Mile 157 - Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Perkins Lake - January 1, 2014

Report Details

Beautiful New Years Day at the beach, while it was cold and foggy in the valley. Saw few birds--a few gulls and some flocks of sanderlings. Oregon Dunes Day Use Area (my usual access) was gated closed, apparently due to problems with the restrooms (wondering if pipes broke in recent deep freeze). And there was no standing water in the dunes at all--not in the trails, none to speak of in low spots in dunes. Tahkenitch Creek very low--virtually the entire sandbar in the oxbow visible, which is very unusual for winter. But that morning in the newspaper it was reported that 2013 was the driest year on record, at least for Eugene-Springfield (perhaps all of Lane County, and beyond). Bingo.

Conditions

Temperature: 50 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: S. Tide Level: 5.2 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 8. Number of dogs: 2.

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 1.

Notable Wildlife

one seal in the surf (probably wondering where the coho were; still waiting for enough rain to get into the Tahkenitch)

Beached Birds

Total dead birds: 6. All very decrepitated, but species included common murre and northern fulmar and one larg, white-ish bird (gull?).

Dead Fish or Invertebrates

Two small fishes in the wrack line--very unusual, but this was just past high tide on a King Tide Day, for what it's worth.

Driftline Content

Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces, Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.). lots of crab and various clam shells; one skate egg case. Some dimentional lumber w/ nails/screws; from Japan??

Man-made Modifications

Sand volume is very high (no sign of buried, grounded fishing boat); reflects lack of winter storms so far.

Report Images

bzenderson

CoastWatcher

All Mile 157 Reports

Date

Showing 8 of 31 reports