A couple of weeks ago, my sister Rosalie and I, went to Ocean Shores. It was a fairly nice day. Breezy, partly cloudy, not cold, but not overly hot either. The town was pretty busy considering it was a weekday.
We got out onto the beach, parked and started to walk to the north. A lot of people were there but nicely spaced apart. Some walking, some flying kites of different sizes, shapes and colors. One family had three huge one’s way up and tethered. Other people were just hanging out or picnicking. Kiddies and dogs were playing in the sand. Several motorized bikes passed by as well.
The surf was up pretty high. We could see rip currents troughing through the waves. Puddles were left in depressions in the sand, so we must have gotten there as the tide had receded. We also saw tracks of a large bird with sharp three inch long claws. We were lucky enough to find five intact sand dollars which I later cleaned and whitened with half Clorox and half water. Rosalie had taken off her shoes and walked barefooted as we went quite a ways up the beach. She said, “The water and sand were quite comfortable.” We finally turned around and headed back.
We were still a half a block or so from the car when Rosalie said, “Look.” She had turned to look back and saw a bald eagle dragging something big at the edge of the water. A seagull flew in and landed, but stood there watching, not challenging the eagle. Then a pesky crow came, landed and started circling around behind the eagle trying to sneak in to grab a bite. Then he’d fly off, circle again, and try another sneak maneuver. He did this three or four times.
In the meantime, Rosalie started walking slowly towards the action, taking pictures on her cell phone. She came back to me and we were looking at them. When we looked back again, all three birds were gone. Nowhere to be seen, empty beach! Ocean Shores beach is long, so I suppose the seagull and crow would find something to eat as well.
We called it a day and headed for home. Stopping long enough at Duffy’s restaurant near Aberdeen for a late lunch. Another nice family restaurant is Rusty Tractor in Elma. Another nice day at the beach!
Lakewood, Washington June 20, 2022
