Birding By The Sea
I should say birding on the sea. We decided to paddle our sea kayaks off the coast of Manzanita and Cape Falcon on the Oregon coast to be in the environment of the sea going birds we often see from the shore. A friend who lives on the coast promised calm seas and unusually good paddling weather. Standing on the wet sand paddle in hand I looked at three to four foot wind waves piled on top of four to five foot swells. In a sea kayak one can not see over any wave more than two feet or so in height. A fifteen knot wind and white caps blowing off the crests of the waves should have been the signal for us to surrender. A very strenuous and wet paddle through the surf got us beyond the surf line and out into the rising and falling swells rolling in from the northwest. We are really on our own out here.
Caspian Terns and Brandt's Cormorants flew over head so effortlessly it seemed compared to my struggle to keep my kayak into the wind as we paddled past the wave crashed base of Neahkanie Mountain. The best moment was when a line of Brown Pelicans flying just above the crest of the wind waves passed within yards of us. Smaller than the White Pelican but still a large and ponderous bird the Brown Pelican has always been a thrill to watch from the shore. But here on the sea to be so close was fantastic. Lunch was eaten at sea and then a fast paddle with the wind blowing us back to Manzanita Beach. I managed to surf my kayak half way through the breaking waves and then was rolled over and washed out. Gathering up my gear along the beach edge I thought the cormorants and pelicans must be amused at my oh so clumsy return to shore.
