along.

 We made a brief stop at the marsh near the main visitor center. From the tall reeds, we heard Marsh Wrens and a Virginia Rail. We followed the short trail with a tall grass meadow on one side and a weedy thistle patch on the other. Besides the large flock of American Goldfinches that relished the overgrown weedy area, there wasn’t a lot of bird activity.

 After another full day of sightseeing and driving, we returned to our campsite for the evening and settled in for the night. 

Thursday, September 24th

 Early next morning Acorn Woodpecker called from their snag and flew about the misty forest in search for more nuts to cache.  We hiked along a trail through the redwoods and oak trees from the campground. A 3-point buck was grazing near the trail and ran up the hill at the sight of us. When we stopped to look at a Nuttall’s Woodpecker, the buck walked back over the trail only to still realize it wasn’t alone and took off down the hill. The trail continued down to the site of an old mill and we looped back toward the campground along the creek side.

 By the time we reached our camp, the fog had lifted and the skies were blue again. We decided to try our luck with Point Reyes and see if it was clear out there as well. Once we came down the hill toward the park, it was clear that we wouldn’t be seeing anything from the end of Point Reyes. Instead we returned to the main visitor center to peruse the displays and learn a little more about the park. The center was overrun with school kids, but once they cleared out, the center was much more enjoyable.

 Not wanting to give up quickly, we decided to head up the northern park road to look out at Tomales Bay. We made a quick stop at the Hearts Desire Beach (where my heart didn’t desire much if anything about the bare beach) before heading farther north up to McClures Beach. It was foggy on the drive up so we didn’t have high hopes of seeing anything, but many Red-tailed Hawks were circling over the cow pastures despite the low visibility.

 We walked through the fog down to McClures Beach. A few purple asters, California poppies, and bush lupine still bloomed along the pathway to the beach. At the beach, one lone Willet stood among the gulls. We didn’t spend much time on the sandy beach and returned to the car. Before leaving Point Reyes entirely, we made a stop at Limantour Beach for lunch. It was sunny and clear at the beach, but we could see the fog was still heavy over the point.

 We decided it was time to meet up with our friends in the Bay Area and headed in city (through traffic) to meet up and catch up with them. The evening was spent with good stories, good company, and good times for all. 

Friday, September 25th

 We hit hwy-101 the next morning. Tor seemed to have a bug-a-boo about getting out of California so we made a beeline toward Oregon. Once we got out of Santa Rosa, traffic calmed down and it was pretty smooth (plus all the curves and road construction) up the coast. Around Laytonville, one of the small towns along 101, we notice a lot of hippies looking to hitch a ride. It was odd the small town has several groups of hippies, but I didn’t think much of it. We were in California after all. Then we came upon a meadow that was turned into a sea of parked RVs and cars with hippies everywhere. It was a hippie event in the middle of nowhere called Earthdance. Seems like if they wanted to celebrate the earth they could do better by holding it in a more convenient location with public transportation options. Instead they force hundreds to drive out to the boonies on their own to trample down a meadow. Then again I don’t know if any city or town would allow so many hippies to converge in one spot. The hippies’ lack of hygiene might become some sort of biohazard threat.

 After we escaped the hippies and more road construction, we stopped at Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. We walked the short loop trail out to the bay and watched the godwits, dowitchers, and many peeps probe and search the mud for tasty treats. On a bridge over a channel, we were pleasantly surprised by 4 river otters. Two of the otters were basking in the sun, while one dug at the bank and a small juvenile treaded water. We watched them for a few minutes as they crawled up on the banks and slide back in again. Soon they were swimming down the channel and following one another.

 Our next stop up the coast was Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. We stopped at one of the parking lots and were disappointed to see most of the paths were blocked off due to FEMA construction on the levees. We walked around the levees that were open to the salt marshes. A solitary Greater Yellowlegs poked around the mud. Green-winged Teals piled next to the grass for napping and preening. A group of Long-billed Dowitchers probed the mud as the Canada Geese watched. In another pond, Meadowlarks came in for a quick bath and a River Otter popped up to check the splashing. The otter made a surprising lunge towards a small flock of peeps on the shoreline. They flew up and chattering and chiding the assailant. In the background, bulldozers, backhoes, and dump trucks rumbled along the levees kicking up dirt and making a racket.

 A Peregrine Falcon passed overhead and soon after a White-tailed Kite soared by. Our path dead-ended at another construction sign, but we decided, instead of looping the way back along the levees, to pass it because the blocked off empty driveway was only 100 ft to our car. Of course just as we were walking out of the blocked off road a truck pulls up and a man scolds us for walk there. What he didn’t see were the 5 other people we saw running and walking their dog through the construction area while we were there.

 Although the Arcata Marsh held some good birds and provided a good environment to support the migrants, it also had a weird feeling to it. It was located behind the industrial part of town and with the many roads that allowed access to it made it a place you wouldn’t want to walk alone at night. We made a brief stop in at the visitor center before heading north again out of California and back to Oregon.

 We were aiming to stay in Cape Blanco for the night, but had our doubts because it was nearly full the first time we stayed plus it was Friday. Our doubt was confirmed when we saw the “campground full” sign. We turned around and tried for Humbug Mountain State Park, just 10 miles south of Cape Blanco. The campground was larger and still had a lot of vacant tent sites. There were many RV campers and tents were the definite minority. The campground lay adjacent on the eastern side of 101 so there was no beach side camping and there was no shelter from the noise of 101. It wasn’t an ideal camping spot, but it had its perks. There was a path leading to the beach and a trail to the summit of Humbug Mountain located on the other side of 101.

 After setting up camp, we settled in our tent contented to spend another beautiful night under the stars. 

Saturday, September 26th

 In the morning, we set out to hike up Humbug Mountain. It was a relatively small mountain (~1,700 ft at the summit) and the 5.5-mile loop trail didn’t seem too threatening. We hiked up the mountain past doug firs and through groves of myrtlewood and oak. The wind played with the leaves on the tops of trees, the sun broke through the stands of tanoak trees and dappled the forest floor in golden patches, the air near the seeps and trickling streams was cool and refreshing, and the dried oak leaves made a pleasant crunch under our hiking boots. We reached the summit of the mountain and could see the ocean beyond the pine trees. Before us was a small meadow comprised of dried grass and dying ferns. Dull colored dragonflies buzzed the meadows trying to catch their next meal.

 We continued our hike back down the mountain through thick patches of sword ferns and under the darkening canopy of the tall pines. A Varied Thrush flushed from the ground and watched us on a bare branch. Winter Wrens chucked from the dense underbrush and, when pished at, would pop up briefly only to return to the brush in disgust. A flock of Red Crossbills called as they flew above the canopy and occasional settled in a treetop.

 After we returned to the campground, we walked out to the beach. I was surprised to hear a Yellow-breasted Chat singing contentedly and continuously from the thick brush that grew along the creek. I never spotted the bird, but the song was unmistakable. It was a nice treat to hear on an early fall day.

 The wind on the beach was strong and constant. If that wasn’t enough, it was often punctuated with a stronger gust, just to remind you that the wind was there. We ate our lunch on the beach, trying to finish our sandwiches quickly before the bread became so desiccated it would crumble apart.

 Tor took to his favorite beach activity of building a sandcastle for the rising tide to envelope, while I set up my scope to watch the cormorants, pelicans, and gulls wiz by in the wind. On the rocky shore, 4 Black Oystercatchers were napping and looking for food, and 2 American Pipits were also bobbing up and down while gleaning food from the rocks.

 After getting my fill of being wind swept and sand blasted, I retreated back to camp to wash up and get ready to go into town. We drove a few miles up the road to Port Orford a small town with a few stores and restaurants. We stopped in a gift shop to pick up a few souvenirs made out of myrtlewood. We also went to the “ Port Orford wetland interpretive boardwalk,” which was sandwiched between the residential and business areas. It was a small boardwalk over a marsh/wetland. The timing may not have been right added to the fact that probably most birds had hunkered down out of the wind, but there were very few birds around.

 We went to the Port Orford Head State Park, which was the site of an old coast guard/life boat rescue station. In the parking lot, we heard the cries of a Peregrine Falcon from behind the pine trees. Occasionally, it would swoop up into view and dive back down out of sight calling and screaming, seemingly annoyed at something (perhaps another Peregrine?).

 We walked out along the head, taking in the beauty of the coast (and taking in more wind). We could see the wind rip across the water, causing an undulating pattern on the large waves. White caps covered the ocean as far as we could see.

 For dinner, we ate at the Crazy Norwegian Fish & Chips in town. It was actually very tasty and full of local people (though that might be due to the lack of other restaurants in town). Still the food was very good, and it was a nice way to whine down the evening. With our belly filled to the brim with fried fish and milkshakes, we watched the sun set over the Pacific Ocean before heading back to camp.

Sunday, September 29th

 Hoping that the wind was less fierce on the coast, we packed up and drove back out to Cape Blanco. The wind was far from tame and there was no point in setting up a scope if it wasn’t going to be steady enough to identify the rapidly bobbing seabirds or worse if the scope was going to tumble off the cliff.

 We moved on up to Bandon Marsh NWR, hoping it would be more protected from the wind. It was pleasantly nice at the marsh. From the platform, I could easily scope out the many Black-bellied Plovers, Short-billed Dowitchers, Semi-palminated Plovers, and Black Turnstones. As the tide receded, the smaller shorebirds moved into the exposed mud. Most of them were Least Sandpipers, with Dunlin and Western Sandpipers mixed in. I spotted one Pectoral Sandpiper and watched a Ruddy Turnstone tackle a large clump of seaweed. Two Surfbirds also turned up in the mix. As I was watching the shorebirds, they suddenly flew up as a Merlin buzzed around the mudflats. The smaller sandpipers swirled in tight formations as the Merlin made several grabs at them. The larger Black-bellied Plovers watched the commotion without taking flight, until the Merlin made a close pass at one, which fluttered its wings, but didn’t take flight. The Merlin flew through the clouds of shorebirds without success and joined another Merlin that was perched on a large log on the side of the mudflats. After the excitement died down the shorebirds continued on their business probing and picking at the mudflats.

 As the water continued to recede and more mud appeared, a Black and Ruddy Turnstone (perhaps the same one) flew in closer. They gave great comparisons between size and color differences. The Ruddy had bright orange legs, a decorative collar, and was slightly smaller than the Black Turnstone. However, just because they flew into get didn’t mean they liked each other. They quickly got into a squabble that was resolved by outstretched wings and open beaks.

 Besides the shorebirds, there were rafts of Mallards, Northern Pintails, and Green-winged Teals floating on the bay. Canada and Greater White-fronted Geese grazed the grasses, and two Wrentits serenaded us by the platform. A large flock of Cedar Waxwings feed on the cascara berries.

 After tearing myself away from the birds, we continued up north to our last camping spot: Cape Lookout State Park. I knew it would be a drive mainly because we’d have to pass through the more touristy sections of hwy-101. Although the section of road between Coos Bay and Lincoln City are very beautiful, the towns and tourist make it inconvenient and somewhat maddening to deal with. My idea would be to make bypasses or have the towns as turnoffs from the main road, but Tor said that would make the towns dry up - which wouldn’t be a bad thing. Travel through the towns was slow, especially when stuck behind a clueless slow tourist, who doesn’t have the decency to allow people to pass.

 Things came to a stand still, where a car had recently rolled over, blocking one of the lanes. Instead of waiting on the road, we ducked into a parking lot for beach access and we headed to the beach while the rollover accident was being handled. After the ambulance raced away, traffic began to move again and we got back in the car to head north. We stopped in Dopoe Bay (a super touristy place) for lunch (not so great) and to pick up some candy as gifts.

 We reached Cape Lookout late afternoon and picked out a private site that was surrounded by closed campsites due to construction. With still over an hour of daylight left we drove to the trailhead and hiked out to Cape Lookout. We stopped along the trail to watch the many pelicans, gulls, and cormorants below. A small group of Steller’s Sea Lions swam in the surf. About a half hour before sunset we reached the end of the cape. We set up the scope and watched pods of Dall’s Porpoises surface every so often. The Common Murres were very vocal, calling from the waters below. Scores of more pelicans and cormorants flew past the cape. And a single Trumpeter Swan flew overhead heading south. An early winter migrant.

 The sun dipped into the fog above the ocean’s horizon. The fog distorted the light, bending the shape of the sun. It finally sank below the water, leaving the sky with a slash of pastel pink above the ocean. We headed back to the car, using our headlamps to guide us through the quickly darkening forest.

 We returned to the campground where we juggled between cooking our food and chasing off the persistent raccoons. We finally gave up on chasing them off and they realized we weren’t going to share with them or allow them the possibility of grabbing a bite to eat so they soon left us alone. However, they did come back later in the evening, as they were making their usual rounds at the campground.

Monday, September 28th

We ate breakfast on the beach under the heavy layer of clouds. The night was considerably cooler than any of the other nights we camped. And it looked like the possibility of rain had finally shown up.  After visiting the Octopus Tree, we traveled back home along more twisty Oregon roads (with construction, of course). We stopped for lunch at Don Pedros in Longview. It was an inconspicuous place with fantastic tacos. Contented with full stomachs and restful minds, we headed home via I-5 sans road construction.  We stopped at the Cape Meares Lighthouse before heading home. Pelican, cormorants, and murres were busy catching fish, while the gulls would fly in to try and steal their share. The seabirds were busy drifting along with the currents. I spotted one Sooty Shearwater gliding low and fast over the water. It circled around a couple of times, but didn’t seem in a hurry to travel south.

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Pictures

	Sunset at Cape Blanco State Park, OR
	Large sand fleas (about 2cm long) swarmed the sand beach at night at Cape Blanco State Park, OR.
	Cape Blanco State Park, OR
	Botta's Pocket Gopher, Cape Blanco State Park, OR
	Western Gray Squirrel, OR
	California Ground Squirrel, OR
	Forest near the Rogue River, OR
	Red Crossbill at a clay lick, OR

	Sooty Grouse, OR
	Navarro River, Hendy Woods State Park, CA.

	Redwoods of Big Hendy Grove, Hendy Woods State Park, CA.
	Buck, Point Reyes National Park, CA

	Steps down to the Point Reyes lighthouse enveloped in thick fog.
	Tulle Elk, Point Reyes National Park, CA
	River Otters, Humbolt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, CA

Humbolt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, CA

	American Pipit, Humbug Mountain State Park, OR
	Humbug Mountain State Park, OR
	Port Orford Heads State Park, OR

Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, OR

	Sunset at Cape Lookout, Cape Lookout State Park, OR
	Sunset at Cape Lookout, Cape Lookout State Park, OR

Octopus Tree, Cape Meares State Park, OR

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Bird List

Common Loon - CM
Red-throated Loon - CB
Pacific Loon - CB, P
Western Grebe - P, CM
Red-necked Grebe - CB, P
Pied-billed Grebe - P, HU, A
Sooty Shearwater - CM
Brown Pelican - CB, P, A, CL
Pelagic Cormorant - CB, CL
Brandt's Cormorant - CB
Double-crested Cormorant - CB, P, HU, B, CL
Great Blue Heron - P, B
Great Egret - H, P, HU, A
Green Heron - H
White-faced Ibis - R
Canada Goose - CB, HU, A, B
Greater White-fronted Goose - B
Trumpeter Swan - CL
American Coot - A
American Widgeon - A
Mallard - H, HU, A, B
Gadwall - P, HU, A
Green-winged Teal - A, B
Northern Shovler - HU
Northern Pintail - B
Wood Duck - S
Surf Scoter - CB, P, CM
White-winged Scoter - CB, CM
Peregrine Falcon - CB, A
Merlin - B (2)
Red-tailed Hawk - CB, P, HU, A
Red-shouldered Hawk - P
Northern Harrier - P, HU, A
Cooper's Hawk - CB
American Kestrel - P
White-tailed Kite - P, A
Turkey Vulture - CB, H, P, S, HU, A, B, CL
Osprey - R
Sooty Grouse - R
California Quail - H, P
Wild Turkey - H
Virginia Rail (heard only) - CB, P, CL
Killdeer - H, P
Black-bellied Plover - A
Semi-palminated Plover - A
Black Oystercatcher - CB
Dunlin - P - B
Least Sandpiper - B
Western Sandpiper - HU, B
Pectoral Sandpiper - B
Willet - P, HU
Black Turnstone - B
Ruddy Turnstone - B
Surfbird - B (2)
Greater Yellowleg - A
Lesser Yellowleg - P
Long-billed Dowitcher - CB, HU
Short-billed Dowitcher - B
Marbled Godwit - HU, A, B
Western Gull - CB, P, HU, CL
Heerman's Gull - CB, CL
Glaucous-winged Gull - CB, P
Ring-billed Gull - P
California Gull - B
Herring Gull - CB, P
Thayer's Gull - B
Mew Gull - CB
Caspian Tern - CB, HU
Rhino Auklet - CB, CM
Pigeon Guillemot - CB, CM
Common Murre - CB, CL
Marbled Murrelet - CB
Band-tailed Pigeon - CB, B
Rock Pigeon - P
Mourning Dove - R
Barred Owl - H
Belted Kingfisher - H, HU, B
Anna's Hummingbird - B
Northern Flicker - CB, H, S, B
Nuttall's Woodpecker - S
Hairy Woodpecker - S
Downy's Woodpecker (heard) - H
Acorn Woodpecker - H, S
Black Phoebe - CB, P, S, HU
Say's Phoebe - H
Common Raven - CB, H, P, S, HU, A, CL
American Crow - CB, H, S, B, CL
Steller's Jay - CB, H, S, B, CL
Western Scrub Jay - H, P, S
Cliff Swallow - A
Barn Swallow - A
Black-capped Chickadee - HU, A
Chestnut-backed Chickadee - CB, H, S
Red-breasted Nuthatch - CB, S
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - S
Golden-crowned Kinglet - CB, H, S,CL
Brown Creeper (heard only)- CB, H, S
Bushtit - P
Winter Wren - CB, S, CL
Marsh Wren - CB, P, HU, A
Bewick's Wren - H, B (heard)
Wrentit - B, CL
American Robin - CB, H, S, CL
Varied Thrush - CB
Northern Mockingbird - R
American Pipit - CB
European Starling - H, S, A, CL
Cedar Waxwing - B
Yellow-rumped Warbler - HU
Townsend's Warbler - CB, S
Common Yellowthroat - H, CB, P
Yellow-breasted Chat - CB
Song Sparrow - CB, H, P, S, HU, A, CM
White-crowned Sparrow - CB, P, HU
Dark-eyed Junco - H, S
Spotted Towhee - H, P, B (heard)
California Towhee - R
Red-winged Blackbird - P, CL
Brewer's Blackbird
Western Meadowlark - CB (heard), A
Cassin's Finch - R
House Finch - P
Red Crossbill - CB, R, CL
American Goldfinch - CB, P, HU, A
English House Sparrow - P

Other Critter List

California Treefrog (heard) - A
Western Fence Lizard - H, S
Garter Snake - HU, CL
Mouse sp. - CL
Botter's Pocket Gopher - CB
Douglas Squirrel - CB, CL
Western Gray Squirrel - H, S
California Ground Squirrel
Townsend's Chipmunk - CB, CL
Chipmunk sp. - H
Bat sp. - CB, H
Cottontail sp. - CB, H, CM
River Otter - HU (4), A (1)
Racoon - S
Coyote (heard) - H
Harbor Seal - CB, P
California Sea Lion - CB
Steller's Sea Lion - CL
Harbor Porpoise - CL
Mule Deer - CB, P, S, HU
Tulle Elk - P

CB = Cape Blanco/Humbug Mountain State Parks, OR
H = Hendy Woods State Park, CA
S = Samuel P. Taylor State Park, CA
P = Point Reyes National Park, CA
HU = Humboldt National Wildlife Refuge, CA
A = Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary, CA
B = Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, OR
CL = Cape Lookout State Park, OR
CM = Cape Meares State Park, OR
R = roadside

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Information

Cape Blanco/Humbug Mountain State Parks, OR
Hendy Woods State Park, CA
Samuel P. Taylor State Park, CA
Point Reyes National Park, CA
Humboldt National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary, CA
Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, OR
Cape Lookout State Park, OR
Cape Meares State Park, OR
Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge, OR

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