Washington and Oregon 2012 - Ruby Beach

The Pacific Northwest has got to be my new and most favorite area of the country.  My first visit was August 25th through September 2nd, 2012.  My wife and I were going to attend her cousin's wedding in Portland, OR and decided to go out a week early so we could vacation.  I have a friend that lives in Tacoma, WA so we stayed with him the first five days and home based out of his house.  My friend, Brian, was even kind enough to lend us his brand new car when he was working.  What a friend!

Brian picked us up at SeaTac Airport just outside of Seattle around noon.  We then headed to his house where we got ready for a night of camping and a couple day excursions.  My wife made some wholesome sandwiches for two days and I packed the cooler while Brian got all the camping supplies ready.  Soon enough we were headed off to the coast.  Lake Quinault was our first stopping point.  We found a small yet amazing campground with incredible views of the lake and enormous trees.  These were the Western Red Cedars and next the giant Sequoia trees in California they are the biggest in North America.  In fact, the largest of them is near Lake Quinault.

After setting up at our gorgeous campsite we headed to Ruby Beach.  One of the most popular and picturesque beaches in all of the Pacific Northwest, we were taken back by its beauty. Having a few hours of light remaining we were able to see it constantly change colors until the sun finally had set.

Ruby Beach is also a great place for BIRDS!  I saw five new lifers here, including the Sooty Shearwater, Brown Pelican, Heerman's Gull, Mew Gull and Pelagic Cormorant.  Being the last couple hours of light made for some interesting photography.  Working in the shadows isn't a photographer's ideal situation, however, I made the best out of it.  I ended up getting a lot of really unique shots of silhouettes and birds half lit up, even some shots of light reflecting off their eyes.

Heading down the trail to Ruby Beach.

Lighthouse on Destruction Island.  Flock of Sooty Shearwaters that was an unbroken chain as far as the eye could see (in both directions).  They continued flying South in this chain for hours.  There must have been tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands!

At one point a section of the flock of shearwaters grew closer together and dove (in synchrony) in a mass frenzy for a school of fish.  This behavior was followed by formations of Brown Pelicans and several species of gull getting in on the feast.  It was one huge feeding frenzy indeed!

The pelicans were constantly forming these small formations and then would break off in pairs or even as singles to dive for fish.  Most were closely followed by gulls that were hoping to steal their catch.  Gulls certainly are opportunistic!  Eat garbage, steal fish...what a life!

Enough pelican shots for you? ;)

Adult on right feeding the babes (two on left).

My friend Brian messing around with his football.

Two sunset shots.  Birds, sunsets...how can it get better than that?

It was back to the campsite for smores and some drinks before bedtime.  The next morning we got up early, broke camp and headed to the Hoh Rainforest within Olympic National Park. My next blog entry will cover Hoh Rainforest.