Haystack Rock Awareness Program Nature Blog

Our first week of HRAP's beach season brought rain and cold temperatures, but also a few clear days and some exciting wildlife sightings. We saw about 100 common murres on Haystack Rock and another 60 on the north Needle at the beginning of the week, only to have them disappear after a couple of days. This is actually not particularly unusual – last February, murres came to the rock for a few days and then returned in April, and those with longer memories say this pattern has happened several times over the years. We’ve also sighted our resident black oystercatcher pair on the north and south boulders, a handful of harlequin ducks in the calm water near the boulders, and a peregrine falcon, a bald eagle, and a pair of Canada geese at the top of the rock. This past week, low tides allowed us to get out to the tide pools for the first time this beach season. Winter storms swept away much of the sand, leaving large areas of bare rock that provide good access from the sou...

What a truly wonderful week it has been in Cannon Beach! We began the week with snow on the BEACH!!! On top of Haystack Rock! The snow only lasted a few hours but it made the beach more magical than normal, which I did not think was even possible. I hope everyone got to go out and enjoy it.  As the week continued on, our wonderful staff environmental educators went through a training in order to prepare for a seasonal full of educating you on the beach. We all spent countless hours getting all of the equipment ready to go to the beach.                                   And FINALLY...the first official beach shift of the season took place yesterday morning. It was a successful, fun, cold, and rewarding morning at the Rock. We talked to wonderful visitors that were full of questions and enthusiasm (two of our favorite things)! Now, if the seabirds would return from ...