Visit a tide pool, explore a salt marsh, and learn about plant propagation this June with the Explore Nature Series

As the warmer weather moves in and the days get longer and brighter, the Explore Nature Series is hosting a fun line-up of June events to get folks outside and enjoying the Tillamook Coast. You can choose to learn about sea life that lives along the rocky intertidal areas of the Oregon Coast, participate in a plant propagation workshop and learn how to start plants from fresh cuttings.

June 8 – Oregon State Parks, Friends of Netarts Bay WEBS staff and volunteers will be onsite in the tide pools at Oceanside Beach and Recreation Site helping visitors understand what is living along the coastal edge.

Learn about anemone clone wars, how a sea star eats, or how hermit crabs steal shell homes from other crabs. Just look for volunteers in WEBS t-shirts. And, stick around for a microplastics clean up happening the same day from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

June 8 – World’s Ocean Day – In honor of World Oceans Day, The Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve and Lower Nehalem Watershed Council are hosting a screening of ALBATROSS, a film by artist Chris Jordan at 7 p.m. . This award-winning film is about birds on Midway Island in the Pacific whose bodies are filled with ocean plastic. Following the film is a panel discussion on ocean plastic pollution with David McCall, Solid Waste Program Manager at Tillamook County; and Dorothy Horn, PhD student at Portland State University researching microplastic along the coasts of Oregon, California, Costa Rica, and Hawaii. This event will be held in the Schoolhouse Room at North County Recreation District in Nehalem from 7 – 9 p.m.

June 8 – The Cape Falcon Marine Reserve and Haystack Rock Awareness Program are hosting a Seabird Monitoring Workshop from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. in Cannon Beach to help folks learn about the three cormorant species that nest on the north coast and how to join efforts to study them. No experience or knowledge necessary. Those interested will then meet up to weekly throughout the summer to count nests, eggs and babies on cliffs and rocks in the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve.

June 15 – Spend some quality time with Retired BLM Botantist, Kurt Heckeroth, and Tillamook Estuaries Partnership’s Maysa Miller at the TEP Native Plant Nursery for a Plant Propagation Workshop from 12 – 3 p.m. Learn how to start soft-tissue cutting from beautiful native plants such as Evergreen Huckleberry, Red Huckleberry, Common Snowberry, and Wax Myrtle. We will have sample cuttings already taken and ready to pot up, however, if you have a special plant you would like to propagate, bring it on over.

June 21 – Take a Summer Solstice Salt Marsh Tour with the Friends of Netarts Bay WEBS at 10 a.m.. Walk along the saltmarsh of Netarts Bay while learning about how plants survive in such a salty environment. Learn about the plants and animals that live in this unique habitat and the importance of this environment from the forest to the water’s edge while exploring the succession of vegetation from the bay to the dunes.

June 30 – Join the Lower Nehalem Community Trust and members of the Tillamook County Bee Keepers Association from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to learn about the fascinating life of bees and other pollinators including their life cycles, habitat, and what dangers they face in this modern world. A fully contained observation honeybee hive will be available for close up observation; walk in both the Community Garden and conservation areas of Alder Creek Farm to observe the many pollinators at work.

Each June event is free and open to the public, however some have limited space available so early registration is recommended. For further details about each event and to register visit explorenaturetillamookcoast.com.
Explore Nature events are hosted by a consortium of volunteer community and non-profit organizations, and are meaningful nature-based experiences highlight the unique beauty of Tillamook County and the work being done to preserve and conserve the area’s natural resources and natural resource-based economy. Events are free, however registration is required at explorenaturetillamookcoast.com.