August 22, 2008

Temperature: 60 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: N. Tide Level: 2.0 feet.

Number of people: 1. Walking or running: 1.

Disturbances: Shorebirds moving in response to humans/dogs

No mammals save me. Several types of gulls and little birds, perhaps sanderlings? Lots of jellies. Lots of kelp where I started.

Total dead birds: 1. No bands. Species unknown, type of gull?

Small amounts of crab parts, lots of jellies, no fish.

Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Shells. two plastic containers and one glass (all well above the surf line at the time).

I rowed across the New River from Lower Fourmile Creek and then jogged north for a little over fifteen minutes which I think is a mile. I was surprised to see large clumps or piles of kelp, about two feet high and as wide and up to ten feet long. I hadn't previously seen so much, but it turned out it was all concentrated where I happened to start my beach walk, and there was just the usual individual pieces the rest of the mile. I wonder if the big clumps had been torn up by a fishing net or ships anchor.Unlike in June there were birds. Several types of gulls and little birds (sanderlings?) bigger than hummingbirds but smaller than sparrows, around the size of a chickadee with white ventral and dark dorsal sides. They were in a flock and kept perhaps twenty-five yards ahead of me. I also passed a place where there was a large number of jellies, perhaps a thousand, on the sand just above the water, and saw jellies pretty much all along the mile.I found one dead bird, eleven inches long, dark grey dorsal and white ventral, with webbed feet. It appeared to be recently deceased but I couldn't tell why. Insects had not yet found out about it.The only insects I could identify were what looked like common house flies on the clumps of kelp.There were just a few crab shells or parts, less than ten I think. No sand dollars at all. Just a few shells of what I think are oyster (blue and white and rough) and some sort bivalve long and pale (razor clam?).There were no other people or animals and not even the ATV tracks (left by the biologists watching the plovers and the predetor control guy).There was little flotsom, I picked up on small plastic bottle (juice?)and one glass bottle (booze?) and one crab float and saw only small pieces of plastic and one other plastic bottle at a distance.The sand was fairly coarse at the waterline where I jog, perhaps because it was nearly low tide.It was a beautiful morning, and I appeared to have the entire beach for as far as I could see in both directions to myself. However, later in the day two men attired like police officers in blue uniforms and driving an Oregon State Police truck walked on the BLM path to the east bank of the New River and later a family of four or five with young children did the same. I don't think either group cross the river to the beach.