Mile 202 Report
North Spit Alsea River
April 1, 2022
I walked Mile 202 today with fellow CoastWatcher and U.
Report Details
I walked Mile 202 today with fellow CoastWatcher and U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service Plover Patrol volunteer Nancy Thomas. We spent the afternoon zig zagging up and down the beach for about four miles, looking for Western Snowy Plovers and their nests. We saw about twenty plovers and discovered three new nests: two with 1 egg and one with the full clutch size of 3 eggs, and we revisited a previously discovered 2 egg nest that now contains 3 eggs. These are the earliest Snowy Plover nests known in Lincoln County in recent times. After the third egg is laid, the adults begin incubating, with chicks hatching in approximately 28 days if the nest survives. A storm is expected Sunday night, and any decision about encircling these nests with protective rope buffers will wait until the status of the nests is evaluated after the storm. We saw few beachgoers until we returned to our point of access, where we encountered a group of people with their dogs. Nancy approached them, gave them a plover information/etiquette card, and talked with them in a friendly manner about how they could help Snowy Plovers by maintaining control of their dogs. It was a good day on the beach.
Conditions
Temperature: 58 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Tide Level: 6.5 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 10. Number of dogs: 6. Walking or running: 10.
Notable Wildlife
Approximately 20 Western Snowy Plovers (see Summary). Many corvids (crows/ravens) and tracks
Driftline Content
Very little driftline content
Western Snowy Plover card, front
Western Snowy Plover card, back
Snowy Plover pre-nest scrape in sand, with plover tracks
Crow/raven tracks, the Snowy Plover's #1 predator of eggs
3 egg Snowy Plover nest
Another 3 egg Snowy Plover nest
Snowy Plover nest almost imperceptible in foreground
Plover starting broken wing display to lure me away from nest
People and dogs enjoying beach
Boaters enjoying Alsea Bay
Report Images
Jon French
CoastWatcher
All Mile 202 Reports
Mile 202
North Spit Alsea River
Today was the first windless day in awhile, shirtsleeve weather with a calm sea and a distinct marine layer offshore.
Jon French
Mile 202
North Spit Alsea River
Bayshore's HOA recently spent $2,500 for permits and bulldozing a path down to the beach behind the Bayshore clubhouse, a designated public access, smoothing out the drop-off resulting from winter erosion and restoring access for beach goers and our State Parks ranger's ATV.
Jon French
Mile 202
North Spit Alsea River
Mile 202 beach accesses and exits are now restricted because of erosion and sheering off of the sand cliffs along its northern portion, so I now need to plan for a receding tide if I want to walk the entire mile safely.
Jon French
Mile 202
North Spit Alsea River
After finding forty beached Cassin's Auklets on Jan.
Jon French
Mile 202
North Spit Alsea River
A beautifully calm, sunny day, maybe the last for awhile, with a fifteen mile view from Seal Rock to Cape Perpetua and hardly anyone on the beach except for two surf fishers and a couple valiantly trying to launch a kite with no wind.
Jon French
Mile 202
North Spit Alsea River
As I began yesterday's mile walk and monthly COASST beached bird survey, a light rain began to fall, the first in months.
Jon French
Mile 202
North Spit Alsea River
As I have done before, I combined today's walk with my monthly COASST survey for dead seabirds.
Jon French
Mile 202
North Spit Alsea River
The beach was fairly cool today after 99 degrees two days ago.
Jon French