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| | A PHOTO FROM RECENT REPORTS | | |
| | TOP STORIES | | | May 12 NEW CoastWatch Co-sponsors New Round of Beached Bird Trainings |   COASST's Charlie Wright
On Saturday, May 12, COASST will conduct a blitz. Volunteer Coordinator Annie Woods will be in Florence at the Siuslaw Public Library, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (including field trip). And Charlie Wright, usually the group’s data verifier and “dead bird nerd,” will be conducting a training session in Newport at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, exact time not yet determined.
Meanwhile, here’s an early mark-your-calendars alert for those on the south coast who might have an interest in the beached bird survey. Another training session will be held Saturday, June 2, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. in Bandon at the Bandon Public Library.
For more information, contact Annie Woods, (206) 221-6893, or email.
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| | | EVENTS | | | Sat May 5 NEW Bandon Presentation Will Cover Seabirds of Oregon Coast |  Dawn Grafe of the Fish and Wildlife Service in the field. Photo by Roberta Guarina.
Grafe, who is Visitor Services Manager for the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge complex, will describe the birds that visit and nest on Oregon’s coast, particularly on the offshore rocks of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Her talk takes place on Friday, June 1, 7 p.m. in the Bandon Public Library, 1204 11th St., S.W. in Bandon. Her slide show will be rich with beautiful images of the birds that frequent Oregon’s waters, and she will provide a wealth of information about their life histories.
Of course, the seabirds that don’t survive each year may wash up on our shoreline, so Grafe’s talk ties into the beached bird training that takes place the next day. Our hope is that those who attend Dawn Grafe’s talk will feel motivated to participate in the beached bird survey that tracks the health of these seabird populations—but the talk is open to anyone interested in learning more about the birds of the Oregon coast.
The event is free—please invite along anyone else interested in coastal natural history.
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MORE EVENTS... | Sat May 5 NEW CoastWatch Co-sponsors Beached Bird Training Session
Anyone interested in being a “citizen scientist” and helping to monitor the health of the ocean and its seabird populations is invited to a training session for the COASST beached bird survey. The free public event takes place on Saturday, June 2, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. (probable times) at the Bandon Public Library, 1204 11th St., S.W. in Bandon. The training session is co-sponsored by CoastWatch and ... MORE | | | | NEWS | | | May 20 NEW Volunteer Plover Surveyors Needed on Two Sites |  Snowy plover and chicks
On the south coast, they need a surveyor or team of surveyors to cover the Euchre Creek- Greggs Creek route. This site is about halfway between Port Orford and Gold Beach and is about a four-mile beach walk. On the north coast, they are looking for one or two additional surveyors on Friday, May 25 for the Fort Stevens State Park route. This one is about a five-mile hike.
If either of these sites are within your reach, and would be able to follow the survey’s protocol and identify a snowy plover if one appeared, the USFWS would like to hear from you. For information or to volunteer, contact Amy Kocourek, (541) 867-4558, ext. 247, or her email.
 Contact: Phillip Johnson, Executive Director, (503) 238-4450, or EMAIL
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MORE NEWS... | May 12 NEW CoastWatching Birders Could Help with BLOY Survey
Once again, the U.S. Geological Survey has put out a call for volunteers to help with the annual survey of our coast’s population of black oystercatchers (or BLOYs, in the shorthand of bird books and scientific surveys. These beloved denizens of our rocky shores are beginning their raucous breeding displays, and by mid-May should be on their nests. The USGS scientists need help in monitoring ... MORE | | May 12 NEW CoastWatch Will Engage with Other Groups to Address Debris
The outriders of debris pulled out to sea by the Japanese tsunami last year have begun to appear on West Coast shores, such as a soccer ball still identifiable as to its owner that was found in Alaska, or a Harley motorcycle in a container that made its way to British Columbia. CoastWatch is working with three other non-profit conservation groups: Surfrider, SOLV and Washed Ashore -- plus Sea ... MORE | | May 9 Coos Bay Talk Focuses on Consequences of Arctic Melt
The future of the Arctic, and its implications for the rest of the planet, will be the subject of the final talk of the year in the Southwestern Oregon Community College geology lecture series. The speaker will be Dr. Julienne Stroeve, of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, who will be talking about “The Rapidly Changing Arctic and What It Means For The Rest Of Us” at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May ... MORE | | May 5 Restoration of Bandon Marsh Will Be Topic in Newport
Roy Lowe, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Project Leader for the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex, will present "Tidal Marsh Restoration on Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge" on Thursday, May 17 in Newport. The free public lecture is offered by the Yaquina Birders & Naturalists, and takes place at 7 p.m. at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. Over the past decade ... MORE | | | | SIGHTINGS | | Mar 19 Watch for Winter’s Delivery of Egg Cases to the Shore
by Bonnie Henderson There’s no real beachcombing season in Oregon. There’s only beachcombing weather, and that means storms, most common and most boisterous in winter and spring. Storm winds blow long-traveled ocean debris onto the beach. And big enough storm waves can stir the nearshore ocean down to the ocean floor. That’s when skate egg cases are more likely to land on the beach. Commonly ... MORE | |
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| | MILE REPORTS SINCE APR 21 2012 | May 12 MILE 31  Lorenzo2 — The seal/sea lion (?) is badly decomposed. It's about 3ft long. (The walking stick in the photos is approx. 3ft long.)
I poked around the head but could not determine if it had ears. It's about ... MORE | May 11 MILE 288  YaakovM — This was a mid-spring walk in beautiful sunny weather. The beach was extremely quiet, clean, and windswept of most debris. I had brought along a SOLV litter big and only half filled it, carrying ... MORE | | May 11 MILE 171 kathrynl — Large amount of driftwood left from winter storms near jetty, otherwise clean beach. Empty water bottle on jetty, otherwise no trash to be found. MORE | May 10 MILE 40  azbeach — Very low tide permitted access to most of this mile, north to south (except for "the point" which was observed from above and from the south). Gorgeous day -- windy beach protected by Humbug Mtn. ... MORE | May 8 MILE 173  cheshire — I was able to cross the creek and check out the part of miles 173-174 North of Sutton Creek for the first time this year. Because the beach is fairly inaccessible (unless you come in from the North ... MORE | May 8 MILE 187  turnstone — Lovely spring day and super minus tide. Beach still largely cobble and rock. Deep piles of pulverized seaweed and wood. Seaweed starting to grow on the rocks and in the pools. MORE | | May 7 MILE 305 skyhar8000 — Great hike to very end of possible area to walk in due to extremely low tide. One seal skeleton with no way to identify cause of death. One big (BIG!) boat or ship bumper that I will report to the ... MORE | | May 6 MILE 270 yakinsea DISPATCH — Conditions:
Sunny, 60 degree F, winds to 15 MPH from the N. Swell 4 ft. with some large waves against the N side of the cape. Many waterfalls spilling into the ocean from recent rains, many wispy ... MORE | May 5 MILE 215  R Bayer — A fair amount of woody and vegetative debris on beach, but no large human-made objects. Continuing small (<20 mm) plastic particles are present in some high tide drift lines. MORE | May 2 MILE 188  claretucker DISPATCH — Found a large wooden spool believe to be tsunami debris. Picked up many plastic bottles, small floats, and styrofoam chuncks. Saw a small boat at Rock Creek. If you come to the beach, bring bags ... MORE | | Apr 28 MILE 275 Allison — April report MORE | | Apr 26 MILE 324 NHolmes — The river has obviously changed course farther south of the island than observed last month. It was easier to see because the of the tide level.
Large patches of sand dollar shells at waters ... MORE | Apr 26 MILE 234  Dick and Colleen — Winter storms have pushed sand up high onto the beach. Most striking was the sand covering the boulders at the north base of Fishing Rock, leaving only a small amount of rocks visible and making ... MORE | | Apr 24 MILE 172 Robin and Mark — Horse tracks on north end of this mile.A lot of plastic in driftline. Also lots of beachgrass in driftline which has eroded from dunes during recent heavy storms. MORE | | Apr 24 MILE 248 Dr Kayak — Immature bald eagle at Cascade Head. MORE | Apr 23 MILE 173  cheshire — Sutton Creek continues to migrate north, and the mouth of the creek has widened considerably. At this point, the creek is quite a ways (at least ¼ mile) north of the riprap. Water volume is very ... MORE | Apr 22 MILE 208  bibliona — It was a warm day with little wind. Lots of families were clustered near the entrance to the beach, sitting on the sand or on logs. The number of people dwindled once I moved south of the park ... MORE | | Apr 22 MILE 255 bballentine — Very warm and pleasant day, saw approx. 15-20 people walking on beach. Beach was very clean, only saw a few small pieces of styrofoam and one barnacle-encrusted styrofoam fishing float. No shore ... MORE | | Apr 21 MILE 100 JohnnyCN — On a beautiful, warm, spring day the beach provided rest and recreation for over twenty people and their dogs. The beach itself had been swept nearly clean by high tide earlier in the day. ... MORE | | Apr 21 MILE 259 powston — There was lots of human activity on this sunny, warm weekend day: Relaxing, walking, playing in the sand, and riding horses. The beach has accumulated lots of sand during the winter, but the ... MORE |
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CoastWatch, a citizen monitoring program, engages Oregonians in personal stewardship over their shoreline. Volunteers adopt mile-long segments of Oregon's coast, keeping watch for natural changes and human-induced impacts, reporting on their observations, and sounding the alarm about threats and concerns.
CoastWatch is founded on individual vigilance and responsibility for one portion of the ocean shore. But the program also links hundreds of 'mile adopters' in a coastwide network of concerned citizens taking action to conserve shoreline resources. CoastWatchers serve as an early warning system not only for the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition, but also for neighbors along their miles, local government, regulatory agencies and other conservation groups. |
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