Calendar

Past Activity

Canceled: For the Birds at Yaquina Head

  • Start date: 07/10/2012

  • Start time: 12:00 AM

  • End date: 07/10/2012

  • End time: 11:59 PM

Description:

90,000 murres gather on Colony Rock at Yaquina Head each spring to nest. We’ll watch murres, eagles, brown pelicans, gulls and peregrine falcons, also seals and seasonal gray whales. The lighthouse is open and the tide pools/beach is accessible. We will stop at the nearby Yaquina Head Interpretive Center. We will visit the Hatfield Marine Science Center located close to the new NOAA Center in South Bay Newport. If there is time, we will make a brief stop at the Beaver Creek Natural area south of Newport. Bring a lunch and a warm jacket in case of wind.

Cost: members $40.00; non-members $42.00; due: July 2
Reservations: Mary Lee Cheadle

  • Event Leader: West Mary Ellen

  • Assistant Leader:

  • Event category: Bus Trips

  • Area Type:

  • Departure Location: See Trip Description

  • Rating:

  • Roundtrip total drive miles:

  • Season: 2012

  • Permits Required:

  • Event Status: Passed

  • Supplies and Equipment Required:

  • participant prerequisites:

  • Conditions:

  • Total Distance:

  • Member Fees: 40

  • Elevation Gain:

  • Non-Member Fees: 42

  • Committee: Bus Trips

  • Junior member fees: —

Trip Report

Birds were the feature of the July 10 Obsidian Bus Trip to the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area north of Newport. We were treated to peregrine falcons on the cliffs surrounding the Visitor Center. A nest is the visible home to a family of four peregrine chicks. A short walk away are the offshore islands home to thousands of nesting common murres and some cormorants. Eagles, were not present during our visit, but the effect of their predation was evident in the smaller number of birds able to sustain nesting. We observed several marauding turkey vultures lift the murres off the rocks. Biologists from OSU are monitoring nesting success, estimated at 20%. Many seals were visible lounging on the beach and rocks below.

Visible from the Yaquina Head road, was a great view of the dock which arrived on Agate Beach after the Tsunami of 2011 in Japan. Lunch was the Yaquina Bay State Park, site of the original lighthouse built in 1871, and open to visitors.

Our final stop was at Beaver Creek State Natural Area opened in 2010. This beautiful area is seven miles south of Newport and several miles inland from Ona Beach State Park on highway 101. Rick Ahrens was our extraordinary naturalist.

Nineteen club members and 3 non-members were on the trip.

Members & Guests signed-up & waitlisted

No. Status Full name Phone Transportation Needed? Trip Fee # Can Take?
1 Signed-Up West, Mary Ellen 541-342-8672 N 42
2 Signed-Up Ahrens, Rick 541-689-3996 N 40
3 Signed-Up Allen, Ethel 541-736-0692 N 42
4 Signed-Up Arthur, Bill 541-844-5156 N 42
5 Signed-Up Cheadle, Mary Lee 541-689-1085 N 42
6 Signed-Up Cutsforth, Sharon 541-735-4703 N 40
7 Signed-Up Emlen, Clara 541-746-2181 N 40
8 Signed-Up Flanders, Barbara 541-747-9803 N 42
9 Signed-Up Flanders, Dennis 541-747-9803 N 42
10 Signed-Up Jackson, Marjorie 541-729-2902 N 42
11 Signed-Up Jensen, Ray 541-345-5366 N 42
12 Signed-Up McManigal, John 541-345-2036 N 42
13 Signed-Up McManigal, Lenore 541-345-2036 N 42
14 Signed-Up Payne, Barbara 541-746-1964 N 42
15 Signed-Up Payne, Don 541-452-3617 N 40
16 Signed-Up Prentice, Margaret 541-556-6596 N 40
17 Signed-Up Sanazaro, Susan 505-906-7327 N 42
18 Signed-Up Snell, Julie 541-681-3110 N 42
19 Signed-Up Nelson, Geri — N 42
20 Signed-Up Emerson, Christa — N 42
21 Signed-Up Grubb, Elizabeth — N 42
22 Signed-Up Thomas, Charles 541-505-8840 N 42