Haystack Rock Awareness Program Nature Blog

It's been another great week at Haystack Rock. Our beautiful Marine Garden has been protected by the Haystack Rock Awareness Program for 30 years, ensuring that each new generation can enjoy the marine life and nesting birds that call Haystack  Rock home! Haystack Rock at Low Tide Photo courtesy of Carolyn Propst There are a number events in the coming weeks that will inform and educate you about the history of HRAP and opportunities to get involved. Consider joining us for one or all of these events. Welcome the Tufted Puffins On Earth Day, Wednesday April 22nd at 10 am, the Tufted Puffins will be welcomed back to Haystack Rock by children from local schools. Haystack Rock Awareness Program interpreters will be on the beach from 7:00 am to 1:30 pm. Thirty Year Anniversary Exhibit The Cannon Beach History Center & Museum and Cannon Beach's Haystack Rock Awareness Program have partnered to celebrate HRAP's 30th anniversary. For thirty years, HRAP has v

Anyone who has driven Highway 101 through Oregon knows the coastal landscape - headlands, sandy beaches, tide pools and clear, cold ocean water - are simply stunning! The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife both have roles in protecting the natural beauty of our coast and their viability as habitat for local flora and fauna. Oregon Rocky Shores Rocky shores are a defining feature of the dramatic 360-mile long coastline of Oregon. Tidepools, cliffs, rocks, and submerged reefs support an ecologically rich and diverse ecosystem at the boundary of the land and sea along 161 miles (41%) of Oregon’s shoreline including 82 miles (21%) of rocky intertidal habitat. The US Government defines a Marine Protected Area (MPA) as “any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by Federal, State, territorial, tribal or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein.”

After a mild winter on the North Coast, the happenings of Spring are coming early this year. The daffodils bloomed early, the invasive Scotch Broom is blooming already, and the Tufted Puffins ( Fratercula cirrhata ) are already returning to Haystack Rock! Six puffins were first spotted on April 2nd and have been seen on several days since the first sighting. The Tufted Puffin is a pelagic bird, spending most of the year at sea, typically more than 60 miles off the coast, with no land in sight. They spend their time at sea either individually or in pairs and return from the sea each spring to bear and rear their young. The puffins nest on remote rocky islands with grassy areas in which they can burrow. There are few places on the Pacific Northwest Coast that fit their nesting needs, but Haystack Rock is a perfect spot for them, and they return here year after year. The Tufted Puffin is the largest puffin in America and the only puffin that nests at Haystack Rock. It's large