Who doesn’t enjoy blue sky?

I guess even sea lions get cabin fever now and then.  Give them blue sky and calm seas and you may see them outside of Sea Lion Caves; north of Florence, Oregon, on Highway 101.  Just north of the caves there is a pullout; the vantage point for the “most photographed lighthouse on the Oregon Coast”.  The lighthouse keeper’s house is a bed and breakfast:  Heceta Head Lighthouse

Heceta Head Lighthouse

Park your car, get out and listen.  If you can hear the sea lions barking, look over the rock wall to the cliffs below.  These are a mix of California and Stellar Sea Lions.

Sea Lions Hauling Out

They complain a lot but they like to snuggle.

Mom! He’s touching me!

On the other side of the cliff, closer to the caves, another group of sea lions climb the steep cliff; hugging the side to get to the top.

Sea Lions are great rock climbers

Great weather coming for Memorial Weekend!

Today was beautiful.  The ocean was turquois!

Heceta Head Lighthouse today

The Brandts Cormorants and Common Murre are starting to nest on the cliffs.

Cormorant male displays his colors

The male displays his pretty blue neck by tilting his head all the way back to touch his tail feathers and he raises his elbows like a human imitating a chicken.

Can you find the egg showing under the cormorant?

Hint:  Look in a nest in the lower left-hand corner for the egg.  This is part of a new marine reserve now.  A volunteer was observing and counting the cormorants here and at the site next to Heceta Head Lighthouse.

Common Murre are gathering too

We didn’t see any eggs with the murres.

Pelican Fly-by

We even got a nice fly-by from a flock of pelicans!

The fat-guy says…well, nothing

All the other sea lions must be in the cave.  He must need some peace and quiet.

A road crew is doing maintenance on the bridge just north of the tunnel at Heceta Head Lighthouse.  One lane is open.  Expect delays.  They do a pretty good job letting traffic through.  I’m not sure if they’ll continue through the weekend or not.

We’re supposed to get a bit of a drizzle in the morning but it should clear up for us to see the meteor shower Friday night/Saturday morning.