Mile 213 Report
Henderson Creek, South Beach SP south
April 2, 2017
A pleasant day at the coast with families flying kites.
Report Details
A pleasant day at the coast with families flying kites. No shorebirds except one beached bird (grebe?). Strong smell of decomposing at first but no evidence of dead fish/birds/etc except for bleached Velella velella which weren't noticeable. Sand dune erosion significant in a few places. Lots of seafoam and wood pieces. Interesting interaction between probable 2 ospreys.Report is being submitted without photographs at this time since having lots of trouble in trying to reduce their size.
Conditions
Temperature: 52 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 0.5 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 35. Number of dogs: 6. Walking or running: 31. Other Activities: 4 flying kites. People seemed to be enjoying the time at the coast. Families were involved with the kite flying. People were walking their dogs not on leashes.
Concerns
Apparent violations: no violations.
Vehicles
Cars/trucks parking: 9.
Notable Wildlife
Of the 5 birds noticed, 2 were probably ospreys which were engaged in circling around each other. One was after the other's prey which was dropped and then picked up by the other bird. Unfortunately no photos were taken of this interesting activity because of the sun interference in trying to focus the camera on the activity.
Beached Birds
Total dead birds: 1. Two photos were taken of this bird and sent to COASST for identification but no response has been received & probably because not enough information/ measurements were provided. It did look like an ocean bird and not a shore bird because of its lobed feet. It could have been a Western Grebe for it looked similar to the photo of a beached Western Grebe in the COASST identification book. What was thought to be the bird's bill turned out in closer later inspection of a photo to be a wing. So its head was probably under the body.
Dead Fish or Invertebrates
There was a distinctive unpleasant smell when accessing the beach which led to the assumption that there were decomposing birds/fish/etc. But none were seen. Lots of seafoam though and a closer, later inspection of a photo showed bleached velella velella which happened been noticed before.
Driftline Content
Wood pieces. Very little trash but wood pieces of various sizes were in abundance.
New Development
None. The steps down a bluff which had been the subject of a public hearing apparently were approved as were there.
Natural Changes
Erosion of vegetated foredune, Evidence of wave overtopping. What hadn't been noticed before was the drop-off of a foredune which occurred in a few places. Logs had been tossed very high on the driftline bordering South Shore yards. Both changes probably resulted from winter storms.
Actions & Comments
no action taken except taking photos
Report Images
PaulJulia
CoastWatcher
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