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22nd Apr 10
PelicanPublisher
Students from Cannon Beach Elementary School welcomed the Tufted Puffins back to Cannon Beach’s Haystack Rock to celebrate Earth Day on Thursday, April 22. The students unfurled a banner reading “Welcome Back Puffins” and sang a song written for the occasion. Just moments before the students gathered for a group photo with the banner, a Bald Eagle took to the air, circling Haystack Rock and sending gulls squawking from their nesting sites in a display that couldn’t have been scripted better for Earth Day in this coastal community. The Haystack Rock Awareness Program then hosted a series of activities for the students including birdwatching stations.
Puffins spend most of the year on the open waters of the Pacific, but return to near shore rocks and remote locations along the coast each spring to nest and raise their chicks before returning to sea in mid summer. Cannon Beach’s Haystack Rock is the most accessible locations to view nesting puffins in the Northwest. Throughout their stay, the Haystack Rock Awareness Program will offer visitors the opportunity to view the birds from bird watching stations set up during low tides.
In 2010, the Haystack Rock Awareness Program is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its unique partnership between the community and City of Cannon Beach that has provided education and preservation efforts for Cannon Beach’s most famous landmark. The program not only enhances the experience of visitors to Cannon Beach, but protects this remarkable natural area for future generations of visitors. Primarily volunteer driven, the program has received funding from the City since 1985 and now features a full time coordinator.
Additional funding for the Haystack Rock Awareness Program is provided by the non-profit group, Friends of Haystack Rock. Friends makes it possible for the program to seek and receive funding from other non-profit sources. In recent years, the Friends group has secured grants and donations that have made it possible to hire additional staff through the AmeriCorps program, create colorful interpretive panels at beach access areas and purchase equipment including an interpretive trailer used for beach educational programs. Earth Day marks the kickoff to the annual fundraising campaign for Friends of Haystack Rock. The two month fundraising effort will seek both individual and business contributions. All contributions are tax deductible and can be made to: Friends of Haystack Rock, PO Box 1222, Cannon Beach, Oregon 97110.
