RHH's photos with the keyword: black oystercatcher

We ended a second day on the Oregon coast south of Newport, finding a place in Suislaw National Forest to camp for the night. For us on a road trip, camping means finding a place to park our van for the night and lay out our sleeping pads and bags in the back of the van, and that is what we did at the end of a remote forest road. The next morning was foggy again and we visited some of the beaches along the coast, exploring the tide pools and doing some walking. This Black Oystercatcher was photographed at Holly Beach just south of Newport.

The Black Oystercatcher is found only along the Pacific coast and even there they are supposed to be uncommon, but we almost always see them in the area of Deception Pass. This photo was taken at Rosario Beach just north of Deception Pass where I watched this bird for quite a while using his bill to find shellfish just at the tideline. With its long orange bill, it has been described as a crow smoking a carrot.