We were at the aquarium, marveling at the sea star that had ten or twelve arms, not the usual five we see while tidepooling. We learned that this particular star is the fastest one on record, having traveled three meters over the span of ten minutes; a blistering pace. It accomplishes this, managing roughly twenty-thousand little suction cupped feet, attached to its arms, which leaves us to ponder…. Can you imagine the train-wreck if he stumbled and lost track of which foot was where while he was at maximum speed?
Yachats
(Pronounced Ya-hots). Adobe Inn. On the beach. Second floor. Sleep to the sound of the waves through the open patio door (the sound through the patio door, not the waves). This is a very nice place to be. It’s cooler here. We gave up nineties for sixties, but a walk on the beach in a sweatshirt is still a walk on the beach, crashing waves, tidepools, seagulls calling, pelicans sliding silently by. And we got a new bird! Was it the chestnut backed chickadee, purple finch, mountain quail? No. It was the pigeon guillemot! Who knew that was coming? But there he was, bobbing around in the swells, just offshore. It was clear through the binocs exactly what he was. The other bird was not so easy. Our best guess, juvenile common murre.
Bend
The Nuthatch Trifecta: pygmy, white-breasted, and red-breasted. Black-capped and mountain chickadees. California quail. No chestnut backed chickadee yet. They should be more common to the west of here. Chestnut backed chickadees and purple finches. Tomorrow, we turn the motorhome over to the shop here in Bend for some service. Instead of moving in and out of the coach each day so they can work on it, we’re just going to move out for the week and go to the coast. Oregon coast. We meant to go there last year but didn’t get to it. We’ll just go there in the Jeep this year.
Preseason football
The Broncos scored 28 points in the first half. I think they’re going to the superbowl.
Pigeon
Okay, so the wild turkey is not always elusive. This bird, the band tailed pigeon, however, is difficult to get a good look at. In Colorado, anyway. Anytime we’ve ever seen it, anyway.