A Fun Day at the Coast With Mom, Candy and Kate!

Kate and I drove to my Mom's and had a nice visit and trip up the coast.



The "Three Graces" (one's not in the picture) between Garibaldi and Barview







The Barview Jetty has had a pretty significant "face lift."
While Kate and I were walking around in the wind at the jetty, she turned around and caught these two clowns in the car!











There are always gulls hoping for a handout.
Farther north are "Twin Rocks," near Rockaway.











We enjoyed the coast between rain showers and sun spurts.












Kate enjoyed herself after a year and a half away from the Oregon Coast!



































This little fella watched us closely while we were parked near the beach.
I opened my door and he came right up to me, obviously used to being fed.

















Kate enjoyed the beach at Manzanita.


















We had a great lunch together at the "Bread and Ocean" deli in Manzanita. My sister, Candy, and me...
Kate, Mom and Candy



Such a fun day!










Kate and her Grandma

Bird Watching Date

I am lucky to have a husband who will go bird watching with me. One Saturday we decided to drive south of Albany after getting our work done around the house and garage. My neighbor told me about a place where we could see several eagles, and sure enough there they were! We actually ran into my neighbor doing the same thing we were doing along with one of his birding buddies :).















I couldn't resist this picture.
As the evening progressed, there were other beauties to behold!

Returned Home With Honor!

We are glad to have our daughter back! She served a wonderful mission and she will always remember the people she came to love.

Bird Heaven!!!!!!!!!

Our recent trip to Texas to pick up our daughter from her mission was a birders dream! I saw many birds I had never seen before. Texas is covered in wildlife and bird refuges! A few we visited were: the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park World Birding Center, the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, Port Aransas Birding Center on Mustang Island, and the Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge. We also went to Goose Neck State Park in St. Charles Bay.

This is a Green Jay. They are very colorful!


















Great-tailed Grackle--these birds make a great variety of sounds!
Streak-backed Oriole

















Great Kiskadee
Plain Chachalaca












Golden-fronted Woodpecker


















Blue Bunting

















Sometimes it was more fun taking pictures of the birders than it was the birds!
Yes, we were right in the middle of them!











Black-bellied Whistling-Duck




I believe this is a Snowy Egret. We were driving from Brownsville to South Padre Island, and the wind was whipping!








Great Egret
The Birding Center on South Padre Island











Looking out over the wetlands from the tower
Kate and Bill

















Clappper Rail
Little Blue Heron

















Common Moorhen, female
Common Moorhen, male











Roseate Spoonbill, female
Tricolored Heron












Probably a Least or a Semipalmated Sandpiper













Many wonderful boardwalks and birding blinds
There is an alligator under this blind!











A Great Egret poses for us
Long-billed Curlew











Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs
Lesser Scaup







A Willet wading in the gulf
Brown Pelicans and Laughing Gulls









Osprey
Loggerhead Shrike













Crested Caracara
Northern Cardinal











Scenery along the gulf
Gorgeous plants

















Interesting pods
Redish Egret











We came upon a narrow waterway that ran under the road and we disturbed a large number of birds. These birds are the White Ibis.
These are some of my favorite pictures!









When they landed a ways from the road, we could see a large variety of birds all together.
Harris Hawk

















Ladder-backed Woodpecker


















One of our favorite areas was Paradise Pond in Port Aransas. Can you tell that I'm having a good time?
We saw this adult Black-crowned Night-Heron
Green-winged Teal and Blue-winged Teal









The pond was full of turtles!
Last but not least, we saw these three Whooping Cranes on Goose Neck Island in St. Charles Bay. Most of the Cranes had already migrated through, but these three were the only ones left that we knew of. We rushed to follow the directions we were given so that we could get back to Corpus Christi in time to catch our plane home! It was worth the rush!