[obol] Cape Meares

[Cliff & Joanne Weber]

OBOL, hello!

The weather was perfect at the cape today, no fog no rain, and no wind.

There's three Peregrine Falcon chicks out on the cliff. The youngest still
has lots of white on its feathers; but all three are just as big as the
adults so it shouldn't be too long now before they start jumping overboard.

A visiting Peregrine soared through the area and the chicks' parents
attacked it viciously. The female actually locked on to the stranger and
plummeted with it out of our view behind a point of land. We thought sure
both Peregrines were killed in the fall but later, the female reappeared and
resumed her station up in the tippy-tops of the pines.

Then an Osprey came along and it too was savagely attacked. Some birders,
who have been monitoring the Peregrines at Cape Meares for about fifteen
years, told us that  that the adults are very aggressive and chase other
Peregrines out of their territory even when there are no chicks in the nest
area to defend.

Two adult Oyster catchers were down along the waterline tending their little
chicks; and some Pigeon Guillemots were in the water.

There were a few small rafts of Common Murres in the water, but no birds on
the big rocks, presumably because the chicks have all fledged and taken the
plunge. Any day now the small rafts should be heading out to sea to join the
rest.

Others: White crowned Sparrows, House finches, Cormorants, Song Sparrows,
Turkey Vultures, Brown Pelicans, and Tree Swallows.

Where? ... Cape Meares is on the coast about 4 miles north of the community
of Netartes and 6 miles west of the town of Tillamook (as the crow flies).

DeLorme Oregon Atlas and Gazetteer page 58, square 1A.

Google satellite image: http://tinyurl.com/63jfyw

ADA Friendly? . .This one is iffy. The parking lot, and accesses to the
observation decks, are very good. However, the path down to the lighthouse,
although smooth and paved, may be difficult in some respects. We don't think
it would be wise for wheelers to negotiate that path alone going either up
or down. We highly recommend bringing a (strong) friend to augment the
chair's on-board power plant for the return trip back up to the parking lot
because the slope of the path is somewhat steep and a bit of a challenge
(especially for those of us with bad knees).

Restrooms? . .The parking lot's facilities aren't Marriott quality; but
adequate. Chemical porta potties down by the lighthouse. However; if I were
physically challenged I think I would opt to use facilities back in the city
of Tillamook or down at the little bay in Oceanside instead of waiting to
use the ones at Cape Meares because access to the parking lot's facilities
are up an even steeper path than the one to the lighthouse.

Gourmet Coffee? . .Starbucks is across the street from Fred Meyer on Hwy 101
north out of town. There's a Starbucks outlet located in Safeway at 1815
4th. The Safeway outlet is convenient because it's practically on the way to
Cape Meares.

Cliff & Joanne Weber
Beaverton (Bethany area)