Mile 288 Report
Bayocean Peninsula, Kincheloe Point
December 18, 2006
Beach was very clean, as if winter storms and high tides had scoured the surface.
Report Details
Beach was very clean, as if winter storms and high tides had scoured the surface. Rippled dunes, noticed in the summer, were now gone and the beach was very flat. Tide was receding when I arrived. The bay side was spectacular -- birds everywhere...
Conditions
Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: SE.
Vehicles
Notable Wildlife
Observed a small group of sanderlings along the beach.
Driftline Content
Land-based debris (picnics, etc.), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.), Styrofoam, Wood pieces. Most debris was very light and was high up on the beach, near or in the foredunes.
Actions & Comments
On beach I saw a second(?)-year bald eagle, a few western gulls, and sanderlings. Further south on mile 287, saw a whimbrel with more sanderlings. The bay side was spectacular. Birds everywhere. Thousands of American wigeon, with at least five Eurasian wigeon mixed in. Hundreds of bufflehead and brant, a dozen ruddy ducks, several common loons, horned grebes, and a Western grebe, several hooded mergansers, surf scoters, lesser scaup, great blue herons, great egrets, a few common goldeneye, and a beautiful flock of dunlin. In the bushes along the bay, saw fox and song sparrows, black-capped and chestnut-backed chickadees, wrentits, a varied thrush, yellow-rumped warblers, and many ruby-crowned kinglets. Finally, near the parking lot, as I was leaving, there was a beautiful short-eared owl flying around and chasing off a Northern harrier. I also saw a Northern flicker in the distance and a possible merlin flying low over the dunes. All in all, a beautiful day (and a kind of present since it was also my birthday).
All Mile 288 Reports
Mile 288
Bayocean Peninsula, Kincheloe Point
Mile 288 showed no signs of man-made disturbance, and no one was on-site during my monitoring. I was glad to see a flock of plovers flying in the foredune again!
KMS
Mile 288
Bayocean Peninsula, Kincheloe Point
It was an incredibly busy day for Mile 288 the day before the snowy plover nesting season began! I was glad to see DOGAMI and OPRD on-site, and appreciated OPRD's willingness to haul the debris I collected back to their dumpsters. It was also exciting to see so many plovers in the wet sand.
Karen Schank
Mile 288
Bayocean Peninsula, Kincheloe Point
The weather is definitely turning.
SchankK
Mile 288
Bayocean Peninsula, Kincheloe Point
It was a beautifully calm, warm, sunny day along mile 288.
SchankK
Mile 288
Bayocean Peninsula, Kincheloe Point
There were 6 or more plovers and large accumulations of driftwood (both along the base and on top of the foredune cutbank).
SchankK
Mile 288
Bayocean Peninsula, Kincheloe Point
It was a beautiful, warm, sunny Saturday with a moderate north wind.
SchankK
Mile 288
Bayocean Peninsula, Kincheloe Point
It was great to see two separate families picking up beach trash/debris in the driftline from the most recent storms including in Mile 288!
SchankK
Mile 288
Bayocean Peninsula, Kincheloe Point
There was clear indications of active foredune erosion with visible cutbanks (see photo) and significant debris.
SchankK