August 3, 2023

Temperature: 65 F. Cloud Cover: Foggy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Tide Level: 5.0 feet.

Number of people: 45. Number of dogs: 8. Walking or running: 7. Playing in surf: 6. Playing in sand: 7. Sitting: 7. Other Activities: One man sitting by campfire on north side of Winchuck, an adult and child with a small inflatable raft in river mouth, seven people beachcombing, seven people with 8 dogs, walking or throwing sticks or frisbees for the dogs: all included in Activity Counts above as best fit. I counted 3 large driftwood structures, all not far from the Visitor Center. One couple had a fairly large collapsible canopy set up for shade.. All the people were concentrated either at the mouth of the Winchuck River playing in the shallows or surf or sitting on the beach not far from the Visitor Center. I walked the beach to the south end in the California section where there were 12 people playing in the surf or sitting on the beach but there was no one in between the two ends of the beach. I didn't even notice any human tracks although there may have been some. I saw a few campfire ring remnants below the Visitor Center and the active campfire on the north side of Winchuck River. In the California section in front of the private residences there was a big sand pit with the remains of a large firework (a 2-3 inch rigid tube with 8 inch long fiberglass-like filaments wrapped around it and fallen from it). I moved it above the beach onto a residence access trail. There were 3 large driftwood shelters constructed near the Visitor Center. There was virtually no trash on the beach. I picked up a Copenhagen tin, a bottle cap and a cigarette filter. I saw one pile of dog poo, unbagged.

Fire

Apparent violations: One man was sitting by a campfire on north side of Winchuck River surrounded by piles of large driftwood (I observed from south side of Winchuck). Visitor Center on south side of river had signs posted on the door sayin "No Beach Campfires at present." Presumably, residents of houses above the beach on the north side would be aware of the campfire as it was smoking well when I returned from my walk south along the beach at 5:40pm. I did not see the smoke or anyone on the north side when I arrived and looked across the river mouth from south to north near 4:10pm..

Cars/trucks parking: 18. RVs/Buses parking: 1.

Brown pelican in surf at Winchuck mouth - 16, Cormorant species - 20+ roosting on offshore rocks and flying, Common loon in surf - 1, Common murre in surf just offshore - 1 adult, 1 juvenile.

Total dead birds: 12. There were 4 dead Common murre (1 adult, 3 juvenile) on the Oregon State Park beach. There were 8 dead Common murre on the California section (2 adult, 6 juvenile). I believe this is normal Common murre mortality from fledging in my experience as a COASST surveyor of 13 years.

Small rocks, Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces. One 550 ft stretch of the beach consisted of a cobble bench midway between surf and vegetation. There was also a small patch of pebbles at surfline.