Mile 202 Report
North Spit Alsea River
April 13, 2020
No snowy plovers today, and very few birds at all.
Report Details
No snowy plovers today, and very few birds at all. Plover sightings have declined from 30-40 individuals during my walk on 1/30/2020, to approx 20 on 2/14, to 12-14 on 3/4, to 10 on 3/22, to 6 on 3/31, to none today. Continuing sand accumulation and smoothing out of beach may result in poor nesting habitat. I live midway on Mile 203 and regularly walk 203 and southern portion of 204 as well, and I've only seen one pair of plovers once along that entire stretch of sandy beach.
Conditions
Temperature: 62 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 0.0 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 9. Number of dogs: 4. Walking or running: 7. Playing in sand: 2.
Notable Wildlife
None. Very few birds of any kind.
Beached Birds
Total dead birds: 1. skull only of gull?
Driftline Content
Small rocks, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces. Very little debris
Natural Changes
More sand accumulation. See attached current photo of "landmark driftwood" looking south to former snowy plover location versus similar photo from 2/14/2020. And see current photo of former plover location versus similar photo from 3/4/2020.
2/14/2020 photo of landmark driftwood looking south to plover habitat
2/14/2020 photo of landmark driftwood looking south to plover habitat
Former location of plovers
3/4/2020 plover area
Report Images
Jon French
CoastWatcher
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