Haystack Rock Awareness Program Nature Blog

There has been plenty for birdwatchers to see at Haystack Rock this week, including three kinds of ducks! In addition to harlequin ducks, which are frequent visitors, HRAP Naturalists have spotted mergansers and surf scoters in the past few days. Common murres also made an appearance again, with approximately 1,000 visiting the rock late last week. Bald eagle and peregrine falcon visits are a near daily occurrence. An eagle took a common murre last Friday, only to have a falcon try to steal it! – but the eagle prevailed. The less-dramatic, but much cuter, black oystercatcher pair has been seen every few days feeding in the tidepools during low tide. Surf scoter   Harlequin duck

BIG NEWS! Guess what? Guess what? THE BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS HAVE BABIES!!!! THREE OF THEM!!!!!! AND THEY SURVIVED THEIR FIRST WEEK OF LIFE!!!!     We are REALLY excited about the little fellas. It has been a week and a half of a lot of excitement and a little added stress. We are working hard to ensure that the parents are happy and that the babies are protected. Please help us do that by understanding why there might be more area closed off than normal. Black Oystercatchers are extremely special birds and we are lucky to have a pair that nests at the Rock. Ready for the quick and dirty story of Black Oystercatchers: They are shore birds who are considered a species of concern because their population is so low. It is estimated that there is only 400 on the entire coastline of Oregon, approximately one for every mile. They are territorial and will loudly chase off any other Oystercatcher that comes to close. At the Rock, there has been a pair nesting for a whi...