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Reports 05–06 Another Record-Breaking Year for COASST

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Reports 05–06 Another Record-Breaking Year for COASST C OA S TA L O BSERVATION AND S E A B I R D S U RV E Y T EAM Breaking News Reports 05–06 Another record-breaking year for COASST. Is there Oregon North any other kind?!­ Nearly 350 volunteers spent 4900 Over the years we’ve had a number of suggested hours walking more than 9500 kilometers roundtrip; improvements to the COASST datasheet, but Kathleen just over 900 surveys were completed on 206 and Steve Confer from Oregon Mile 286 had the best beaches!­ And it doesn’t stop there—with the increase addition thus far: “We saw three people walking three in survey effort, COASSTers found more than 2800 llamas on the beach—no place to count llamas on the carcasses of 76 different species. We also added our survey :-)” Mary Holbert and John Burton might add— first Alaska beaches this year. no place to count goats, either—like “Plum” and “Legs,” A great year for COASST, translated into a bad their faithful Agate Beach survey partners. year for Cassin’s Auklets, Rhinoceros Auklets and Nearly as rare as a llama sighting, Jann Luesse, Lori Western Grebes. Your efforts during the winter and Sinnen and Pat Reynolds found a banded Black-footed early-spring surveys helped document these unusual Albatross in December on Oregon Mile 327. Both die-offs, as well as substantiate some of the usual this Black-foot and the one found by Sue Nattinger patterns. Oregon South It was as if prevailing winds had completely changed direction when Anne Caples, Mary Lou Letsom, Val Knox, Cindy Burns, and Diane and Dave Bilderback found a couple of land birds—a Winter Wren and a Wilson’s Warbler—on their September survey of Oregon Mile 75. Perching bird species compose quite a small percentage of the total birds found by COASST—less than 2% in any given year. Despite the low numbers, migratory songbirds are frequently blown off course over the ocean, and these exhausted individuals land on any available surface, as fishermen will testify. Exhausted southern Oregon surveyors were P & S MacRobbie looking for a place to land during the Rhinoceros Pat and Stu MacRobbie found these nets on Kalaloch South Auklet die-off in March this year. On a stretch of beach about .6 km long (~ mile), Bill and Jolene in February. They reported that “many would fill a full-size Poppe found 9 Rhinos in one survey of Tenmile pick-up,” and lamented that “one industry is sustainable— Creek beach (same with all the folks on Mile 75)!­ beach trash.” nov 6 nov Blaine Marine Pk Semiahmoo Marina Semiahmoo S Semiahmoo Spit Fox Point Birch Bay Cherry Point Point Hammond Sucia Dr N Sucia Dr S North Beach Gooseberry Pt Locust Ave N Crescent Beach AN UANS STRAIT S J Eastsound East Clark Pt Fishing Bay Shipwreck Pt 1 Blaine Marine Pk Seiku River W Dungeness Spit 2-3 SemiahmooGuemes Marina Island Dungeness Spit 1-2 Shannon Pt Hoko W Semiahmoo S Semiahmoo Spit FoxWe Pointstsound Hobuck Beach Middle Pt Dungeness Spit 0--1 Birch Bay Cherry Point Pearl Island West Obstruction Sooes N March Point Point Hammond Slip Pt Dungeness Bluffs SuciaCape Dr N McCurdySucia Dr SPt NorthSouth Beac hObstruction Sooes S Ediz Hook GooseberryGeorge Pt 2 Locust Ave N Yellow Island Crescent Beach Shi Shi Is View Whiskey Cr Tongue Pt Pt Wilson 1 Wedding Rocks Deep Creek Elwha Blyn Warm Beach N EastsoundSwifts Bay East Sand Point N Twin River Freshwater Bay Clark Pt Fort Flagler County Park North Fishing Bay S Swifts Bay Sand PShipwreckoint S Pt Lyre Creek Hollywood 1 GuemesFort IslandFlagler E County Park South Jackson Beach Norwegian Memorial Seiku River W Dungeness Spit 2-3 Indian Island S Picnic Pt Ennis Creek 3 Crabs Admiralty InletShannon Pt Spencer Spit Hole in the Wall Ellen CreekHoko W BagleDungenessy Creek Spit 1-2 Meadowdale Deadman Bay Westsound Hobuck Beach Rialto JettyMiddle Pt Dungeness Spit 0--1 Olympus MarchBrackett’s Point Landing Pearl Island West Obstruction FirstSooes Beac Nh DungenessJamestown Bluffs ORTH Second Beach GoodmanSlip Creek Pt Gray’s Marsh PCapeoint No Point McCurdyEdmonds Pt Marina False Bay Griffin Bay South Obstruction N Sooes S Port WilliamsEdiz N Hook George 2 Richmond Beach Yellow Island ThirShid BeacShi hIs View Whiskey Cr Tongue Pt GoldenPt Wilson Gardens Eagle Cove 1 Ruby Beach Beach 3 Port WilliamsElwha Blyn Discovery Pk N Indian Beach Wedding Rocks Deep Creek W Sequim Bay 3 Warm Beach Grandma’s Cove N Swifts Bay COAST Sand PointKalaloch N N Twin River DiscoveryFort Pk FlaglerS County Park NorthSouth Beach W Watmough Bay Kalaloch S BeachLyre 2 CreekFreshwaterTravis Bay Spit Alki S Swifts Bay Sand Point S Beach 1 Hollywood Indian IslandLincoln S Fort Pk Flagler E County Park South JacksonSout Beach Beachh E Norwegian Memorial EnnisThompson Creek 3 SpitCrabs Seahurst PkPicnic Pt Ellen Creek Diamond Pt N Admiralty4 Inlet SaltwaterMeadowdale St Pk Deadman Bay Spencer Spit Hole in the Wall Rialto Jetty Bagley Creek First Beach JamestoDiamondwn Pt E Olympus Dash PointBrackett’s St Pk Landing Raft River Gray’s Marsh Owens Beach Edmonds Marina False Bay SecondPoint Beac Grenvilleh GoodmanPacific Creek Beach Point No Point BrownsRichmond Pt NBeach Griffin Bay RooseveltThird Beac Beachh WalkerPort Williams County N Pk GoldenBrowns Gardens Pt S Eagle Cove RuCopalisby Beac Rocksh Beach 3 Port Williams Discovery Pk N Indian Beach W Sequim BayTolmie St Pk W Tolmie St3 Pk E Middle Waterway Grandma’s Cove Kalaloch N Discovery Pk S South BeachAla W Spit Watmough Bay Kalaloch S BeachS Taurus 2 Travis Spit Priest Pt Alki S Butterclam Beach 1 Lincoln Pk Coupeville Beach South Beach E Damon Point E Thompson Spit Seahurst Pk Marine View Drive Diamond Pt N 4 Saltwater St Pk Madrona N Jetty Westhaven Raft River Diamond Pt E PUGETDash Point St Pk Hastie Lake Rd S 2 English Boom Preserve OUTH Point Grenville Pacific Beach Owens Beach Browns Pt N S Roosevelt Beach Perego’s Lagoon Walker County Pk Browns Pt S Ebey’s Landing Long Beach N Copalis Rocks SOUND Lagoon Point OAST Oysterville N Tolmie St Pk W Tolmie St Pk E Middle Waterway Fort Casey C S Surfside N Surfside Ala Spit Country Club N Ocean Park N S Taurus Priest Pt Keystone Spit S S Butterclam Coupeville Beach Mabana MarineOcean View PDriveark S DamonKlipsan Point Beach E N Lagoon Westhaven MadronaSummerland N Jetty North Head Lighthouse N Hastie Lake Rd S 2 North Head Lighthouse S Pratt Bluff EnglishElger Bay Boom Preserve Perego’s Lagoon Long Beach N Ebey’s Landing Maxwelton Oysterville N Fort Casey PossessionLagoon Point Beach SORMI Surfside 327 N Surfside Country Club N Ocean Park N Keystone Spit S Ocean Park S Klipsan Beach N Lagoon Mabana Arcadia Beach Summerland ORMI 309 North Head Lighthouse N North Head Lighthouse S Pratt Bluff Elger Bay ORMI 300 Fay Bainbridge ManzanitaMaxwelton Possession Beach ORMI 327 ORMI 286 Pt White 3 NORTH Arcadia Beach Lynwood Ctr Ft Ward St Pk ORMI 309 OREGON ORMI 266 ORMI 300 Fay Bainbridge ORMI 255 Manzanita ORMI 254 Point Vashon S McCleod BeachPt White 3 ORMI 286 Beals Point Cove S KVI Beach ORMI 241 Lynwood4 Ctr Ft Ward St Pk Portage E ORMI 266 Point Robinson Jensen Point Sandy Shores ORMI 255 Spring Beach Docton N Agate Beach Burton Beach S ORMI 254 McCleod Beach Point Vashon S MagnoliaBeals Beach Point Cove S KVI Beach ORMI 241 4 ORMI 196 Portage E Point Robinson Jensen Point Sandy Shores ORMI 175 Spring Beach Docton N Agate Beach Burton Beach S ORMI 168 Magnolia Beach SOUTH ORMI 196 OREGON ORMI 175 Tenmile BeachORMI 168 Bastendorff Seven Devils Wayside The COASST map has grown. Bullards Beach We’ve moved on to page 3! This year’s ORMITenmile 96 ORMI Beach 99 Bastendorff map includes all beaches reporting from Seven Devils Wayside June 2005 through May 2006. For a Bullards Beach ORMI 96 ORMI 99 more detailed look at the San Juans and Puget Sound island communities, see insets 1-4. 2 host Northwest Cable News on a July survey of North Jetty. As luck would have it, they came across a real stumper, something even COASST had never seen before—a South Polar Skua. SOUTHEAST North Coast ALASKA Great Skate!­ A host of non-feathered finds washed ashore on North Coast beaches this year, starting with Egg Island the longnose skate Sharon Gearhart found on Roosevelt BERING Beach last August, a black bear skin found by Sharon SEA in April, and a raccoon found by Sasha Sicks on Sooes North in September. An equally surprising find showed up in October South Bulldog Cove on Pacific Beach—a juvenile gull that apparently didn’t ALEUTIAN Pederson Peninsula know its limits when it attempted to chow down a ISLANDS North Verdant Cove Northwestern Spit humongous rockfish. Ben and Flora Watson suspect it wasn’t advised about the “never eat anything bigger GULF OF than your head” rule. ALASKA There was no absence of birds on Hobuck Beach this year—Mary Sue Brancato and Barbara Blackie found 48 and Coleman Byrnes on Shi Shi Beach near Neah birds, not counting refinds. Hats off to Heidi Pedersen, Bay, Washington, in August were originally banded on Tina and Rodney Lipman and Rosie Zwanziger who Tern Island, as part of the Hawaiian National Wildlife helped Barb and Mary Sue find a Parakeet Auklet in Refuge’s ongoing program to track the albatross February—the third one found on the outer coast that populations of the North Pacific. month. COASST wasn’t the only one seeing Parakeet South Coast Among several major storms that brought huge waves rolling into Westport last February, Craig Zora stumbled upon COASST’s first Parakeet Auklets—two in one survey on Westhaven.
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