Wildlife Sightings With the Hubby

I'd originally intended to write separate stories about these two October get-aways with my hubby.  But since the year is winding down, and I'm horribly behind (once again) these two trips are getting smushed together into one big ole blog post!

Female elk

I got lucky and reserved lodging at two popular state parks for separate weekends last October.  The first was a yurt at Nehalem Bay State Park, one of the few state parks on the northern Oregon coast I'd yet to visit.

Bull elk with big rack

My neighbor Cheri had camped at Nehalem Bay a month before us and said she'd spotted elk in the nearby forest.  The morning after our arrival, hubby and I woke early and decided to go for a walk to see if we could find the herd.

Mama and baby elk

After walking about a half mile down one of the paths, my hubby spotted the small elk herd on a nearby hill.  Excited, we headed towards the hill, which happened to be adjacent to the main park road.  We counted at least eight female (cow) elk laying down amidst the bushes.  Then hubby spotted the bull elk, his large rack of horns sticking up above the shrubbery.  Boy was I happy I'd lugged my large zoom lens along for the trip.

A tender moment between mother and child

Once the elk realized they had visitors, the entire herd rose from their resting positions and slowly started to walk away.  But their direction of travel meant a crossing of the park road.  I positioned myself so I could capture images of the elk as they traipsed across the roadway.  Included in the herd were a couple of young elk (called calves).  One mother and calf hung out quite close to where I stood, and I got some great photos of the mom affectionately nuzzling her youngster.  The large bull elk, when he rose and stood at full height, was a magnificent animal to see (through my zoom lens, that is).

Another image of the impressive bull elk

We ran into a local man, who happened to be walking down the road at the same time as the elk herd was crossing.  The man told us he'd been taking daily trips down this road all summer, and this was the first time he'd ever seen elk.  Today was our lucky day for sure!

Two smaller bull elk in the bushes

It was hunting season, and hunting wasn't allowed in this state park, so that elk herd was likely seeking shelter in a protected area (animals are not dumb - they know where to go to avoid hunters!)

Heading out to set a crab trap

Later that afternoon, hubby decided to try his hand at crabbing in Nehalem Bay.  Usually hubby sets crab traps from his boat.  However, since we'd never been to this state park, and didn't know what the boat dock was like, hubby decided to bring our kayak instead.  It was entertaining watching him paddle out into the bay with a crab trap perched on the front of the kayak.  But he made it work! 

Hubby shows off his catch

Most of the crabs hubby caught were not big enough to keep (like the one in the photo above) and had to be thrown back.  Dungeness crabs have to be a certain size and gender to be keepers.  He did manage to catch one crab that fit the parameters.  Taking him out of the trap, the feisty crab pinched hubby's finger, so I nicked-named him "Pinchy."  For revenge, hubby cooked and ate Pinchy for dinner that night.

Bighorn sheep rams at Cottonwood Canyon

Our second trip, towards the end of October, was a return (for me anyway) to Cottonwood Canyon State Park.  After visiting here in March, I was so impressed by this park I'd gotten up early one morning in April and reserved a cabin for this late October weekend.

Getting ready to fight

In March, I'd hoped to see some of the Bighorn sheep that lived on the nearby hillsides.  On my last day, I'd finally spotted a herd high on a far-away hill, necessitating my camera's zoom lens to see them.  This time, I hoped for a closer encounter.

  

Checking us out

Well, hubby must be my good luck charm for animal encounters!  On our second day at Cottonwood Canyon, we decided to hike the Pinnacles Trail and look for sheep.  We'd traveled about two miles down the trail, when suddenly my hubby motioned to the slopes above us.  There were two male sheep (rams) not far above the trail!

"That weird lady with a camera keeps following us"

I'd carried my big 800 mm zoom lens for just this purpose!  Hands shaking with excitement, I tried to hurriedly swap lenses on my camera.  Then I focused on the two rams and clicked away.  I wasn't sure if they'd stay around so I wanted to capture as many images as I could.

 

"Aaaahhh....a little bit to the left!"

Luckily, the rams didn't seem scared of us.  The Pinnacles Trail gets lots of human traffic, so I assume those sheep must've been used to humans.  The rams butted heads for a bit (which was so cool to watch!).  Then they sauntered up the slope, grabbing a bite to eat here and there.  We got a good 20 minute encounter before they finally wandered out of sight.

Sticking out his tongue

Although my photos make it look like we were extremely close to these Bighorn sheep, hubby and I maintained a safe distance.  (That's what a good zoom lens will do for your wildlife photography!)  When photographing wildlife, one always needs to respect the animals and give them their space.  The internet is full of videos of stupid tourists in National Parks getting way too close to dangerous wild animals.

Wild turkeys

The other wildlife sighting at Cottonwood Canyon occurred just outside our cabin's door.  One morning I noticed a flock of wild turkeys pecking around in the nearby field.  Having spend two months this past summer at my parent's house in South Dakota, where wild turkeys running through their backyard is a daily occurrence, at first I wasn't too interested.  But, it was a wild animal sighting, so in the end I zoomed in and captured a few images of the birds.

Gorgeous fall colors along the John Day River

Although this is a wildlife post, I do have to include a couple photos of the gorgeous fall colors along the John Day River at Cottonwood Canyon State Park.  The grasses and bushes lining the river had transformed into lovely shades of gold.  It was even prettier than when I visited in the spring!

Perfect reflections

Oregon has many outstanding state parks.  It was fun to visit two of them in the same month, and see magnificent wildlife in both.  I feel fortunate to live in a state with so many great places to recreate outdoors.