Notes, birds, nature, meanderings.

Musings about birds, nature, and our meanderings on the Central Oregon Coast

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Pre-Superbowl Stroll

Today we decided to stroll down on the beach rather than watching the pre-game hype. It was just past high tide, and there was only one other couple far down the beach.  No other people, no dogs, just us... nice.

We enjoyed watching the aptly-named SURF SCOTERS playing in the surf.







I love their bright, colorful "clown" faces and the way they ride the waves, diving just before the break.
Surf Scoter
On the walk back up the beach, a gull was crying overhead - we looked up to see a beautiful RED-TAILED HAWK being harassed by the gull.  It reeled up and out of sight.  




But as we walked our hill, there was the hawk, perched on a tree on our street. It posed for a few minutes then lifted off into the wind -









I snapped several photos as it rode the wind, every now and then pausing mid-air to "kite" before it finally moved slowly away.




We got home in plenty of time to fix snacks and watch the big game!

2 comments:

  1. Love that first scoter shot! Oh and I almost went to see the Yellow-throated Warbler the same day you went- dang it! I should have gone!

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