We weren't expecting much as far as wildlife shots but were pleasantly surprised almost immediately. Shortly after pointing out an Osprey nest we saw one soaring just above us.
Our boat driver whose name was Tom, was a veteran of the river having driven the jet boats for almost 34 years. Not only was he extremely knowledgeable about the river and its wildlife, he maneuvered the boat with more skill than most people driving cars.A number of Egrets and Great Blue Herons could be seen along the shoreline. Unfortunately the Egrets were never close enough for a reasonable shot even with my telephoto extended to 400mm lens.
At first we didn't recognize this heron until he unwound his long neck.
A number of times we had small flocks of Common Mergansers flying near the boat. According to Tom, when the mergansers fly closer to the water he's unable to keep up with them. Often we would see these birds fly past us without seeming to strain.
At every sighting of wildlife Tom would slow or stop and in some cases loop back around so we could all get a good look.Up around another bend and we came across this deer. Even when the boat slowed to almost a stop alongside him, the deer just was watched us and didn't bolt into the forest.
We came upon a family of River Otters. We watched them glide along near the shoreline before quickly popping out and into the underbrush. The dark shadows of the far bank and I only managed this shot with a slow shutter speed of 1/40 of a second.
At various points on the ride Tom would announce "IT'S TIME FOR A SPIN!" He'd gather up speed and then throw the boat into a hard turn so we'd spin almost a full 360 degrees. It was an added roller-coaster ride bonus. Checkout these YouTube videos here and here.Soon Tom pointed out an eagles nest and as if on cue, we spotted a juvenile Bald Eagle perched on a high tree. Below the eagle was an American Crow.
The boat slowed down and ""backed up" at one point and I couldn't figure out why. Other passengers were pointing toward the rocks and eventually I spotted a couple of turtle sunning themselves.
We soon caught up to the other jet boat and as we neared it Tom informed us the other boat had spotted a black bear. Higher up on the steep bank the young bear was grazing and slowly working his way downstream. I was disappointed that I wasn't able to get a good photo because of the lighting conditions.We soon came to an area known as the Devil's Staircase which marked the turn-around point for our trip. Tom announced that we should be coming up to an area were that black bear should be based on the speed and direction he was heading. Sure enough we spotted the bear swimming across the river and coming out on the sunny shore.
We motored up and followed this young Black Bear for about 5 minutes.
The bear would occasionally glance at us but slowly made his way along the shoreline. At one point he stopped and just watched us.
After the lunch stop in Agness the final 32 miles back to Gold Beach went much faster. We had already stopped at numerous places on the way up and afer the noon meal most of us were mellowing out. Of course that didn't stop Tom from throwing in a few spins to keep us awake.Soon enough we were back in Gold Beach. As there was still plenty of daylight we headed to a place called Jot's Resort. We had stopped at a dock there to pickup and drop-off other jet boat passengers. In the morning and the afternoon we had seen a Brown Pelican on the shore nearby. Sure enough the pelican was still there.
We had just started photographing the pelican when he started going through some contortions. Suddenly a something peeked out of his bill.
The more he contorted more of the previously stashed fish appeared.
Then with one big gulp the fish disappeared.
As we are wont to do, we got fascinated with this animal and spent a lot of time trying to get the perfect shot. I could swear he was putting on a show for us as he hopped from rock to rock and unfurled his wings.
This dock had a fish cleaning station and it the gulls congregated all around it waiting for the fishermen to toss fish scraps into the river. Here's a Thayer's Gull patiently waiting for the next session of cleaning.
We headed further north from Gold Beach and came across this one lane road to a secluded park area. We had barely gone 10 miles and we encountered a drastic change in the weather. Gone were the mild, sunny conditions at Gold Beach to be replaced with a chilly fog back enveloping the coastline.
We spent another night in Gold Beach and headed out shortly after sunrise. When we had boarded the jet boats the previous day we saw the remains of a boat nearby. We were to learn that these were the decaying remains of the Mary D. Hume.
We had great conditions as the golden morning light was beautiful, the tide was low and exposed more the boat, and the still waters allowed us to capture amazing reflections of the once proud steamer.
So our plan this day was to make our way up to Bandon, OR for lunch. From there we would drive east then south back to Medford for our flight home.
Again there were many pull-outs and viewpoints for photos. We could have spent 3 times as long travelling up and down Highway 101 and still not fully explored all the opportunities for views and photos of the amazing California and Oregon coasts.Below are Redfish Rocks.
I wanted a different take on this scene in Port Orford.
Closer to Bandon we went off Highway 101 to the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. A layer of fog and what appeared to be maintenance workers dissuaded us from hiking closer to the lighthouse. I didn't notice it at first but you can see a worker silhoutted by the beacon.
http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=125
We had read that Bandon was a great place for access to sea stacks and a beautiful beach. Even with a misty layer of sea spray the beaches and rock formations lived up to our expectations.
With digital pictures being "free" we were able to experiment trying to capture the exact photo of the waves crashing against the rocks.
With mid-afternoon upon us we had to put away our gear, grab lunch and make our way back to Medford, OR.
Of course we had to bookend our trip by pulling into Medford with low-fuel light flashing. Although it was a quick 5 day trip, we got to see a lot of what northern California and the southern Oregon coast had to offer. We felt as if we had barely scratched the surface and it has left us with a desire to come back again to explore the area in more depth.
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