Sea Birds, Seals, and Scenery: Bandon by the Sea… Pacific Coast Series # 18

/ Curt Mekemson
There is more to the unusual beauty of Bandon By The Sea than sea stacks. This photo is from one of the beach walks we took while we were visiting 3 weeks ago is an example.
Graceful wooden walkways down to the beach add to the beauty. A fine mist was working its way inland.
There were two sets of stairs down to the beach, this one that started near the Face Rock parking lot and the one above that was located to the north . The driftwood next to the stairs here had been tossed up by winter storms over time.
Down on the beach the waves had carried in a large tree; its roots are shown here.
We found this blog-worthy piece of driftwood on our walk into Devil’s Kitchen when we were heading out to explore the tide pools.
This rattlesnake grass gets its name from the seed pods that resemble the rattles on a rattlesnake.
I liked the contrast here of the dried grass and green shrubs caught in the evening sunset.
Peggy enjoyed the flower gardens that grew on the sea stacks.
And, of course, Bandon had its share of seals lollygagging on the rocks off its shore.
As we have seen on our trip up the coast, offshore sea stacks/islands play host to myriads of nesting sea birds. This island, like most of them along the coast, is a marine sanctuary. Most of the dots are Brandt cormorants…
But murres were also nesting on the rock in their usual numbers. When they are packed together, each murre occupies around six square inches to raise its chick. I read that the parents come back to their same six inches year after year.
An information board along the walkway above the beach included a photo of one of the Murre’s oddly shaped, colorful eggs. Each egg has a different pattern that its parents can recognize. When the chick reaches 3-4 weeks of age (even before it can fly), it’s time to say goodbye to its tiny space. Dad flies down to the ocean and calls to the chick while mom hangs out above. (I wonder if she gives her baby the boot.) Anyway, baby takes the leap and flutters down to dad, who then takes it out to the ocean to feed it fish until it can fly and hunt for its own fish.
When we were exploring tide pools at Devil’s Kitchen in Bandon, Peggy noticed a pair of pelagic cormorants nesting in the rocks above us. Unlike the Brandt cormorants shown above, they seem happy hanging out on their own.
Whether they were curious about us or nervous, they watched us closely. Note their crests.
We also spotted the first pigeon guillemots we had seen on our trip.
Check out those red feet! When the male courts the female, it walks in circles around her showing them off. “Oh, what bright shiny red big feet you have,” is the hoped for response.
I was trying to catch a photo of an oyster catcher when a wave hit the rock. This was the result.
This was the sea stack where we checked out tide pools and saw the pelagic cormorants, pigeon guillemots and the oyster catcher. Note the California gull way up on top. Peg and I noticed that there would often be one perched on the highest point of the sea stacks.
On the way back to our truck a crow feasted on a giant sand flea.
Here’s what it looks like. When I was a kid we used to visit my grandparents down on the central coast of California. My grandfather loved surf fishing and would put my brother Marshall and me to work capturing these guys. Fish go crazy for them. When a wave retreats you look for small holes with bubbles coming out and dig! As I recall, our grandfather gave us a nickel for each one of the delicacies….. a fortune!
I’ll wrap up our Bandon posts with a photo of a fishing boat that was docked at the marina. Next up, our “backyard”, on the Siuslaw River in Florence, Oregon. Question: Who wins the windblown look?

18 thoughts on “Sea Birds, Seals, and Scenery: Bandon by the Sea… Pacific Coast Series # 18”

    • I’ve been quite impressed with what my small, light, Canon Powershot SX70 can do, Dave. Welcome to the digital age, I guess. The lens has a range of the equivalent to a 35 mm equivalent of 21-1365 mm.

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  5. I love the seals lollygagging! There was a seal problem here for a bit because they were just lying around and are loud! And, btw, the hair style is very you Peggy!

    I am on a little trip myself next week! My daughter, granddaughter and I are headed to Marrowstone Point to stay in an old farm house for a week. You might look that up because it is in the direction of where you may travel! This is very close to Pt. Townsend and just an hour from Sequim which are both favorites of ours.

    Thanks for the lovely pictures!

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  8. That rattlesnake grass caught my eye. That’s really unusual, and quite attractive. I finally bestirred myself and confirmed what I’d suspected; we do have a different cormorant species — the double crested. Ours also have those pretty eyes, but there are some differences that I think make ours less attractive (although I’d never let them know I think so).

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    • We’d also spotted rattlesnake grass at Pt. Reyes. I decided it had to make it onto my blog when we saw it a second time. And no, you do not want to insult your cormorants. Peggy and I have had a lot of fun watching them along the Pacific Coast.

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