April 21st - April 27th 2014

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Daily Low Tides

 Monday, April 21st
0.3' @ 12:15 PM

Tuesday, April 22nd
0.5' @ 1:23 PM

Wednesday, April 23rd - Shift canceled due to weather
0.7' @ 2:31 PM

Thursday, April 24th - Shift canceled due to truck battery dying
0.7' @ 3:33 PM

Friday, April 25th
0.8' @ 4:28 PM

Saturday, April 26th
0.9' @ 5:18 PM

Sunday, April 27th
-0.1 @ 6:02 AM


Notes from the week

 It was another week of spring weather, with sun one day, clouds and wind the next, heavy rain throughout the week, and even a little hail storm to wrap things up. A school group visit kicked the week off for us, and we had out highest visitor count of 59 people in the intertidal at one time during Friday's shifts, luckily that was a sunny and nice day!

The 12 Days of Earth Day celebration in Cannon Beach continued throughout the week with lectures and events in town. HRAP was on the beach providing educational opportunities and interpretation for visitors and festival goers, except for the days when weather and equipment issues forced us to cancel shifts. On Saturday, HRAP staff participated in the festival walking parade and street fair in downtown Cannon Beach. We walked the streets of Cannon Beach dressed as birds and intertidal creatures, then interacted with visitors at the street fair playing a “Spin and Win” trivia game and providing information on sustainable seafood, HRAP, and Haystack Rock. 
Program Coordinator Samantha Ferber (Tufted Puffin), Volunteer Coordinator Alix Lee (Black Oystercatcher), and Staff Interpreter Nadine Nordquist (Red Rock Crab - holding a sea star sign) danced, flapped, and crab walked down the main drag of Cannon Beach in Saturday’s walking parade.

Volunteer Coordinator Alix Lee (left - that’s me if we haven’t met yet!) and Friends of Haystack Rock Chairwoman Stacey Benefield (right), man the HRAP booth at Saturday’s street fair.
Creature Highlights

 Birds
  • Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) - still lots of eagle activity, especially with the large numbers of sea birds establishing nests on Haystack Rock. The Eagles are enjoying more opportunities to catch unaware prey
  • Common Murre (Uria aalge) - large numbers were observed flocking around the Rock and starting to settle!
  • Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)
  • Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus)
  • Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani)
  • Pigeon Guillemot (Cepphus columba)
  • Tufted Puffin (Fratercula cirrhata)
  • Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala) - First seen at the beginning of the week without a positive ID, but by the end of the week we spotted them again and were able to identify them.
Photo of an adult Black Turnstone in breeding plumage. Copyright Bryan Hix, 2013, photo from www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/black_turnstone/id.

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