Birds Articles

Drone advisory committee on the beach.

Public Comment Period on Drone Use Underway

drone_workgroup_aerial_kenju_sugahara.jpg The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) has been at work on a plan for managing drone use in state parks and on the Oregon shore for well over a year. Based on concepts developed by an advisory working group (on which Oregon Shores was represented), OPRD staff is drafting maps showing...Read more
Offshore wind turbines.\Photo courtesy of Stanford University.

Decision Awaited on Offshore Wind Energy Sites

Offshore wind turbines.\Photo courtesy of NOAA. Latest development: The deadline for public comment on the Wind Energy Areas within which the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is past. Now we await the agency's response to feedback. On Aug. 15, BOEM announced the dimensions of two draft Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) off the coast of Oregon and opened a 60-day...Read more
Photo of Drone over the Oregon coast courtesy of Oregon Coast Aquarium

State Parks Now Drawing Maps for Drone Zones

Drone over the Oregon coast.\Photo courtesy of Oregon Coast Aquarium. Drones have research and commercial uses, but recreational drone use, often by unskilled or reckless operators, is on the increase. This can have serious impacts to wildlife, as well as other human activities, privacy, and solitude. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) is...Read more
Photo of Western Snowy Plover with chick by Mick Thompson.

CoastWatchers Monitor Snowy Plover Nesting Sites

Sign marks snowy plover protected area.\Photo courtesy of OPRD. Nesting season has begun for the threatened Western Snowy Plover, the only resident shorebird that nests on the Oregon coast. Signs are going up, warning beachgoers about the presence of plovers. CoastWatchers can help by carefully observing restrictions on beach use to protect the nesting birds,...Read more

Snowy Plover Nesting Season Underway

Snowy plover exclusion area.\Photo courtesy of USFWS. Oregon’s conservationists and resource agencies have been engaged in a decades-long effort to restore the state’s population of the Western Snowy Plover, an endangered shorebird that nests on Oregon beaches (the only shorebird that breeds here). We are now in the nesting season, the crucial period for...Read more

Oregon Shores Joins Defense of Endangered Species Act

Western Snowy Plovers at South Beach.\Photo by Molly Sultany. Oregon Shores joined 45 other ocean conservation groups recently in protesting an attempt by the Trump administration to cripple the Endangered Species Act, with new definitions of “habitat” which would severely limited the law’s effectiveness. To see our joint comment,...Read more

BioBlitzes in a New Format Coming up in July

Fawn Custer (kneeling), CoastWatch's citizen science trainer, leads a BioBlitz at Cascade Head. A BioBlitz is an intensive survey of a defined area with the goal of identifying all the species to be found in that area at one time, generally involving members of the public assisted by experts. It is a snapshot of biodiversity. In past years, coastal...Read more
Snowy Plover.\Photo by Mick Thompson

Snowy Plover Patrol Training Now Online

Snowy Plover.\Photo by Mick Thompson The nesting season for the endangered Western Snowy Plover is due to begin in Oregon, and in an ordinary year the Snowy Plover Patrol would be about to start monitoring sites on the north coast again. In this unique year, though, with coronavirus precautions in place, the in-person training sessions (which had been scheduled...Read more

Black Oystercatcher Survey Still Taking Place

Birds, Citizen Science, Marine Conservation, Marine Reserves, Rocky Intertidal Zone. The annual citizen science project to survey Black Oystercatcher nests is coming up again, May through August, and volunteers are needed. The survey is a partnership among the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, Portland Audubon, and local conservation...Read more
Motel currently located at Coquille Point.\Photo by Vickie Crowley.

Bandon Considers Coquille Point Hotel Proposal

Motel currently located at Coquille Point.\Photo by Vickie Crowley. Just about three decades ago, Oregon Shores was actively engaged in a land use battle over plans for Coquille Point in Bandon, supporting a host of dedicated local residents. Many in city government were pushing for development, but citizen advocacy prevailed. Almost all of the potentially...Read more