Mile 244 - Wecoma Beach north, Lincoln City, Roads End south - October 31, 2014

Report Details

This was the south part of my beach, going along grass line, returning near water line. I started at 8:30 a.m. and finished at 10 a.m. There was a goodly amount of diatoms on the surf, and the surf was white. I saw a loveseat lawn chair on the edge of the grass, and a budding, green- leafed shore plant was growing in the sand.On my way to the beach, I encountered a "toddler" Western gull, feeding along the street, next to three adults. This was an unusual sight for me. He was after the adults, tapping at the "doorbell" red spots on the end of their beaks, begging to be fed. This little one grew suddenly much larger, when he stretched his neck out to peck at a worm that crawled too close to him on the pavement. I was quite impressed. The adult gulls showed no sign of surprise.

Conditions

Temperature: 68 F. Cloud Cover: Cloudy. Wind Direction: W. Tide Level: 5.0 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 34. Number of dogs: 5. Walking or running: 29. Playing in surf: 1. Playing in sand: 3. Sitting: 1. Photography: 2. Tidepooling: 6. One of the folks "walking" was being pushed along in a stroller by both young parents. That was lovely to see.

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 4. ATVs/OHVs parking: 1.

Notable Wildlife

About a dozen gulls - Western - as best as I could tell from their flight. One flier behaved like a cormorant, looked like a cormorant, so I guess he was a cormorant.

Beached Birds

A partially buried bird, no back, no wings, no head, no feet, white belly feathers still left on breast bone and sides, no discernable tags.

Stranded Marine Mammals

Total stranded mammals: 2. Black back, white belly and under-wing,8 inch wing span, fat blue webbed feet (At first, I thought the toes were lobed, but they were not), with tarsals and claws, one inch shin, no discernible tag. A partially buried bird, no back, no wings, no head, no feet, white belly feathers still left on breast bone and sides, no discernible tags.

Dead Fish or Invertebrates

4 clusters of barnacle and mussel colonies in wrack line, line was spotty today, as usual. One Dungeness crab carapace had a smaller than dime- sized hole, pieces of horseneck clam shells, 6 pieces of clear jellyfish each size of a quarter.

Driftline Content

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