The part of the jetty that I am observing from is reached (except at
high tides) by walking on the beach until I reach the station at which
point, I climb up on the jetty. The North and South Jetties of the
Columbia are different than many other jetties. The South Jetty had
a narrow gauge railroad on top of it and the North Jetty had a road
on top of it. The are both very wide and fairly flat on top. This
makes them (relatively) easy to walk on.

When the weather is dry they don't present safety concerns for the
able bodied and cautious person. I generally avoid getting up on the
jetties in stormy weather or in winter storm driven high seas. I have
walked out to the end of each of these jetties, though from a seeing
more birds point of view, it's rarely worth it.

Jetty walkers are advised to wear good walking shoes, carry water and
be ready to turn around when the *start* to feel tired.

>
>Mike, do you or anyone else have any recommendations on safety
>while birding from the coastal jettys? How do you observe the sea
>conditions as to whether you venture out on the jetty?
>
>>Wednesday Jetty Count for
>>the South Jetty of the Columbia River, Clatsop Co., OR
>>21 Aug 1997 0850 to 0950hr
>>
>>Tide:low
>>Weather: mostly sunny
>> Wind calm; Temp 60F
>>
>>
>>Method: One hour (timed) station count 100m west of "3 rocks" on
>>top of SJCR using 20x60 Bushnell spotting scope and 8x50 Bushnell
>>binoculars. Birds were sorted as to flyby, sitting on beach, sitting
>>on ocean or sitting on river.
>>
>
>...
>
>>********************************* I am but mad north-north-west;
>>* Mike Patterson, Astoria, OR * when the wind is southerly,
>>* mpatters at orednet.org * I know a hawk from a handsaw.
>>http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters -ws
>
>
>
>Jerry Tangren <tangren at wsu.edu>
>
>
>
>

--
********************************* I am but mad north-north-west;
* Mike Patterson, Astoria, OR * when the wind is southerly,
* mpatters at orednet.org * I know a hawk from a handsaw.
http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters -ws