On Thursday, we started a long coastal weekend by birding the Astoria area on our way to Pacific City. At high tide, we visited the Hammond Boat Basin, just west of Astoria.
As expected, a large flock of birds was roosting on the boat basin jetty. All of the species we'd hoped for were there.
Among the many California Gulls were a few Brown Pelicans,
a couple of Short-billed Dowitchers, Whimbrels, Marbled Godwits, and Heermann's Gulls.
At Pacific City, we enjoyed beach walks in the three types of coastal summer weather: windy and warm, windy and cold, and foggy.
During a walk in the fog, we found hundreds of California Gulls and one rarity.
It was an immature Franklin's Gull, running to the left of the California Gull. The first Franklin's we have ever seen in Tillamook County!
Back at the beach house, we were entertained by a pair of Pacific-slope Flycatchers that were nesting in a space below the roof.
Between trips to feed their nestlings, the adults posed for photos on a favorite perch. So nice to get good looks at a species we often hear but rarely see!
Excellent find on the Franklin's Gull! The three kinds of weather is spot on too- hilarious.
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