September 19, 2020

Temperature: 62 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Tide Level: 7.1 feet.

Number of people: 26. Number of dogs: 12. Walking or running: 15. Playing in surf: 2. Playing in sand: 5. Photography: 1. Surfing: 5. Most groups of people on the beach had at least one dog with them. Most dogs were off leash. We saw an unusual amount of people on this stretch of beach. Especially considering that Sitka Sedge is currently closed, which means people had to access it from at least a mile away.

Litter

Disturbances: Shorebirds moving in response to humans/dogs

We have seen a ton of pelicans flying over the waves adjacent to this beach mile this summer. On our walk today we saw 5 pelicans fishing together. Additionally, we saw a couple flocks of sandpipers and seagulls. We usually spot 1 -3 eagles soaring overhead at this spot but I haven't noticed them this summer and certainly didn't see them today. With the amount of people walking on the beach (and the fact that it was high tide so not a lot of beach to share) there weren't as many birds on the shore as usual. - Not sure if this is appropriate but I spoke to the OPRD beach ranger and he said that the nesting snowy plover unfortunately moved their nests to the sandlake recreation area this spring due to the lack of people around COVID-19 closures.

Total dead birds: 1. One gull.

There is always a ton of crabs at this site and today was no different. There were a large amount of crab shells, mussels, sand shrimp shells, and broken sand dollars.

Small rocks, Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces, Land-based debris (picnics, etc.). There was a lot of land-based plant debris like bark, pine cones, and tree limbs. I believe this is due to the huge wind storm (east winds) that happened last weekend and knocked down a lot of trees in the area. I would just add feathers, driftwood and dune grass (large amounts) to the content checked above.

Although technically just outside of mile 265, there are new houses being built at the very west end of Roma avenue and it appears one will be very close to the sand dunes bordering the beach.

Dune modification/removal, Sand removal. As in above, this is just south of my mile but there are houses being built on Roma avenue and they are changing the dunes and looks like they are removing sand to do so.

I would just mention that the sandbar has changed pretty drastically along this mile which isn't unusual for this time of year. It's fondly referred to as 'the berm' in Pacific City and occurs in this area as well.