Brookings
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Location
Brookings is on Highway 101 south of Gold Beach 28 miles. It is 6 miles north of the Oregon/California border. One of the “must see” places in Brookings is Chetco Point Park. From Hwy 101 and 5th Street in Brookings, travel 0.3 miles south on Hwy 101 to Wharf Street. Turn right onto Wharf Street and travel 0.5 miles to the entrance on the left into the small gravel parking area. This is adjacent to the Brookings Waste Water Treament facility (42.047401, -124.287511). Behind the sign at the park entrance is a trail running beside the treatment facility. In fifty yards the trail opens to the point. This point will give you good scope views of the ocean and there is beach access here as well. To access the north jetty of the Chetco River, travel from Highway 101 and Wharf Street 0.1 miles to Railroad Street. Turn left onto Railroad Street and then take an immediate right onto Memory Lane. Stay on Memory Lane for 0.6 miles to Sea Cliff Terrace gated entrance. Parking is only on street sides outside the Terrace. On the immediate left side of the Sea Cliff Terrace road gate (behind the rhodendron and palm) there is a walkway around the gate to access walking into Sea Cliff Terrace. Walk 0.1 mile on Sea Cliff Terrace road to the trailhead for the jetty and short beach.
DirectionsHabitat and Birds
Birding the residential areas of Brookings can often produce some very good results. Some of the more unusual birds found here include Broad-winged Hawk, Gyrfalcon, White-winged Dove (more than once), Eurasian Collared-Dove, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Tropical Kingbird, Yellow-throated Vireo (one of only two Oregon records), Brown Thrasher, Lucy’s Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Clay-colored Sparrow (more than once), Rose-breasted Grosbeak (several times), Blue Grosbeak in 2005 and Indigo Bunting in 1991, Common Grackle in 1994, Orchard Oriole, and Baltimore Oriole. Local Hummingbird feeders can host Allen’s Hummingbirds. More common birds here include Surf Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, California Quail, Red-throated Loon, Pacific Loon, Red-necked Grebe, Sooty Shearwater, Brown Pelican, Brandt’s Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Green Heron, Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, Virginia Rail, Black Turnstone, Surfbird, Red Phalarope, Heermann’s Gull, Thayer’s Gull, Ancient Murrelet, Cassin’s Auklet, Tufted Puffin, Band-tailed Pigeon, Vaux’s Swift, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Pileated Woodpecker, Black Phoebe, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bewick’s Wren, Pacific Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hutton’s Vireo, Varied Thrush, Wrentit, 13 species of warblers, Cedar Waxwing, Fox Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Lazuli Bunting, Western Meadowlark, Lesser Goldfinch, and Pine Siskin.
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