BANDON - Visitors heading to the beaches along the Southern Oregon Coast may want to keep their eyes open at the skies above, as several species of birds are preparing for breeding season.

Among them include the popular tufted puffins, making their return to Coquille Point in Bandon.

After several years of not being able to spot the rare, unusually colored, football-sized birds, last year, visitors did see a comeback of eight puffins. This year, they've already had a few sightings.

"We've only seen three and those have been in flight," says Bill Binnewies of the Shoreline Education for Awareness. "We weren't quite able to pick out rocks that they were nesting on, but two of them were actually carrying materials in their beaks so they were definitely nesting."

Binnewies is from a volunteer group that comes equipped with spotting scopes and information for the public during the summer months at this site and Simpson Reef.

He says, that besides puffins, they've also seen brown pelicans, bald eagles and thousands of one particular type of bird.

"We will be able to see the common murrers, which are penguin-like birds," says Binnewies. "There's about 3,000 of them breeding in this immediate area."

He adds, they do ask visitors to respect the birds by not climbing on the rocks and disturbing them, while they're nesting.

To help kick off the season, the group will be hosting a puffin party at Coquille Point on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.