May 26, 2009

Temperature: 55 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: -1.0 feet.

Number of people: 2. Number of dogs: 1. Walking or running: 2. Playing in sand: 1. The tracks of the two ATV's were probably made by the biologist and/or the predator control guy..

Disturbances: Shorebirds moving in response to humans/dogs

Over 100 sea gulls of various species, 2 flocks Canada Geese, each about 15 members, Sanderlings, one little fish

One crab

Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.), Shells, Small rocks, Wood pieces. One brown glass bottle, plastic one gallon containers

Dune modification/removal. Dunes knocked down by bull-dozer

No, dunes knocked down by BLM.My wife, Blaine Rose, and our dog, LucieAnne and I set out shortly after eight. We crossed the New River in our dingy and beached it across from the mouth of the Lower Fourmile Creek. It was nearly eight-thirty in the morning. The weather was sunny and the breeze mild (perhaps five miles an hour from the north west). Visibility was the best I have seen. The headlands at Cape Blanco (twelve miles south) and the sea stacks in front of Old Town Bandon (eight miles north) were clearly visible.We walked south for thirty minutes so probably wandered into mile 92. Towards the south end of our perambulation we went past an area where the dunes have been knocked down and signs and stakes have been set up identifying that stretch of the sand as Snowy Plover habitat.The waves were small, just two feet from crest to trough, two and a half feet at the most, and either coming directly toward the beach or coming slightly from the south and so at a gentle angle to the shore.Unlike my walk two weeks ago on mile 94 this time there were many birds, we saw over one hundred gulls of various persuasions including some fishing in the surf, hitting the water with a splash. We also saw two flocks of Canada Geese, each comprised of about fifteen members. The second one was at the extreme south end of our walk and were standing on the dry sand but took flight as we approached. We also spied a group of small shore birds, I think they were Sanderlings. The tide was low (a minus tide according to my reading of the tide table), and the beach broad and clear. There was little kelp on this visit and what there was was covered with sand and desiccated. There were some crab molts and one nearly complete crab and mussel shells here and there.As we walked south we came upon a small fish, about three inches long and very thin. At first Blaine thought it was a worm. We all examined it flopping in the wet sand and I picked it up and put it in a rivulet where it swam back to the sea. It was the first live fish I have seen on our beach.Near the south end of our walk we found six fishing floats. We retrieved four of them and one brown bottle. We also saw several plastic bottles of one gallon size or pieces of them.There were places of course sand, up to the size of half-inch gravel, lying up in the dry sand but not down on the wet sand.There were fresh tracks left by two ATVs heading south, but we never saw these vehicles or their operators. (They were not visible on Memorial Day).We saw two boats out at sea, one down near Cape Blanco and the other heading out from Bandon.We found small prints in the dry sand among the European beach grass. Since the individual prints were close together, I guess they were made by small rodents. There were also some small bird tracks. (On Memorial Day we found deer, goose and raccoon prints on the east bank of the new river.)