Mile 202 Report
North Spit Alsea River
August 30, 2023
As I began yesterday's mile walk and monthly COASST beached bird survey, a light rain began to fall, the first in months.
Report Details
As I began yesterday's mile walk and monthly COASST beached bird survey, a light rain began to fall, the first in months. Trying to photograph, measure, and indentify bird carcasses is challenging under the best conditions but impossible in the rain, so I quit after one bird. Returning today, I found seven more carcasses, Cassin's Auklets and adult and juvenile Common Murres, most of them severely decomposed. I often find maybe one carcass, however this was my first post-breeding season survey, when higher mortality is expected for fledglings new to the water and for adults exhausted after nesting and rearing young. The attached COASST field guide pages for juvenile Common Murres shows how Beached Carcass Abundance peaks from mid-May to mid-October.The beach was beautiful as always, with just a few people and dogs at the northern end. Down near Alsea Bay where the spit widens, the beach was deserted except for hundreds of adult and immature gulls bedded down in the sand.
Conditions
Temperature: 60 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Tide Level: 6.5 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 12. Number of dogs: 4. Walking or running: 8. Sitting: 4.
Notable Wildlife
Hundreds of adult and juvenile gulls (Western Gulls as far as I could tell) were bedded down in the sand near Alsea Bay.
Beached Birds
Total dead birds: 8. Three Cassin's Auklets, two adult Common Murres, three juvenile Common Murres, all reported to COASST.
Dead Fish or Invertebrates
One dead shark was found, species unknown.
Driftline Content
Very little driftline.
Report Images
Jon French
CoastWatcher
All Mile 202 Reports
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
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
Mile 202
North Spit Alsea River
A dead certacean was reported to the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network to be on the beach in Bayshore Oregon by Beach Entrance 67d.
JLcoasties