Mile 202 - North Spit Alsea River - February 15, 2023 | Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition

Report Details

Today's walk included my first COASST (Coastal Observation And Seabird Survey Team) survey for beached birds. I had taken the online training class, received a kit with supplies, data sheets, and a field guide for identifying dead birds, and today I received field training from the experienced COASST volunteer who accompanied me. We only found one beached bird, mostly buried in the sand and which took a good deal of shaking and brushing off before we could measure, photograph, and try to identify it--a dark, non-descript bird with no clearly identifying features. After going through the field guide key, and more ID work back home, we tentatively agreed it was an immature Western Gull, which I'll report to COASST on my data sheet and with photos. Beached birding is somewhat physically demanding (a lot of kneeling in the sand), very detail oriented, and not for the squeamish, but especially now with avian flu present among wild birds on the Oregon coast (including a Snowy Plover on this very beach in November), it's important in helping to identify mortality events that exceed base line mortality rates and the normal deaths during winter, the breeding season, and migration. Plus it's strangely kind of fun, and a way to say R.I.P., another good reason to get out and enjoy the beach.

Conditions

Temperature: 50 F. Tide Level: 1.8 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 6. Number of dogs: 3. Walking or running: 6.

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 2.

Notable Wildlife

I encountered a dozen or so Snowy Plovers, spread out a bit more than earlier in the winter and perhaps starting to pair up for nesting.

Beached Birds

Total dead birds: 1. Tentatively identified as a large immature Western Gull and reported to COASST as my first beached bird as a COASST volunteer.

Dead Fish or Invertebrates

I encountered a stiff ball, almost a foot in diameter, of what appeared to be tiny eggs of some sort, being pecked at in the wet sand by gulls. This was later identified through Monterey Bay Aquarium photos as what I believe was a ball of Lingcod eggs, the female producing between 60,000 to 500,000 eggs in an egg mass weighing up to 15 pounds and up to 2.5 feet across. This one was smaller, but I believe of the same origin.

Driftline Content

There was hardly any driftline.

Report Images

Beached bird as found in the sand

Exhuming and cleaning off the beached bird

Beached bird cleaned and ready to start identifying

COASST beached bird survey kit

COASST field guide pages for large immature gull

Ball of fish eggs, tentatively identified as Lingcod

Western Snowy Plover

Looking south on Mile 202

A low tide and distant line of Harbor Seals on Alsea Bay sandbar

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Jon French

CoastWatcher

All Mile 202 Reports

Date

Showing 8 of 62 reports

Mile 202

North Spit Alsea River

July 16, 2024

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

May 6, 2024

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

March 7, 2024

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

January 28, 2024

After finding forty beached Cassin's Auklets on Jan.

Jon French

Mile 202

North Spit Alsea River

October 30, 2023

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