Mile Report Browser

I saw evidance that the surf overtopped the shoreline in the last 24 hours.  This is the 1st time this fall that this has happened.  See photos

* This report is from the December 21st quarter.

This is my second report for coastwatch! During this visit, I noticed that there was less human activity and dead birds/crabs on the shoreline. However there was a larger quanity of trash on coastline. I cleaned up debris. 

Olive Ridley sea turtle spotted and reported to ODFW.  Transported to OCA. 

https://aquarium.org/stranded-sea-turtle-waldport/

Very few people on the beach; most of them arrived just prior to sunset (which was beautiful). The beach was clear, clean, very little wrack, and the dunes have largely flattened out. Not a scientific assessment, but it felt like a very peaceful place to be. The surf was beautiful with long, even waves breaking, and spume flying off the crests due to the east wind. There was a possible sub-adult (shorter bill) snowy egret fishing along the creek. I couldn't see its feet, nor could I get a clear shot with my phone camera, but it wasn't as large as a great egret, or as small as a cattle egret.

The beach had very little activity, however it is important to consider the very high tide that may explain the lack of foot traffic. We are a class that is limited to the school bell schedule, and unfortunately the class period is during the highest tides of the day. There were no major changes or unusual species noted on this particular survey.

Jelleyfish for a quarter mile.

Brilliantly clear day with very little wind.  The receding waves left a nice wide flat area of wet, fairly hard sand, making the walking a little easier than usual.  Just two individuals on the beach, hunting for agates.  Est. 70-80 harbor seals in their usual resting spot at the tip of the Salishan Spit, somewhat fewer than usual.  Near the seals was a very large great blue heron.  Picked up only one small piece of plastic on the walk.

There has not been alot of change since my last report.   We have had only one major rain/wind event this fall. This being so, there has been very little debris deposited on the beaches.  I have taken a few photos just for comparison sake.  The steep "bluff" has been filled in with the drifting sands at the S
outhern end of my mile.

It was a beautiful, sunny day on a clean and quiet beach!  Perfect!

1 dead dolphin, a variety of live birds and a few people.

It is an unusually clear and sunny day - not a cloud in sight and no wind.

Despite the first storm of the season, not much has changed. The spit continues to erode slowly. The beach sand is also being eroded as per the winter tides. The rocks that were covered during the summer are begining to show again.

A surprisingly nice day on 220. Beautiful sunshine and the wind was a lot less harsh down on the beach. The cliffs continue to erode dumping sand and rocks onto the beach below. More of the man-made pipes are showing and looking like they will break off and fall onto the beach. Minimal trash compared to 2 days ago when there was an abundance of small plastic pieces. 

A quiet day on mile 287. There was a pair of bald eagles perched in the fir trees above the middle section of the mile. Sand accumulation was as high as I've seen it in the years I've been monitoring. There was remarkably little debris in evidence on the beach; just a couple fishing floats and some crab pot line with an occasional stray piece of plastic (and one leather Teva sandal). All in all, a pleasant visit to BayOcean spit, with nothing of concern to report.

Cool, beautiful day at the beach. A light to moderate wind coming from the north wasn't hard enough to create blowing sand even though the beach looked as though the wind had recently smoothed it. Most trash was either blown away or covered. Only the largest driftwood remained close to the shoreline.Very little sign of life except for the lone sea gull and three people walking on the trail to the beach as I was leaving. See photo.

With the better weather lots of people and dogs were on the beach. Higher winter tides are washing up to the banks and the plants that colonized the sand over the summer are being washed away. Still several feet of sand deposited on beach. Not much large debris washing in, only 3 pieces of wood and 1 rope segment. Some small plastics appearing in wrack line. 

The amount of small plastic at the water line at the Cummens Creek parking lot was striking, and not evident elsewhere. The amount of sand that has been washed out since my last walk here was impressive.

Very undisturbed today. Tide had smoothed beach over, no animals, low wind, medium surf. No birds, seemed strange. 

On Sunday, 11.25.18, a flock of around 60 Snow Buntings was found, including one very pale individual which is quite possibly a McKay's Bunting. We relocated the flock, with that bird, at around the midpoint of this mile today. The flock is very skittish, possibly as a result of being buffeted by the 55-65mph winds a few days ago.

Mile 99 looks good after the first winter storm of the season. The sand dunes from summer winds are diminished, and the creeks are running higher. Johnson Creek is approximately 8 inchs deep near the ocean. Crooked Creek at the south end of Devil's Kitchen now has a large, calm lagoon. No serious erosion of the bluff was noted. 

Lovely days for November, observations over four days - many people enjoying the beach with dogs, upwards of 200 on Friday. No wildlife likely as a result of the busy tourist weekend. Sea gulls enjoying a brackish pool were the only critters. Dog fecal matter was seen left behind by owners and one owner pretended to pick it up. Trash cans were not being emptied - maybe because of the holiday. Clearly the large driftwood logs had been involved in fires but it was impossible to tell when. Very little litter and only a few areas of microplastics. High tide was up to the grass on Friday mid-day.

Cloudy day. No appreciable changes in erosion along along Yachats Ocean Road or Ocean View Drive. 

This was a lovely day on the beach with a gentle east wind blowing, only 8 people and 4 dogs walking along, no wrack but quite a few large crab skeletons up high, a long stretch of sand to the waves, and sand built up high over the large logs back against the dunes.  There were no bird carcasses on the mile and no human disturbances.  However, large flocks of busy, squawking gulls were moving towards the south. 

Several things come to mind.

First, I attended a Lincoln County Historical Society meeting--and in the "Log Cabin" found a map of the county. I went back on November 8th to get a photo of the section just north of Yaquina Head. The section of beach just north of Yaquina Head isn't "Agate Beach" used in last year's King Tides---but, "STARFISH BEACH"! 

Second, normally I try to do the beach in mid-quarter in the morning. This time I was on east coast, so several days late, and because of tide dione in the afternoon.

Third, falling rock forced me again to move camera point for photographing "Keyhole" at northern base of Yaquina Head.

There was half a butchered elk rib cage in the parking area when we arrived which, quite oddly, was gone when we got back after the Mile. Another full butchered elk rib cage was alongside the dirt road going to the beach, & it sure smelled like more animal parts were in a different part of the woods alongside the road.

But the beach itself was calm & peaceful, with no litter or signs of human disturbance.

A sunny day with little wind and low tide.  People were out mostly walking the beach.  Found one beached bird south of Henderson Creek.  Not much broken sheels/crab moltings/etc.  No further erosion. 

It's illegal for anyone to own Pacific Ocean beach in Oregon, but it sure felt like our own private beach today. Aside from 3 pickup trucks driving by we were the only people there. The fog, very weak sun, & mists combined to make the wet sand, surf, & sky all the same color at times.

We tried to walk this mile yesterday but the beach was closed due to live fire training at Camp Rilea. I poked around online & found the Camp's website:

https://www.oregon.gov/OMD/OTC/CampRilea/Pages/home.aspx

which shows live fire status toward the bottom. Though the website said yesterday & tomorrow only, the signs at the end of the road said that the beach was closed today too. It wasn't.

Butchered elk carcass on the beach toward the northern end of the mile.

Unusual afternoon on Heceta Beach today - dead calm winds, surf almost non-existant.  Not often you can walk this beach in mid-November without a jacklet!

A deceased yearling-sized seal has washed ashore about 1/4 mile south of the Driftwood Shores Resort.  Heavily damaged by scavengers, most of the softer head tissues are gone.  No observed tags or obvious signs of trauma.  All four fins appear intact.

Beautiful clear afternoon with no problems noticed.

No slides/erosion noted. Few birds though many gulls, a few cormorants, a few western and horned grebes, surf scoters, pigeon guillemots.  I saw a smattering of brown jellyfish and ochre sea stars. Lots of small mussels along the cliffs and gooseneck barnacles lining the sea cave walls.

It was a quiet sunny morning. Not much garbage to pick, mostly small plastic piece and poop bags. I was amazed how much huge kepl with rocks attached were strewn about. Many mounds of kelp.

Dune fire pit much closer to beach grass that what is allowed.

220 continues to slide into the sea. A beautiful sunny day to walk our beach. Quite a bit of short polypropylene rope in the wrack line today along with other plastics (small) and rubber fishing lure pieces. 7 dead birds. Lots of sand to walk on. Many folks (24) out enjoying the day (seemed to be mostly from the RV park above the mid section of 220). 6 dogs - almost all on leash  :). We found 2 Big Skate egg cases.

Since this is my first mile report, please tell me what more I can write that will be significant. I have added photos of the sea lion and the starfish.

A sunny weekend day at the beach, loads of people, SOLV cleanup in September, beach extremely clean.

Nothing unusual to report.

A particularly debris clean beach...could have put all of the rope pieces, plastic bottles(2) and misc. paper and plastic stuff in a gallon freezer bag!  Too bad there weren’t more people around to enjoy it...but lots of seagulls know a good beach when they see it.  I give it a B+.  No erosion so far this fall.

Beautiful Fall Day!  Ocean calm and clear. Only trash was fishing ropes buried in the sand.  

We found a flock of 1,150-1,300 Dunlin. Otherwise we had the mile essentially to ourselves on a great sunny afternoon.

Beach is very clean, almost no signs of man-made debris. Sand slopes up to foredune making dune look lower, but no evidence of erosion of dune. Only bird life noticed was a few gulls.

Documented access signs to beach. 2 dead birds,  deer tracks  State park employee asked two people to get down off the rocks at Coquille point.  Noted debris on the bluff.

Large dead sea lion on beach.

Beach is clean and there were other people picking up small plastic. We came at high tide and the waves are nearly to the dunes south. The creek is wide and shallow. No creek definition. We attempted to walk further down, but sneakers were traveling from the south around high sand and around from the back so we turned around. We noticed the same while walking north toward the bridge on Saturday 11-3-18

No major beach issues noted as people were primarily walking and exploring the rocky shore. However, significant erosion noted on the south side of Cascade Head bluffs. Was pleasantly surprised to see both giant and bull kelp in the close-in deep pools.

Balmy, cloudy 59" afternoon with light winds from SW.Mole crab body debris, bull kelp-1  large wrack along tide line.  Notable was 1 decomposed Cassin's auklet( ID per foot from COASST book).  Beachside campground closed for winter, but 5 people walking beach. Clean beach

Generally the beach was clean with a lot of kelp clumps.  Very few people.

Three dead sea lions were reported to the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding hotline during the 4th quarter. High water brought in many logs to the Taft area. A restoration of the pier by Mo's Restaurant on the Siletz Bay was completed. The most common litter found was shotgun shells. Graffiti noted on the Beach Ave access (#48) stairwell.

The beach was quiet. A low tide showing very smooth sand. 

The beach was not as busy as I thought it would be on a pleasant Fall weekend--only 6 people on the beach.  But, although it was sunny just off the beach, the fog over the beach itself may have cut down on beach activity.  My biggest surprise was a noticeable buidup of sand since my last visit, which was, admittedly, several years ago.  No interesting photos to post--too foggy.2

Dead seal on beach in front of/near house #271.

Although the tide was relatively low during this excursion, the surf was rough and I was unable to walk/climb to the southern-most sections of Strawberry Hill and Neptune Beaches.  Possibly due to the previous day's storm, there was a good amount of mussel and crab shells especially on the southern end of Strawberry Hill.  These appeared to attract a greater than usual amount and variety of birds.  The harbor seals were evident both on land and, later, in the ocean.  The green crabs that were observed in abundance in July were nowhere to be seen this time and, possibly due to the higher tide, there also appeared to be fewer sea stars.  There was a greater than usual amount of beach debris (primarily wood and shells but also some plastic) again possibly due to the previous day's storm.  The few people there appeared to be sight-seeing more than tide-pooling or rock/agate-hunting.

No noteable changes to the beach. 

Dead sea lion. 7' length.  See photos.

A much-degraded pup of a marine mammal washed up on the night high tide several yards north of the 11th St. stairs at Coquille Point. Even Jim Rice couldn't tell for sure whether it was a sea lion or a seal fromthe 2 photos sent by phone this morning about 7:45. Length about 2.5 feet. Much of the fur coat was missing. Stranding was reported by me.

All human activity was at the Rocky Creek wayside, not Whale Cove. 

The most notable change was on the Whale Cove beach where a dead sea lion was seen in June (not reported then, but see picture below). There was a noticeable height gain of sand on the beach since June and it has completely covered the remains of the dead sea lion. Residents report that over a period of a couple of months birds had picked at the carcass to the extent that bones could be seen.

The beach was very clean, I only found a single old toothbrush. Weather was comfortable on the walk south, but wind picked up severely on our way back up the beach.

Gorgeous afternoon, bracing wind, an unobscured sun as it nears the horizon

It was a lovely day, perfect weather, and the people were only in the first sandy part except for one agate hunter.  With no winter storms yet the summer sands were still there so the walking was easy.   The beach was quite clean.   All the baby jellyfish in the  driftline was very unusual.  They were all the same size, quite fresh looking, and went the whole length of the first sandy part of the beach.  After that it gets rocky and we didn't see any.   All the rocks in the water probably keep them from coming in.

Not much happening on this beach except human invasive use (driving on beach)

While I was unable to complete a walk of my full mile, I did observe a variety of human and marine life activity; most notable of which was the marine life, as it consisted of the observation of approximately 3-4 gray whales feeding off of the coastline, a myriad of bird species including, but not limited to, Cormorants and Western Gulls flying or nesting along the stretch of coast, and approximately 1 harbor seal swimming into the harbor, from the bay. 

As for human activity, there were approximately 90-100 humans walking/sitting along the bayfront in order to observe the occurring whale activity. I also observed approximately 5-6 humans climbing the cliffs across from the bayfront. I did not observe any fishing activity, nor any negative human interactions with the local wildlife. 

Today was perfect beach weather. So many people were out enjoying what will be one of the last nice weekends before the rains start in. I did not notice a lot of changes in the area, except that the "D" river was very narrow (of course not a lot of snowmelt for water) and it had made a large pool at the end (instead of going straigh into the ocean.

People enjoying Beach, foredunes stacked with summer sand from the northwest. New signage along Highway 101 such as "no overnight parking", yellow safety location signs 183,184,185

Contacted LCPD regarding unattended fire at the north end of Roads End beach, just below 7659 NW Logan Rd.  I tried to smother it with sand but did not have tools.  Fire was near vegetation and the wind was feeding the flames.  Also, a sick sea lion near the water and just south of the 72nd street beach access.  Reminded people on the beach to stay way back.  Contacted Jim Rice and submitted Marine Mammal Report.

Beautiful Indian summer day to walk my mile.  I observed 15 people along with their dogs on the beach and northe jetty. One man was surf fishing. Usually there are people fishing off the jetty but not todya due to the rate the tide was comming in(1.4' per hour) The tide was fairly high, the drift line I was looking at was a few days old.(Dried sea grass)  I was surprised to find an Ocean Sunfish washed ashore. I read about them when I got home I found that Yes their habitat does include this area of the Pacific.  Alot less human activity this time of year with western half of the Barview County Campground closed until late Spring. I  found  very little trash in comparison to my other mile walks (see photo).  The fore dunes on the souther section of my mile have vegetation returning after last winters high tides erosion.  Campers burned 98% of the driftwood that had accumulated over the winter.  

Calm, cloudy, hazy morning. 11 people, 5 dogs, running or walking on beach( one runner had a small dog in a backpack).  Driftline content- some kelp, shell pieces, and crab molt. Clean beach.  Intermittent  southbound gulls in  groups- predomintantly immatures. Beachside campground about 1/3 full.

Beautiful fall afternoon for strolling on Heceta Beach - sunny, light breeze from the NW.  Several small flocks of sanderlings were feeding in the shallow surf, crows digging out and eating mole crabs, a large flock of brown pelicans plunge-feeding in the shallows of the "lagoon" area north of the North Siuslaw River jetty.  An equally large flock of brown pelicans were resting on the jetty rocks.  The wet sand is coated with a thick layer of that greenish-brown algae scum from the seasonal near-shore phytoplankton die-off.  Several smashed moon jellies and a gazillion marble-sized clear comb jellies were observed along the mile today.

There is a very noticable increase in the volume and height of the wet sand in the "lagoon" area on the north side of the Siuslaw River north jetty.  In addition, the surf line was much further west than usual for this level of tide (1.8').  The river navigational channel was recently dredged by the Army Corps of Engineers, so maybe the off-shore dumped sand has migrated back to the beach??

It's been unusually windy this summer.  The new foredune building about 100 yards west of the original 2000's era foredune has dramatically increased in size and height (photo).  I suspect that since the European beach grass no longer permits sand flow off the immediate beach area, that our ocean beaches will be migrating westward, backed by an increasing series of foredunes like the Clatsop Plains geology.

A lot of people have a good time on the beach...

Beautiful, sunny & warm day. 3 cars parked at the Wade Creek acess parking area. 9 people including 3 children and 4 dogs were walking on the beach or sitting on the rocks. No trash observed other than a plastic bottle and some marine rope which I removed. A dead sea lion was up against the cliff at the high tide line. I filed a Stranded Marine Mammal report.

All was calm and relatively undisturbed.

The summer crush of tourists has passed...only 6 strolling people and 3 dogs were noted in addition to 4 dead common murres and 1 dead cormorant. More brown macroalgae (seaweed) had washed in than has been usual in the past few months. After an unusually dry summer, the build-up of salt spray on the cliffs of Neahkahnie Mountain had turned the dark basalt to white. 

Last mile survey before upcoming seasonal storms. The wet sand is quite cluttered with kelp piles and clusters of muscles and barnacles. There was a minimal number of shorebirds and gulls. Johnson creek and Devil's Kitchen creek were both shallow and calm. It is very much an autumn-condition beach.There is still a lot of small plastic debris on the creek banks, bluffs, and around the bluff-side rocks. I collected a large bag of it.

The ocean continues to move inland, undercutting the bank. "Dune stabilization" efforts don't seem to be working, mostly because of natural erosion apparently. Vehicle tracks show lots of vehicles have been driving on beach in allowable areas. Sand and rocks have filled in between Cape Kiwanda and offshore rocks where there used to be ocean water. Beach pretty clean of human trash. Wrack lines with lots of purple snail shells, seaweed, crab shells. A few Heerman's Gulls with other usual gulls at water's edge. Only excitement was opening the locked door of a stranded vehicle that the people had locked themselves into by mistake, only openable from outside. They were able to stick a hand out the small opening in window to wave at me. The keys were in the outside of the door. Someone had called to get a tow truck to get them out. The vehicle had been stuck in sand at the foot of the dune for a day and a half but they had been at their campsite across the road, apparently, and came back when they remembered they might have left their keys in the door. I have no idea why they went inside with the keys still dangling from the keyhole outside.

It was mostly a brsik but sunny afternoon. A few people were out on the beach enjoying the last of the summer weather.

There are still some brown pelicans in the area. A couple were seen foraging just beyond the breakers.

Our beach walk with Fawn Custer, October, 1, 2018.  We met at the Gold Beach Visitor Center, then 

walked south toward Turtle Rock and Kissing Rock.  Sunny day. Tide was low.  Fawn identified small

jelly fish, and a foot from a mollusk. Fawn talked about photographing this area during the King Tide.

We did!  On December 21-23, 2018. Always informative, Fawn makes beach walks fun.

A warm but wet day on Mile 220. 3 surfers and 7 walkers along with 3 dogs were out enjoying the spritzing. The bluff and vegetation continue to slide towards the sea. A small Harbor Seal has been slowly disintegrating on the north section of our beach, 7 dead seabirds along the length of Mile 220. Lots of sand and very little rock. The pelican were wonderful to watch...and plentiful today along with a mutitude of gulls. Crab shells were prevalent especially in the southern half of the mile. Large cement/conglomerate pieces (7) remain on our beach, also found plastic straws (4), a cigarette lighter, a surfboard leash (ancient and ripped), a bunch of small plastics, 4 pieces of rope (mostly small), a metal piece, 4 dog poop bags that had not been disposed of properly and a squeeze bottle top. All in all, productive and beautiful day on 220! 

9 people enjoying the sunny day.  Noted two dead gulls and one badly decomposed sea lion

 Exotic pampas grass (native to South America) on face of seacliff.

Beach sand deposition is extremely flat, causing increased distance of tide line variation

On this visit to Crescent Beach, I concentrated on the north section of beach directly beneath Ecola State Park parking lot.

There were seven (7) people on the beach when I and my party of three arrived (total 10). Then, three women with a dog walked along the shore playing with the dog. Later, a single man was observed photographing and two additional women were sitting on the large log by a beached sea stack. The other woman in my party was sunbathing during our visit.

Driftwood was lodged amongst the rocks, and dead trees sticking up from the sand.

This pristine beach showed only minimal touches by humans such as cairns by a small waterfall, a feather sticking straight up from the sand, and a love note written in the sand. I also saw a dead jellyfish on the beach. There is a fence that is in disrepair on the side of the bluff and the purpose for its being there is not obvious. See photos.

During the survey there were 105 people and two dogs on the beach. 38 cars, 10 SUVs, 4 Pickups, and 2 RVs were recorded in the parking area at the end of the survey. There was a great deal of algae present in the wrack line. One notable find was a log covered in an unknown species of barnacle. Several animal casings were discovered (crab, chiton, limpet, etc). 9 dead birds and one Black Rockfish were present on the beach as well. 

Second day of fall was almost cloudless and temps in the 60's. Most notable wildlife spottings were two dead murres and one dead black bird (possibly a crow). Very sad to see a dead seal pup on the beach also. Only two pelicans flying low over the surf, gulls and terns. "Our" mile was very clear of man made debris; mostly crab shells scattered around.

It was a pleasant fall day for a beach walk with my canine companion, Westly. He helped me with the only unusual finds, a series on dead birds on the drift line, most probably Murres. They will likely be gone with the next high tide. Most of the visitors seen were on the 804 trail section of the mile. The beach was largely deserted.

Jellies of platter and plate size, as well as many smallers ones, are scattered along the southern stretch of Mile 102 between 8th St. stairs and the big rocks clustered below the Madison Ave. beach access. I stopped counting at 100. There were many more. Also saw a few on Mile 101 today.

This beach (our favorite) remains in wonderful shape.  The beach is wonderfully clean.  We have witnessed several families picking up trash and on this walk, we found only one trash item, a piece of broken glass (the top portion of a bottle) which would have seriously cut someone who stepped on it.  NO other trash!!  Usefully, the state has provided a trash pickup site beside the parking lot.  The major change in recent months is that the tides are washing away the sand of the lower beach, leaving a 4 to 5 foot bank to the upper beach which sees only occasional water  flow.  This cutting away has continued for the last four months.  Further north, the Nestucca River has swung slightly to the north, leaving the south bank of the river exposed and accessible.  This time, no birds other than gulls and the only mammal was a seal, briefly glimpsed in the surf.  No dead animals on the beach.

As is usual, no people were observed directly along the shoreline of this mile where access is very difficult and dangerous. But, there were a number of vehicles parked at the Lookout at Otter Crest Wayside where a number of people were observing the grey whales. And, cars were stopping along Otter Crest Loop where people were also observing whales. Nothing notable was observed along the shoreline and no physical changes are apparent in the past three months. The number of tourists that I observed visiting the Lookout area late in the afternoon might justify considering extending the hours of operation of the Lookout building, which currently closes at 4PM.

Squid egg sacs have been showing up on Roads End beach the past couple weeks.  Today's find was at the far north end of Mile 245, at the Point.

Observed three brown pelicans on shoreline along with several gulls . Once again, the beach seems far cleaner this year!! Hoping this continues!

Had time to walk the Taft side of our mile this afternoon.  About 60 people out enjoying the beach.  At least 10 fishing from the shore.  Four boats in the water at the mouth of the Siletz River - also for fishing.  There were NO SEALS at the tip of the Salishan Spit ... must have all been out in the water fishing themselves.  Almost no trash which is commendable since this is a highly-used beach.  One abandoned campfire which I couldn't put out but was not threatening the driftwood or grass.

This day was similar to several other days I walked this mile since it was assigned. Very little activity of any kind. No trash or other signs of pollution. No people this day, only 4-5 on the other days I walked it. No pets. Very mild weather - little wind, low wave action, warm temperature, sunny with few low clouds.

Access to beach improved. Rocks on trail down to beach.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

A lovely sunny Fall day to walk the beach. I focused on collecting beach debris along north and south banks of Johnson Creek. There was a signficant amount of plastic debris pieces between 1/2 inch up to 5 inches diameter. Collected 10 pounds ( 3 gallon bucket) of primarily plastic. Due to the multiple large rock formations along the bluff of this mile, the configuration of the east half of the beach is ever-changing, now with many lovely, flowing sand dunes. 

Observed a California sea lion, alive, on beach close to Lost Creek.

I accessed the beach from NW 68th St which is just south of Schooner Point and the southern end of mile 221. Soil erosion on the trail down to the beach on the north end of the mile by Moolack Creek has made it too difficult for me to use it for access. The 19 people observed on the beach included 5 children. That is a lot of people for this stretch of beach especially on a weekday. I often see no more than 6 or so even on summer weekends and they are usually clustered on the north end of the mile by the Moolack Shores Inn. Today's group was spread out over the entire mile. I found only a minimal amount of trash that included a glass jar, a can, a few small pieces of plastic, food wrappings, men's boxer shorts and a bag of dog poop. All but one piece of plastic were found on dry sand. There was more crab molt in the drift line and on the soft sand areas near the cliff walls than I usually see here. There seemed to be less driftwood than I observed earlier in the summer. 

A lovely partly sunny day and very few people.  The sand had moved in over the summer so it was easier walking.  We saw 18 bird species which is a total we rarely get to.  One Turkey Vulture, flying into the wind, flew closely overhead several times, a very slow trip.  He didn't locate the smell so moved on down the beach.  The Savannah Sparrows fed along in front of us for a long time.  We did see one red dead Sea Star, three legs were good, one was regrowing, and one was only half there.  A very nice visit.