A Foggy Paddle, Hawks and the Old Magnesite Mine at Red Slide

Monday October 26, 2015 Jenner CA.

Foggy day

I could see the fog was moving in as I drove into Jenner this morning. I put my boat in the water and crossed over to Penny Island where I saw this great blue heron sitting near my sitting place and it wasn’t going to move, so I joined it for a bit before moving on up the river, hoping to get out of the fog.

I was sitting here by the heron as the fog moved in more, looking across the river to the town of Jenner where I put my boat in.

I went through the little channel on the upper end of Penny Island and sneaked up on this hawk sitting on a redwood stump. It stayed for a bit, then took off and so did I, up the river.

I passed by these cormorants and this seal. None took off even though I passed fairly close. The fog is still moving in.

Coco

This harbor seal is another one that pretty much just hangs out in the river and not with the other seals down by the river’s mouth. I call this one Coco as it’s coat is sort of a chocolate color. It’s the only one I can mostly recognize and the only one I’ve named.

I left the fog and continued up the river to the muskrat nest area and sat here, day dreaming for quite a spell. The fog mostly stayed down there by Jenner.

Eventually, I crossed over the river to the north shoreline and paddled down it looking for birds. I saw quite a few different ones, but I have too many pictures again, so I’m only showing the last one I saw, an egret.

I needed some drinking water as I forgot to fill my water bottle, so I pulled into the boat ramp at Jenner to get some. I then got back in my boat and was paddling along going down river, when this kitty caught my eye. I think it was checking out some little birds I saw there.

Penny Island

I went on over to the lower end of Penny Island and paddled on in the flooded part, pushing through the grasses looking for hawks, but saw none.

Hawk

But as I was sitting there, this hawk flew in and landed not far from me. With the fog, it was hard to get good pictures of it. I had to take a lot of pictures just to get one this good.

As I was trying to get a decent picture it jumped into the air and I got this one. I think it is a Harris hawk, which I often see down this way at certain times of the year.

It flew over to the very end of the island and hovered a bit. startling the mud hens you can see on the right.

But instead of attacking the coots, it landed on the reeds.

It sat there for awhile, while I tried to get a bit closer, then jumped in the air and headed on up the river.

I decided to call it a day and not go down to the river’s mouth area as it was fairly fogged in and I was already tired out, so I headed on up the north side of Penny Island where I spied this kingfisher sitting. There’s several kingfishers fishing the lower estuary right now and I pass them quite often lately, so they seem to be getting used to me and not flying off quite so soon, so I was able to get this decent photo of it, just before it took off.

I went on in and put my boat on my car and headed on home for the day.

The old magnesite mine

I stopped by Ray’s house to show him a new book by John Schubert, a local historian, on the old magnesite mine, near Red slide, but he wasn’t home. I went to his brother’s house to do the same, but he wasn’t home either. The book is called Red Slide Magnesite Mines and Railroad. My great grandfather was a teamster running wagons to and from it in the olden days before they got the railroad going to it. I went on home.

At home, I didn’t do much, just looked to see what pipe supplies I already had on hand to fix the pipe creek crossing so I know what other parts I would need to get to fix it up and also re-measured  the creek crossing as I seemed to have lost the paper from my previous measurements. Something to do with older age, I think.

That was my day.