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July 24 @ 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Snowy Plover Interpretive Walk – Netarts Spit (RSVP required)
When: Wednesday, July 24, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Where: Cape Lookout State Park
Join Bird Alliance of Oregon and Friends of Netarts Bay – Watershed, Estuary, Beach, & Sea (WEBS) to learn about the threatened Western Snowy Plover and Oregon’s coastal ecosystem while hiking the length of Netarts Spit. We hope to observe Snowy Plovers and other coastal creatures on this 13-mile round trip hike. Please bring your own binoculars, water, lunch, and comfortable attire. Participants can opt for a portion of the hike.
Other Interpretive Snowy Plover walks will occur on: June 22 (Sitka Sedge), July 12 (Clatsop Spit), and August 25 (Netarts Bay)
Why Western Snowy Plovers?
The Pacific coast population of Western Snowy Plovers has been in decline for several decades due to loss of habitat and disturbances from development, recreation, and other human pressures. In Oregon, the population hit a low of about 50 individuals in the early 1990s. Subsequently this species was listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act in 1993.
Due to targeted recovery efforts in Oregon, mostly focused on the south and central coast, the bird has bounced back to a few hundred individuals and are starting to recolonize traditional north coast nesting sites.
Plover Patrol engages communities to monitor plovers on the north coast, helping Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and Bird Alliance of Oregon track where Plovers are and how they are recovering to inform management.