March 8, 2008

Temperature: 50 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 8.6 feet.

We parked at our secret spot (loophole) and didn't check additional access spots.

Saw a total of perhaps 50 sanderlings feeding.

Total dead birds: 3. Two probably shearwaters--from length of wing chord (and look of bill; one was headless) appear to have been short-tailed or sooty shearwaters. One mystery wing--all black feathers, short wing, not typical of swimming or soaring birds, way too small for crow; any ideas?

Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Shells, Small rocks. Not much; smattering of mole and Dungeness crab, etc.

Visible retreat of solid bluff. Some foredune erosion; see general comments

After all the recent reports of cannons, beeswax and old shipwrecks appearing in the past month on the Oregon coast, we fully expected to see the fishing boat on Mile 157 fully exposed, but it was entirely under sand--no sign of it. In fact, the sand volume on Mile 157 seemed quite high, as it has been for the past couple of years. Notable finds in the driftline: one Earth-type shoe (worn) and one brown (beer-type) bottle with brown cap and "Blackcaps New Zealand" in black lettering; I couldn't find a beer called Blackcaps on the Internet, but there is a team (rugby?) in New Zealand called the Black Caps.Interesting note (to me); we were there at the height of the tide and even had to leap onto the foredune when the highest wave crested. I noted the time: 12:35 p.m. Back home, checked tide table on the Hatfield MSC Web site, and it listed high tide at Agate Beach as 12:35 p.m. So the timing of the tides at Mile 157 seems to correlate very closely with that at Agate Beach.