Plover Host at Bullards Beach State Park, Oregon

6/30
We arrived back at Bullards Beach State Park and setup on our new campsite. The first house we bought back in 1978 was on a corner lot.  After that we vowed to never live on a corner lot again, but here we were on the corner of the entrance to the "C" loop.

Oh-well, we'll only be here for a month!

7/1
Today was orientation day.  The morning was full of information about the park and the general area.  At 1PM we took charge of the "Plover Mobile" and headed out to the China Creek overlook where we'd be spending 4 hours a day for the next month.  Steve and Laura (the couple we met that got us the gig) were still on duty, dry camping in the parking lot.

They would become our primary trainers over the next few days till they moved on to another assignment. This was an unusual benefit for us, the on-coming host usually never spends any time with the people they relieve.  Steve & Laura explained how the Western Snowy Plover is an endangered shore bird that laid their eggs on the dry sand just above the high tide water line.  We were to educate beach goers about the birds so they would be aware and not disturb the nests or the parenting birds.

Another tough day on the beach.

Looking north for beach goers, with dogs. Dogs not
allowed in the 12 mile protected area to the south.

We had some interesting visitors to the China Creek beach assess.

This fellow was touring the US, riding from the east coast, near New York, to the west coast.  He stopped at China Creek on his way up the coast  to Canada for the return trip to the east.

There were many people cycling down 101 from Washington to it's southern terminus south of San Diego.  This couple was only going a few hundred miles.

7/21

A beach goer told us about some eggs amongst  the drift wood just north of China Creek. Joan and the girl went down to the beach to see if they could find them again.  Sure enough, they were Snowy Plover eggs. The location on the beach was not typical and there didn't appear to be any adults around so we thought the eggs had been abandoned.  The next morning the biologist examined the eggs and found they WERE viable with an adult nearby and should hatch a few days before our tour as Plover Host was over.   A new perimeter was set up to keep people away and we were excited that we might see some chicks hatch after all.  When we arrived there were two nests and 6 eggs just below our overlook, none of the checks survived. 

Close up of actual nest as we were marking it for the biologists.

They really do blend in.

A few days before the hatch date, we learned a Raccoon had found the nest and eaten the eggs. We were very disappointed.

7/25
On one of our days off, the weather was unusually warm (low 70's) and the wind calmed to a gentle breeze so we decided to go down to the beach near Devils Kitchen and play tourist.

The end of a pleasant afternoon.

See Joan sitting on rocks.

The businesses in Bandon OR had some interesting names, here's a few examples...

The Oregon coast has a fault line just 10 miles off shore.  If there was an earth quake, everyone is supposed to immediately seek high ground via a Tsunami Evacuation Route. One afternoon Joan and I hiked the short trail to the only high ground in the campground.

Here's some pictures from the Bandon area.

A frequent visitor to the China Creek overlook.

Our month as Plover Host over, we left Bullards Beach State Park on Aug.1, heading north to Newport OR to visit some new friends.

Coming next, Newport OR and Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area