Mile 202 Report
North Spit Alsea River
April 20, 2020
No Western Snowy Plovers were seen this visit, but extensive plover tracks were seen in the dry sand near the sloping dunes when walking south down the beach.
Report Details
No Western Snowy Plovers were seen this visit, but extensive plover tracks were seen in the dry sand near the sloping dunes when walking south down the beach. See attached photos. The plover tracks are blurry in the soft sand, but they are a little "pigeon toed," not quite straight, and the tracks zig-zag as the hunting plover finds a little edible morsel in the sand then abruptly changes direction. Although the wind was not strong (no blowing sand was seen), almost all the tracks had been obliterated by the time I walked back up the beach. This is snowy plover nesting season, so hopefully there is a nest or nests somewhere in the dry sand area.
Conditions
Temperature: 58 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 6.0 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 15. Number of dogs: 4. Walking or running: 15.
Notable Wildlife
No Western Snowy Plovers seen, but numerous plover tracks seen
Driftline Content
Small rocks, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces. Beach very clean
Report Images
Jon French
CoastWatcher
All Mile 202 Reports
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.
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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
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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
Mile 202
North Spit Alsea River
This was my second monthly beached bird survey for COASST (Coastal Observation And Seabird Survey Team) which I combined with my mile walk.
Jon French