Mile 203 Report
January 24, 2023
After observing 8 snowy plovers on Mile 200 yesterday, I wanted to check up on the plovers on Mile 203.
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After observing 8 snowy plovers on Mile 200 yesterday, I wanted to check up on the plovers on Mile 203. I frequently see them on the beach in this area and was curious about where they go when the tide comes in and there is no beach left. Although the tide was only 6.07 feet yesterday when I was walking near Beach Access 67A, I did have to jump up on the dunes while I was walking. And, when I did, to my surprise, I counted 10 plovers up on the dune. I observed them flying to the ground in front of the dunes feeding when the tide went out, as well as, flying up on the dunes when the tide came in. How exciting!
Conditions
Temperature: 48 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Tide Level: 6.1 feet.
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All Mile 203 Reports
Mile 203
The beach has had substantial washing away of old dunes and washing up of beach grass into the dunes. There were 45 bird carcasses of we believe are Cassin's auklets.
Jeff Hildreth
Mile 203
Today I and my two CoastWatch partners conducted a NOAA Marine Debris survey on our 100 meter survey site at Sandpiper Beach, Mile 203. On reaching our marine debris survey site, we saw a lot of Cassin's Auklet carcasses, which COASST calls CAAU, all high up on the beach among the beach vegetation and washed-in sea grass, many carcasses partially covered by sand or vegetation. After we completed our debris survey, I returned to our survey site and began collecting CAAU carcasses in groups of 9, as COASST recommends, ultimately collecting 40 carcasses in 4 full and 1 partial grouping. Below is a link to our Sandpiper Beach NOAA debris survey site where most CAAUs were found, reached by a boardwalk that enters the beach midway in the debris survey site. COASST defines a "wreck" as more than 20 beached individuals of one species per kilometer, and a "MME" (Massive Mortality Event) as a spike of up to hundreds of carcasses per kilometer. We also found a beached Northern Fulmar and what is I believe was either a female Gadwall or White-winged Scoter, which I took note of but didn't measure or report on to COASST. I submitted documentation with photos of the CAAU beaching event to COASST, and COASST responded that they had received reports of CAAU beachings from Southern Oregon sites like Coquille Point and Cape Blanco but also as far north as Manzanita. All this sounds very dry, but it was really sad to see and handle all these beautiful little dead birds and wonder if this is completely natural or if climate change, and perhaps a decline of prey species making these birds more vulnerable, factors into these mortality events. https://mdmap.
Jon French
Mile 203
The storms and rain caused some beach washout from the ocean and from the land.
JLcoasties
Mile 203
Last year at this time, Jesse Jones helped us set up a 100 meter NOAA marine debris survey site on Mile 204, which we later moved to Sandpiper Beach on Mile 203.
Jon French
Mile 203
After observing 8 snowy plovers on Mile 200 yesterday, I wanted to check up on the plovers on Mile 203.
KFunk