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Alsea Bay was fairly calm at noon for today's 8.985' King Tide, but on the ocean side the surf was high and roiled up after last night's rain and 60-plus mph wind gusts. This what it looked like, with surf all the way up to the dunes at times. I didn't think I would find any of the wintering Snowy Plovers which normally rest during the day on the beach south of access 67D, but as I got closer I could make out their little shapes darting back and forth along the surf, probing for food in the wet sand. Visual and photo conditions weren't great, but I counted nineteen. It was a treat to watch them all so active, making the best out of a challenging day after what had to have been a really hard night.

Conditions

Temperature: 54 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: SW. Tide Level: 8.5 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 9. Number of dogs: 5. Walking or running: 9.

Notable Wildlife

19 Western Snowy Plovers, a few gulls

Driftline Content

Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces. sea foam

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All Mile 202 Reports

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

Mile 202

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.

Jon French

Mile 202

North Spit Alsea River

July 23, 2023

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

May 16, 2023

The beach was fairly cool today after 99 degrees two days ago.

Jon French