Camping at the coast.. Florence, Oregon

Camping at the beach

Wally and I took the camper and the dogs to the beach this past weekend. The weather was beautiful, sunny and even warm (if you can call 54 degrees warm)...  I took the opportunity to shoot as much as I could (like I ever go anywhere without my camera!) 

I have always loved bridges and this one is no exception. I have several different shots of it and some different editing.. I really like the way it turned out.. 

You can't go to the beach and not get pictures of the beach!!!!!

The weather was really nice.. but if you turned one way you see grey and lots of fog. I was standing in the same spot when I took these 2 pictures..  First I turned to the left,, grey fog,, then I turned to the right and blue sky.   Really... the same spot!!!!!

We even saw some fishing boats way out there!!!

And what is the beach without a bit of drift wood??? 

I really like this one!
Just the contrast...

Wally and I love to drive up and down the coast  and just see what is there... We drove South on Saturday and ended up near Coos Bay. Wally showed me an area where there are elk that pretty much live here... 

I couldn't believe it!!!! I have never been so close to such a huge animal in the wild. I could have reached out and touched him!!! Wally admitted later that he was kind of afraid I would do that and what the Elk would do if I did touch him.

I don't know why he would think that.. He has actually threatened to put a rope around my waist to keep me from falling off a bluff or into the water.

I was truly amazed by the size of these animals and how many there were here..  (lots!!!)

Now this photo was a one of those that you see something happening and shoot without looking at your settings... So you could say (no could about it,, it was a goof!) this was a whoops... I saw the geese flying and that tree was so pretty I had to get it.. It wasn't what I was originally going for,, but I think what I got was so much better!!! After looking at what I got and tweaking it just a little bit.. I love this! One of my favorites!!!!! 

Now back to the drift wood..  This is a bit of a story... We were walking on the beach and there was this couple looking at this piece of drift wood. They were trying to decide if they wanted to snag it and take it home with them. I was looking at it.. I really liked the shape of the piece. The guy tried to pick it up and figured it was too awkward. They left and I took some pics of the piece. 

I called to Wally and asked if we could bring it home.. he asked why and I told him for the front yard. (we have some really nice pieces in the yard) He said he didn't care,, so I grabbed it and started to drag it. So it was heavier than I thought.... 

So I got it to the dune and Wally grabbed it the rest of the way for me.. Love that man!!!

It was really really heavy!!!!!

As we were driving South we were going uphill..  Going around a curve and I see some blue.. It was beautiful!!!

I couldn't believe this place.. It was like a post card...

A valley hidden behind all the trees!!!!! 

This boat just struck me as so odd where it was. We were in the parking lot of the marina. This old beat up boat was in the middle of that lot. Just so out of place!!!

So back to the valley.. we pulled off onto a side road and let the kids loose!!  They had been so good.. All 3 stay in the back of the pick up while we are on a road trip.. (no mishaps this trip) 

You have Harley in the lead...

Pixie in the middle and Trixie stayed pretty close to her daddy..

Harley decided that he wanted to be closer to me and came running!! Look at that tongue!

That's my boy.. He is just about 12 years old now.. Pixie and Harley are about the same age and Trixie has to be close to 14 years old now.. maybe even older...

My kids.. all 4 of them!  Love them!!

We stopped at a couple different beaches along the drive... I don't remember which one this is, but the weather again was so different every time you turn around.

You can see the fog still rolling in....

Even tho it wasn't stormy the waves were impressive...

Wally is looking for whales.. Too bad we didn't see any this trip.. This is the time of the year, but I think it is really the end of the season. They will be going back come June.. 

Look at the waves.. amazing!!! 

The fog and mist made it really hard to get good pictures of the seals.. but you can see them lounging on the rocks..

I am loving the waves behind the seals here!!!!

The sun moving across the sky made for some beautiful lighting!!!

We drove a bit further down and came across this spot and it was so beautiful we had to stop.. the mist and fog moving in reminded me of the movie "The Fog" .. that was a scary movie,, about pirate ghosts who showed up every time the fog rolled in..

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

We got back to our camp ground and made it in time for the sunset.. 

I know the pictures are a bit out of order..

Here we stopped at Heceta Head Lighthouse..  We actually stopped on the beach below the lighthouse. 

Wally and the kids watching the waves.. 

This beach was full of so many different things to see.. Tide pools, bridges, rocks, and downed trees..

This tree was huge!!! I couldn't tell if it fell from up top of this huge hill.. or what,, I can't imagine it was on the beach.. even close to the hill. The way it is leaning it had to be on the top.
Where ever it was and how ever it got where it is... it is huge! Just leaning on the hill side.  The roots are really cool...

The roots look like they could get up and walk across the beach!!!

Speaking of walking across the beach... here are Wally and the kids..

Pixie sure loves her daddy.. 

The tide was coming in and they all had to run from this wave... unfortunately they all didn't make it out.. Trixie got a bit wet... 

Here we have some beach pics... For some reason I really liked that log.

The waves rushing on the rocks were so beautiful and powerful at the same time... 

This is a historic bridge (I would tell you the name if I could remember it!!) I have always loved the arches on this bridge!!

I saw this black bird just sitting on this piece of drift wood.. He looked at me as I was walking by.. I swear I heard him call me to take his picture.. he even gave me a profile!!! 

So looking up on the hill you see the lighthouse. This is one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world. It truly is beautiful! 

The lighthouse consists of the lighthouse itself.. the little house right next to it,, I think it might be a supply house. Then to the right of the lighthouse is the big house. This is where the care taker lives. He stays in only a part of the house. There is a downstairs that has a large living room and dining room. The kitchen is large and old fashion.. more like the 1950's style.. (at least that is what it was like a few years back..) 

I got to stay in this house a few years back.. actually must have been about 7 years ago. I did a workshop here. There are bedrooms like cabins with bunk beds. It really isn't a fancy place but they do use the building for many different events.  I actually had a good time.. I loved the grounds. We who were doing the workshop were able to walk around the grounds that was normally closed to visitors. 

This view point is where most people stop to take pictures. I guess I was no exception..  and it was really quite beautiful!!

Wally and I had a great weekend.... I love the coast..... We will be going back again soon..

Moon and Owl

Wally and I went to Florence camping this weekend.. The weather was beautiful, sunny and even warm.. If you consider mid 50's warm.  I brought my big lens and did some playing with it.. the moon was almost full and so I dragged out the tripod and lens and played. This is the first time I have gotten anything good with this lens. Now that I have gotten a clear and sharp photo I will be playing with it more!!

  

We have a dog door at home and the dogs can go out any time they need to... the camper doesn't have one. We did get a pen for them.. actually 2 that we put together for a good size kennel for all 3 dogs. We have 2 small dogs (rat terriers) and a cocker spaniel.
Wally was letting them out about 3am and he heard, and saw out of the corner of his eye this guy land in the tree just above out camper door.


He was just about 20ish feet from us. It was pitch dark out.. no light from anything but the moon.
Wally woke me up and had me look. I could see the outline of the owl. I went inside and changed the lens on the camera and tried to set it.. I had no glasses and no contacts in so it was a real hit and miss for me. I did what I could and when I was ready Wally hit the owl with the flashlight. That was all the light I had.

As you can see he just sat on that branch looking at us. I think he was trying to figure out just how crazy we were shining a flash light on him in the middle of the night just to try and get some good pictures of him. For what ever reason,, he stayed. He stayed for quite some time after we took pictures of him.
Wally and I both figured he was looking for food. Small dogs in a pen = dinner...  We didn't leave them out alone after that...

I will have more postings of this beach run soon.. so be sure to check back...  :)

Eagle In Flight

Eagle in Flight

Wally and I took the back roads into town yesterday.. The back roads being all the country farm roads (we avoid the freeway as often as we can) and town being Eugene. (Living in Lebanon, Eugene is about 45ish minutes South of us)

We came up on a field where this lone eagle was just sitting in the middle. He took off as I was just about to shoot!

He was flying very slow, more like gliding.. Like he knew what I was doing..

I really love the grace in which they fly.. There is nothing like watching an eagle in flight! Except getting a perfect shot! (these are not the perfect ones.. a little fuzzy,, but still beautiful)

I just thought I would share....

More Eagles of the Pacific Northwest

Wally and I went out for a ride to town yesterday..  Since Wally just loves driving the freeway (sarcasm) we took the back ways..

The back way into town goes through some of the most beautiful farm land around.. 

Grass seed, corn, wheat are just a few of the crops.. Linn county is the "Grass Seed" capital.  Grass seed is sent all over the country from here.. 

We also see alot of cows and horses.. my favorite are the sheep. This is where "city girl" turns into "country girl".  When you see a field of sheep you/I start to look for the ones that have died. I know,, a bit morbid. I never used to be like that either. I would think, you poor thing... Now, when I see a carcass I think, the eagles will be showing up soon!!! That is usually what happens. 

And now, the eagles are showing up back in the valley!!!!

Here we have a pair of eagles.. They are at least 3 years old. The one on the right has his white head and the one on the left is still a youngster.. can you see the mask? He is still young enough that he doesn't have his head totally white. They don't start getting their colors until around 3 years old. 

This could be the dad flying off here.. I have seen the parents watching over the young ones while in the fields. They will be close by as the young ones feed. 

I was so excited to see how these turned out!!! To catch an eagle in flight in focus is not as easy as you may think... 

To see an eagle in flight is enough to make me stop and just watch. The grace in which they move is so beautiful. I have seen groups in flight just flying in circles, but this was the first time I have seen this!! 

 One thing I have learned about these beautiful birds is that the male is the smaller of the pair. It is really hard to tell here but I think the male is on the right. Do you see how he seems to be flying away from her, with his back to her?? If you look at the photo above this you will see him almost flying backwards.  What you don't see (and I just missed) was they had their talons locked together. 

It was like dancing... just beautiful!!! If you blow up this photo you can see the female (???) (the one on the left) with her/his beak open. From where Wally and I were standing you could hear her calling to the other.

Here you can see the eagles in the field. There were at least the 2 adults and I think maybe 4 babies. I have to laugh, sometimes the babies are as big or bigger than the adults!

Here the adults are dancing again.. 

They locked talons again and were like that in mid air.. Well, they are closer to the ground here, but still off the ground. I think they were about 2 or 3ish feet up in this shot. 

AMAZING!!!

Here are the sheep.. They are running back and forth here and if you look closely you can see one of the adults in the field with the sheep. The sheep are not bothered at all by the fact of so many eagles in their field. 

Here they are just flying over the fields while the other is just checking things out... 

This sighting for me was truly amazing, to see the dance and interaction was just stinking cool!!!

So after we finally left this field we wondered further towards home. We saw this red tailed hawk in a tree.. 

He actually let us get quite close. 

When he finally had enough of us making him nervous he left.. 

Right into the field... 

We stopped at another spot on the way home to see if the heard of elk were still where we spotted them on the way to town. Unfortunately they were not,, but I did get a great shot of my Wally!

This was a good day for birds!!!!!

Eagles in the Pacific Northwest

I took a drive to town yesterday.. It was dark and gloomy and very bad lighting to take any pictures at all... but if I am not at work I always have my camera with me...  If I see something I like,, I will shoot and see what I will see.... 

Came home the back way and this is what I found...

This adult was in a tree all alone.. I am thinking it might be a female. It was rather large and I have learned that the females are the larger of the pair..  

Very dark and gloomy... This lighting was really bad, so I tried to get as close as I could.. This tree was in the front yard of a home.. I parked across the street and was about 50ish feet from the tree.. 

I don't make bird noises nearly as good as Wally does.... I only got the eagle to look down at me once. I really think she was ignoring me. 

I didn't see any other adults around.. but I did find some babies up the road a bit.. 

There were a pair in this tree... They were just hanging out together. I was wondering if the adult I saw up the road was the momma of these two. I usually see an adult close by if the babies are out on there own. 

I have seen babies feeding on a carcass with the adults on each side to protect it.. (of course I was on my way to work and didn't have my camera with me when I saw that)

When they thought I was getting to close they flew off..

 You can tell that they are babies because not only do they not have white heads yet.. (they get there colors around 3 years old) but they have white under their wings. I once thought a baby that I had seen was a golden.. I was corrected by some of the photographers I know who shoot alot of birds. I have actually learned alot from them!!

I know that these are still dark but there is nothing like an eagle in flight!!! Baby or adult......  

They are so beautiful!!!