Headed to the Northern Coast for a Week

Well, mom and dad are moved into the house they are renting by my sister, by Tuesday everything should be nearly complete….we are at 80% complete right now, and the old place is 99% clean with only the refrigerator left.  On Wednesday, if all goes well, we will take off for ten days or so, heading up the Northern California Coast, and into Southern Oregon as far as Coos Bay.  From there, we are planning to head over to Crater Lake and visit that part which was closed last year, and then head down into Northern California on the eastern side of the Sierras until we reach I-80 and head back to the Citrus Heights/Roseville area.  The above map shows our proposed route, which will be open to changes as we go, but it does not show the places we will stay at.  I figure seven or eight days along the coast, three or four heading back along the inland route....two if we decide to just take I-5 down, which is a possibility.

There are a few reasons for this route, one of which is revisiting one of our favorite spots from last year’s travel, Crater Lake, and see that part which was closed due to snow.  Also we did not explore much around Crescent City up through Coos Bay on the Oregon Coast since last year it was not on our route.  Also, due to a mechanical problem, we missed the Red Woods just north east of Crescent City, and we want these wonders that we had missed.  But the main reason is….to get out of the mid-August Sacramento Valley HEAT.

    

Of course, Skruffy and Bubba will have to give up a week’s worth of Squirrel watch, but the Squirrels will be anxiously awaiting their return.

Although we have been very busy this past week, we did have time to do a bit of bird watching in the early morning and late evenings.  This little guy in the first three pictures is the male alpha Hummingbird.

He sits high up in the tree for much of the day protecting “his” personal feeder. 

 

He chases off other Hummingbirds, and feeds off the feeder throughout the day.  This is the same Hummingbird which I captured with the lens in my last posting.  However, he also has claimed the Hibiscus plants out front, and with this large territory to cover, and when he is busy chasing off another Hummingbird, it opens the door for others to feed.

Like this one (above and below), who took a 20-30 second stop before flying away before it was noticed.

I missed a few other shots of other Hummingbirds, one because it was not a close enough setting which caused a blur instead of a bird, and others due to not having my camera nearby when they fed.  But we will return no later than Saturday of Labor Day, and I am sure to get more pictures of other Hummingbirds as time goes by…..plus there are Hummingbirds and Squirrels at mom and dads house too.