What’s nest for Audubon?

After having spent more time nesting for the past year, members of the Audubon Society of Lincoln City, serving Lincoln and Tillamook counties, are once again spreading their wings by hosting a guided walk and redoubling efforts to create protected areas of critical habitat for birds and other nearshore species.

Bird Walk

Spend a few hours with fellow birders at Bayocean Spit for the first 2nd Saturday Bird Walk of the year, at 10 am on Saturday, April 10.

The outing, one of the ASLC’s most popular bird walks will include a freshwater lake, scenic Tillamook Bay and ocean habitats with a plentiful variety of birds. There will be lingering waterfowl, migrating song and shorebirds and birds that reside year-round.

The group will meet in the Bayocean Spit parking lot, 1.5 miles off of Bayocean Road.

Rocky Shores Campaign

You can enjoy Oregon’s rocky shores any time, but an opportunity to help protect them by submitting public comments is ending Thursday, April 15.

The Rocky Habitat Management Strategy dates back to 1994, when organizations recognized there were gaps in protecting tidelands, reefs and other rocky habitats along the coast. In 2020, the management strategy was amended for the first time in 25 years to allow for proposals of sites to be included.

As of now, there are 12 requests submitted, including ASLC’s proposals for Cape Lookout and Cape Foulweather, where the public can submit comments in support.

Lincoln City Audubon’s service area covers a diverse length of coastline that features tide pools, nearshore reefs, rock islands and more.

Kent Doughty, ASLC’s coastal campaign coordinator, said the group, with encouragement from stakeholders, identified Cape Lookout and Cape Foulweather as particularly crucial areas to include in the Rocky Habitat Management Strategy.

“Both sites are tremendously important for our tourist economy,” Doughty said. “And nesting seabirds completely depend on rocky habitats.”

For example, the black oystercatcher nests in depressions in the rocks, and visitors will inadvertently disrupt a nest because they don’t see it.

The proposals emphasize education, stewardship and citizen science projects so people can learn how to responsibly recreate in rocky areas.

“Access is a key concept in our management strategy and it’s built into our plan,” Doughty said. “We want to maintain access to these sites now and into the future because it’s important for tourists; and the reefs support fisheries and they have a lot of value to them. It starts with the community defining what they want and being engaged in the management. Conservation without considering the human element is deemed a failure out of the gate.”

For more information about how to submit comments and to watch videos about the Rocky Habitat Campaign, go to lincolncityaudubon.org.