Tides and weather are the keys to whether we have can conduct a successful bird survey. Tides are predictable; the weather has been anything but this year.
All park programs have been canceled, including guided snowshoe walks at Hurricane Ridge. Hurricane Ridge Road will remain closed to vehicles until the lapse of appropriations is resolved.
We haven’t had quite the cold weather we usually get but the wind has been remorselessly beating up Washington and playing havoc with our attempts to get to our beach for a COASST survey
It sounded like our camp was going to come apart; the good news was at least I didn’t have to worry with snapping my mooring.
Approximately nine million tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year—the equivalent of five plastic grocery bags stuffed with plastic trash on every foot of coastline around the world.
The weekend had been nothing if not chaotic; both in wind and rain. Still the last thing I expected was to see a surfer getting rescued by a USCG swimmer.
Anyone who lives in the Pacific Northwest is familiar with the migration of the different species of Salmon. What did surprise me recently was the the size of the water these amazing fish are willing to attempt swimming up to breed. My childhood handmade sailboat wouldn’t float in the amount of water we’re talking here?
Okay, this might be a slight exaggeration when I compare the Obstruction Point drive to Bolivia’s death road, but not by much. Or at least, not in some sections where you have a drop of hundreds of feet with no room to pass an oncoming car. Just ask my passengers!
I really don’t want to think about the number of miles or the total elevation lost and gained that were traveled to find our first bird but it finally paid off with the discovery of our first bird (and second) to document for the volunteer COASST program.
This was only our second year for this site, and actually our first full year. Last year we had a late start as we waited for the permits to make their way through the system. I mention this because it makes is somewhat difficult to come up with any hard conclusions regarding the data.
