Crows: "do the hokie pokie"
"You put your left foot out and you shake it all about". The Oregon Two Step (a.k.a. The Hokie Pokie).
I smiled when I saw this photograph after the fact. The two younger crows appear to be taking choreographed steps "stage left" to go around the larger crow intent on making his presence felt and intimidating all others. OR as one good Flickr friend pointed out: perhaps the two young crows are doing the Hokie Pokie: "You put your left foot in, you put your left foot out...."
Winter weather forecast looked good for the Oregon Coast so off we went. We used Lincoln City as our "base camp". Monday (2.6.12) it was 60 degrees on the coast with bright blue skies and sunshine. What joy to walk the beach. I hiked the beach at Road End. I saw several people searching the gravels and sands of the beach. Later I found out that with the low tides, they were taking the opportunity to search for agates, especially the local "Newport blue/blacks".
I took a few "surf photos" on the beach hike Monday, and later stopped by a local rock shop to ask about the agates and sought after rocks of the area. For pocket change I bought two small unpolished, un tumbled (except by sea) of the Newport Blue/Black agates. I also bought some pretty polished versions for good luck talisman for my wife.
Tuesday morning (2.7.12) the clouds came in, but not rain in the morning hours. My wife and I took a wonderful day hike from the Salmon River estuary, north of Lincoln City, Oregon to the "Upper Viewpoint" of the Nature Conservancy Trail. It was a short hike, gaining 1,200 feet, but oh my the views! We really enjoyed the hike. I was wanting to hike the Harts Cove trail, but the access road is closed six month of the year to protect the habitat of the Oregon Silverspot butterfly.
The Cascade Head hike takes you through some quite unique biospheres. Aside from the spectacular views south across the Salmon River estuary (you can see the headlands of the Roads End beach, which I had hiked the day before and Devils' Lake) - - there are two wildflowers that grow on Cascade Head in the Spring (a good reason to return for us for another hike then):
1. Cascade Head catchfly [Silene douglassi var. oraria]. Sound like the name of a bird but it is a wildflower found in few other places in the world. 99% grow on Cascade Head.
2. Hairy stemmed checkermallow [Sidalcea hirtipis]. More common than the catchfly but nonetheless, rare.
As mentioned the Oregon Silverspot butterfly makes its home on Cascade Head. This butterfly is found in only five other places in the world. The host plant for these butterflies is the Blue Violet [Viola adunca]. It is the only plant the Silverspot caterpillar will feed on, so like milkweed for the Monarch butterfly, they butterfly and plant are tied together closely. No blue violets, then no Oregon Silverspots.
The adult butterfly retreat to the edging forest in the area to avoid the high winds and predation. But they return to the Blue Violet in the meadows to lay their eggs and this is where their caterpillar must make their way in life.
I hope to return to take the same hike in late April or early May and photograph some of the wildflowers, as well as take more landscape photographs of the stunning views from the trail and the Upper Viewpoint.
Not many Flickr worthy photographs, but I hope you enjoy the ones I have posted. FYI: RAIN returned to the Oregon Coast on Wednesday morning, so we headed on home.
Comments and faves
w9jim (4 months ago | reply)
Funny!
Janice L (4 months ago | reply)
Doing the hokey pokey?
54vintage added this photo to his favorites. (4 months ago)
54vintage (4 months ago | reply)
love it!!
oldmantravels (4 months ago | reply)
JIm - - Cheap entertainment. HA. OMT
oldmantravels (4 months ago | reply)
Janice - - I want to hire you to do all my photo titles. Perfect....and you turn yourself around..clap clap...and that's what it's all about. Thanks! OMT
oldmantravels (4 months ago | reply)
Chuck - - perhaps it is my biased opinion but it seems to me that there are more "characters" on the beach in Oregon than in Washington. These crows took the prize. OMT
Lynda True added this photo to her favorites. (4 months ago)
xsallyx (4 months ago | reply)
Yah, that one yelling crow is just the "caller" and the other 2 are learning the steps!
xsallyx added this photo to her favorites. (4 months ago)
oldmantravels (4 months ago | reply)
Sally - - I think the two dancing crows really have their routine down pat. And you shake it all about...that's what it's all about. OMT
jt893x added this photo to their favorites. (4 months ago)