Haystack Rock Awareness Program Nature Blog

The birds at Haystack Rock are busy nesting. Have you ever wondered what the eggs look like that they're laying? Common Murre  The common murre lays one egg at a time. They lay their egg on a bare rock ledge on a cliff face. The egg is blue-green in color and is speckled. The incubation period for the common murre egg is 32 days. Once hatched, the young fledge on Haystack Rock for 20-25 days. When it comes time to leave the nest, they fall to the ocean at dusk or at night while following their father.  Common murre egg Notice the shape of the egg. What would happen if you tried to roll the egg? What path would the egg take?  How could this help in the success rate of the nesting pair in producing a chick? Common murre egg that rolled off the rock Black Oystercatcher The pair of black oystercatchers nesting in the saddle at Haystack Rock were sitting on two eggs that were la yed in late May . Unfortun ately, those eggs were lost. There's still time ...

While opalescent and shaggy mouse nudibranchs are fairly common at Haystack Rock, every once in awhile the staff and volunteers find some more obscure ones. One example, which was seen last week, is the alabaster nudibranch. As reported by Steve Grace, a volunteer, "This morning, after several months of searching, I finally spotted the alabaster nudibranch (Dirona albolineata). Its white lines glowed against a dark kelp background, its oral veil undulated in the current, and its translucent body seemed to be lit from within." alabaster nudibranch (photo courtesy of Steve Grace) Steve also found a Christmas anemone (aka mottled anemone or painted anemone) Urticina crassicornis. While they've been seen at Ecola Point, this was the first one seen at Haystack Rock. Christmas anemone (photo courtesy of Steve Grace) The intertidal area at Haystack Rock is ever changing. Sand comes in, sand goes out. Sometimes we have to look really closely to find some interesting ...

It’s been a busy month at Haystack Rock. Many of the birds that nest on Haystack Rock have returned. The common murres are back in abundance as are the western gulls, pelagic cormorants, pigeon guillemots, and, of course, the tufted puffins. The black oystercatchers have been working on establishing a nest in the rocky area of the saddle There have also been a lot of nudibranchs found in the Needles, the rocky areas just to the south of Haystack Rock. Nudibranchs are a group of soft-bodied, marine gastropod mollusks that shed their shells after their larval stage. They are known for their often extraordinary colors and striking forms. Currently, about 2,300 valid species of nudibranchs are known.  In this photo you will find four species of nudibranch.  Can you find them all? The four species represent three major nudibranch types: Dorid (red sponge nudibranch), Dendrontid (Dendronotus frondosus), and Aeolid (opalescent nudibranch and shaggy mouse nudibranch). Fou...

A few weeks ago, the HRAP staff was alerted that a mermaid’s purse had been found on the beach. A mermaid’s purse is an egg capsule produced by the Big Skate, ( Raja binoculata ). The capsule, which is oblong in shape, usually measures 9-12 in long and 4-7 in wide. It has horns protruding from the corners.   Egg Capsule (mermaid's purse) Photo courtesy of Frances Holtman This species is oviparis , which means that the egg capsules often contain more than one embryo. This particular egg capsule held three juvenile skates. Unfortunately, the capsule was damaged, and the skates fell to the sand when a visitor picked up the capsule.  Visitors viewing the juvenile Big Skates Photo courtesy of Frances Holtman The Big Skate is the largest species of the skate family. They are found on the Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja California. They feed on worms, crustaceans, molluscs, and small fish. While the capsule contained three juvenile Big Skates, their pre...

If you are from the Oregon Coast, you know that bald eagles are seen in great abundance along the shore. But this hasn’t always been the case. In the past, bald eagles had such low population numbers that they were put on the endangered species list. Before 1972, DDT was a popular pesticide that was used all over the country. In coastal areas, the chemicals in this pesticide would end up in the ocean, building up in fish populations that eagles and other large raptors would then prey upon. The chemicals used in DDT would soften eggshells, making bald eagle reproduction success rate very low. Once the use of these chemicals was banned in the United States, eagle numbers began to rise and they were eventually switched from the endangered species to threatened species. It wasn’t until 2007 that eagle numbers were high enough to remove the bird from both endangered species and threatened species lists.   Nowadays, with such a large abundance of seabirds, like those seen at Ha...

Many of us are intrigued by the large animals seen at Haystack Rock, which unfortunately leaves most people to step over, or even on, hundreds of very delicate creatures that cover almost every visible rock, barnacles! Barnacles are crustaceans, related to crabs and shrimp. Although we mostly only see them motionless and stuck to rocks, they expend lots of energy to stay alive and live in a variety of places!  The first stage of a barnacle’s life is a free swimming, one-eyed larva. It hatches from a fertilized egg as a result of sexual reproduction. The barnacles mission at this stage is to find a surface to live on for the rest of its life. This could be attached to a rock, a ship, a whale, a crab, or any other hard surface which will allow the animal to settle. The method barnacles use to attach themselves to surfaces in a wet environment is rather intriguing. Researchers have recently (2014) discovered that this is a two-step process. The first substance that is s...

The intertidal zone is the area between the high and low tide lines.  It is an area rich in nutrients and is the home to a variety of inhabitants, but it is a harsh habitat where the inhabitants have to survive in both the sea and on the land.  The Intertidal has four distinct zones. The spray zone is submerged only during very high tides or during storms, but will be 'sprayed' by sea water by splashing waves and wind-blown spray. The high intertidal zone is submerged during the peak of the high tide and is out of the water for long periods between the high tides. The middle intertidal zone is typically exposed during the hours surrounding the low tide and low intertidal zone is exposed only during the lowest tides. Most human visits to Haystack Rock are during low tide when much of the intertidal zone is exposed and the inhabitants are exposed to the air. While the human visitors leave as the water submerges the landscape with the incoming tide, the inhabitants remain and h...