You're never too old to learn. At least, that's what I'm told. We tested the veracity of that ancient adage recently when we enrolled at the Oregon Coast Community College (OCCC) here in Lincoln City.
Not wanting to task either the adage or ourselves too much, we made sure it was an easy class....Basic Birding. It was a snap for Carol but, still, I felt it a mighty challenge. Fortunately, it is one of the Continuing Education classes and so I wouldn't have to worry about the shame of a less than stellar grade. Always a strong possibility for me.
Finally, the big day arrived and off to class we went. About 35 minutes early. Hey, you know how I feel!! If you ain't early, you're late!!
Hahaha, damn that military training!!
As far as Community Colleges goes, there isn't much to this one. At least in my experiences...and I've been to a lot of Community Colleges in my checkered career. OCCC consists of one building. But it is a modern building and, obviously, well-maintained.
And, like the rest of Oregon, they only have a Pepsi-themed soda machine in their snack bar. I know!! What. The. Heck!! Seriously cramps my Diet Coke lifestyle!!
After that huge disappointment, it was tough dragging myself to class but I did. Slowly.
Here's Carol scoring some points with one of the instructors, Laura Doyle. Hahaha, it didn't hurt that she's the Secretary of the ASLC and she's the wife of the President of the local Audubon Chapter. We've been on a number of bird walks with her and consider her a good friend.
And here is the other half of the Dynamic Duo, Caren Willoughby. She's another Board Member for the ASLC. She's a good friend, too.
All the excited students are coming in now and making sure everything is in order.
Really, it was a fun and entertaining class. I learned more than a few things and I know Carol, much more knowledgable than I, learned some new things, too. Plus, and here's the key point, we both had fun in the class.
For the last class we went on a field trip. There were actually two parts to this trip. First stop was the wharf at Taft Beach. After that, we headed on over to the D River.
First up was the wharf. I have fond memories of the wharf. It was here, on one of our first bird walks with the ASLC (you can read about it in the 'Something New - 4/11/15' Blog), where I duly impressed everyone by walking out on the wharf and immediately dropping the Circular Polarizing Filter off the lens of my camera. Then I watched it slowly roll along until it fell through one of the sizable spaces between the boards and down into the muck and mire of the bay below.
Hahaha, way to impress, Jackie!! Thank goodness there were some teenagers below and one of them retrieved my errant filter for me. It's back where it belongs...still. I have now gotten into the habit of absently tightening the filter onto the lens every-so-often.
Hey!! Here's Caren....leading from the rear. Looking like the Modern Birder with her Field Guide, Binocs, large grin and small kit bag.
When we got there, Mark had already spotted a Bald Eagle and, BAM!!, we were off!!
I may have already had my Graduation Certificate, in the form of a notecard with one of Jack Doyle's beautiful bird pictures on it, in my hand but I am still far from being even a mediocre birder. I have the attention span of a three-year old and was quickly distracted by the harbor seals...
...and the general view you can get from the wharf.
Plus, there were still more birding pictures to be taken.
Here's the Living Field Guide himself, Mark, along with his trusty spotting scope which he graciously totes around on nearly every bird walk so that others can use it to see some great close-ups of the birds he spots.
And, by the way, I stand in awe of his ability to spot a bird sitting out there far, far away. I mean, they're telling me where to look and I still can't locate the doggone things!! Honest, it is amazing what these experienced birders can do when it comes to spotting these elusive little critters.
That's Caren in the front with Laura to her right, looking through her glasses.
And there she is, Carefree Carol.
Behind her is the infamous Mo's.
While we were there, we were treated to the sight of a trio of Brown Pelicans flying over the Bay.
Fun Facts: Did you know there are more than half a dozen species of pelicans!?! And all of them have the famous and distinctive throat pouch. All these different species use their elastic pouches to catch fish - though different species use it in different ways.
Many pelicans fish by swimming in cooperative groups. They'll form a line and drive fish into shallow water by beating their wings on the surface. Once they've got the fish in the shallows, they simply scoop them up with their large pouches.
More Fun Facts: The pelicans we saw, the Brown Pelicans, catch their fish by diving on them from above and snaring them in its bill. Pelicans don't store fish in their pouch, it's shaped that way to catch the fish. Once they have them, they tip their pouch back to drain out the water and then swallow the fish immediately.
Pelicans are social birds and usually travel in flocks, often strung out in a line. I've had the privilege of seeing these birds winging their way along the beach strung out like this. They also breed in groups called colonies which typically gather on islands.
In North America, the Brown Pelican was once endangered, but its populations have recovered sufficiently enough that in 2009, they were removed from the endangered list. These sea birds were devastated by chemical pesticides, like DDT, which damaged the eggs of pelicans as well as many other species. Unfortunately, now they are having difficulties again because the Pacific Sardine, their most important food, is disappearing.
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| Don't they sorta look like Pterodactyls!?! On a smaller and less dangerous scale, of course. |
And, before we left, I got one more picture of the Bald Eagle. He'd switched trees while we were watching the pelicans.
Fun Facts: The Bald Eagle was first chosen for the official symbol of the United States in 1792. It was chosen for its strength and beauty and because it was native to North America. During this time, biologists estimated there may have been about 100,000 of these magnificent birds living in the wild.
Unfortunately, like the Brown Pelican, the Bald Eagle population was severely affected by the use of DDT and their numbers declined to dangerously low levels - as few as 500 nesting pairs - and they were placed on the Endangered Species List.
But, after nearly being wiped out, the American Bald Eagle is no longer endangered as populations of this National Symbol continue to grow.
After seeing some eagles and pelicans along with some gulls and a couple of crabs, we headed on over to the D River, World's Shortest River!! There's a couple of nice, small parks along the short stretch of the D River and we landed in the first one of them.
Hahaha, it's so easy to tell who the birder's are.
Using Mark's scope to take a gander at some ravens, mergansers and herons.
And the learning continued. While we were there, Mark explained to us how to tell the difference between a raven and a crow.
Fun Facts: The two species, common ravens and American crows, overlap all over North America and, doggone it, they look a lot alike.
But, as Mark explained, there are ways to tell which is which. First off, ravens are larger, around the size of a red-tailed hawk (Hahaha, I bet that helps a lot!!). Ravens usually travel in pairs while you'll generally see crows in larger groups together. Also, watch the bird's tail as it flies overhead. The crow's tail feathers are basically the same length so when the bird spreads its tail, it opens like fan. Ravens, however, have longer middle feathers in their tails, so their tail appears wedge-shaped when it is open.
There ya go!! Now there's no excuse for mistaking a crow for a raven.
Don't ask me why. I just like it, that's all.
Ergo, it's in!!
'Nuff said.
Then we moved on over to the small park where we launched our kayaks and, POW!!, we were spotting them birds again. Someday I'm gonna have to pay attention to what they're seeing.
Here the class is gathering round the Leader of the Pack, Mark, and discussing something. I think, and I may be wrong here, they're talking optics. My second guess, and I'm pretty sure I'd be right in this one, is that they're discussing birds.
Then this stately Great Blue Heron came flying over and landed in a nearby tree. These guys are a treat to watch fly.
Then we headed into the park along Devils Lake and we spotted this guy, a Spotted Towhee.
This was cool. He actually stayed in place long enough for me to get a picture. Hahaha, usually I'm too slow and end up with a picture of their rear as they fly off...if I'm lucky.
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| You lookin' at me!?! You LOOKIN' at me!?! |
Here Carol and Laura have spotted a chickadee...I think.
The group continued on but Carol and I begged off. We'd had enough fun for the day.
As we were making our way back to the Mini, we spotted this guy, a Crab Orb Weaver. There are plenty of these kinds of spiders around.
Fun Facts: These guys spin their webs in the morning so they can get an early start to a good meal. You know they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You'll usually find their webs on plants, grasses, houses and windows.
Hahaha, they're still disgusting and, while I'm not particularly proud of this, I'm fairly certain I'd scream like a little girl and suddenly and miraculously regain my ability to run if one of them ever lit upon me.
Finally, as we were walking out, we saw this Banded Woolly Bear.
What? Of course I had to take a picture.
What a silly question.
Fun Facts: This fuzzy fuzzy is gonna grow up to be an Isabella Tiger Moth. It'll take him, in our climate, just a few months before he pupates.
If this Woolly Bear were born just a bit farther north, like in the Arctic, he would, in order to stay alive, stay in his caterpillar form over the winter by freezing solid. These guys survive being frozen by producing a cryoprotectant in their tissues. In the spring, they thaw out and emerge to pupate.
Because the summer period for vegetative growth, and for feeding, is so short in the Arctic, the Woolly Bear has to feed for several summers, freezing again each winter before finally pupating. Some have been known to live through as many as 14 winters.
Here's the Ol' Woolly after he becomes a Isabella Tiger Moth.
It was fun. It was educational. How much better than that can it get?
OK, mix in a couple of friends and there you are. Good times, good fun, good people.
Plus, we still have the ability to learn!!
These times are good.
Life is good.
Hooah!!
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