Haystack Rock Awareness Program Nature Blog

During the 2017 summer, the tides gave us the privilege of letting us go explore the backside of Haystack Rock four days in a row. It was a truly magical and life changing experience. As I find myself getting more and more excited for the 2018 summer season, I want to remind everyone who is planning a trip to Cannon Beach, specifically Haystack Rock, remember to check the tides first. If it is at anyway possible, try to come during a string of daylight low tides or even better negative tides. That way, you and whomever come with can see all of the coolest things in the tide pools, with us to explain what you are seeing. Here are some pictures from the days we were behind the Rock!  All photo credits to: Annuka Brown (2017)

Even though our official time of the beach has come to an end, we are still plenty busy. Last week a giant Mola Mola (a.k.a. a Pacific Sunfish) washed up onto the beach. A few of our staff members went down to see it and take pictures. They even dissected the one of the giant eyeballs...for educational purposes of course! Come see us on the beach next summer, and hopefully it will be on display! If you would like to know more about the Pacific Sunfish, go read the  Tidepool Tuesday  post on Facebook.   Now onto trash! In August, HRAP partnered with Sea Turtles Forever/Blue Wave  to remove micro-plastics from the beach in front of Haystack Rock. We did not want to just put the plastic we removed back in the trash, luckily our outreach coordinator, Pooka, had an idea. She is turning the pieces into the most beautiful pieces of jewelry for people to wear. It started with a Discover Haystack Rock event, where we just filled glass bottles with them and t...

Just like that the 2017 beach season is officially over! We did it! HIGH FIVE! After a summer full of educating visitors, rescuing injured birds, putting out educational materials for visitors to see, protecting the Black Oystercatcher family, spotting birds of all sorts with scopes and binoculars alike, participating in citizen science, building sandcastles, and having sooo much fun....the summer has come to a close. As we leave, there is little to see at wildlife refuge. Most of the pelagic birds, have long since returned to sea for the winter and will be back around April 1st! The majority of the Marine Garden is covered up with sand, so there is little to see in the tide pools!  I have already set my countdown for the beginning of the 2018 beach season!

With the beginning and ending months of our season, there tends to be a lot of canceled shifts due to storms! As a beach program, safety is one of our main focuses. So therefore anytime, there is a high surf, high wind, or anything of that nature-we cancel the shift. Sometimes, if staff gets to the beach and the ocean is surging a lot and they feel it is dangerous to be on the beach, the shift will be canceled at that time. Storms on the Oregon Coast are a mind blowing. If it is not something you have experience, I FULLY recommend visiting during one! Please remember to check our facebook page for updates on whether or not the shifts are cancelled! I know this only pertains for another few days this year, until we officially have out last beach shift, but shifts will most likely be cancelled at the beginning of next season too!

Well we have said goodbye to the puffins for the summer! They left us about the middle of August! Although we are sad to go, we know that they will return next summer to have more adorable pufflings. With the departure of the puffins, also led to the departure of all the other seabirds such as the Common Murres! We bid them happy winter sailing! If you need a puffin fix in the time being, we have Protect the Puffins Sweatshirts available today. Go see them on the beach to get yours! A visitor with her brand new Puffin sweatshirt!  You do not need me to tell you what this is!  Pigeon Guillemots-a type of seabird that nests at Haystack! 

So it officially has come and gone. The eclipse that was to pass through Oregon on the morning of August 21st passed through and people are now making travel plans for the next one in eight years. It was a very special morning at The Rock. I woke up early and was excited to see clear blue skies and the sun shining bright. As the staff got onto the beach it was a normal morning, with the same routine, same signs, and the animals were all acting completely normal; except this morning was special. Cindy-one of our wonderful environmental interpreters- was on the beach giving a huge demonstration about the eclipse and how it affects the tides and the birds. She was awesome! Visitors and other staff all enjoyed her presentation. There was two visitors that listened to her little presentation probably five times. They couldn't get enough, it was awesome! As we reached the peak of the eclipse, it was magical! The small amount of people on the beach were all standing with their backs t...

Lately, a lot of visitors have been asking about the eagles. More specifically why we haven't been seeing them around the Rock causing chaos lately. The answer to that question is...PEREGRINE FALCONS!!! The last three weeks almost everyday there has been a falcon sighting. It is typically relatively calm, maybe just some extra noise from the nesting birds. Peregrine falcons are significantly smaller than eagles, but are still considered a prey bird. They look really similar to juvenile gulls when in flight, so to identify it is important to look for the more prey-like wing beat.To me the coolest part of a falcon is that when they power dive, they can reach speeds up to 200 miles per hour. Isn't that completely crazy?!?!?!? Keep your eyes out for one next time you are at the Rock!  *I will post picture of falcons later, but this morning I couldn't find one I loved*