Wednesday July 29, 2020 Jenner CA.
Paddle day
I didn’t have anything better to do today so I was off to Jenner to kayak for the day.
It was overcast with high fog which meant the wind was down which is always a good thing which makes for a nice paddle.
Down river
I put my boat in the water at the Jenner boat ramp and parked my car and was off headed down river along the island’s shoreline.
Birds
As I approached the island’s bottom end I spotted this osprey eating a small fish. It flew off as I approached.
But this hawk which was just under the osprey stayed as I paddled on by.
I could see a bunch of birds on the tip of the island so I went over to investigate.
Terns resting on the gravel.
Brown pelicans coming out of the sky
As I was sitting there watching the terns a bunch of brown pelicans landed all around me quite close.
I was right in the middle of a bunch of them as they rested in the water.
Headed to the mouth area
I turned and headed for the river’s open mouth area up ahead a bit.
As I approached the mouth there were a bunch more pelicans.
Open mouth
Most of the harbor seals were by the ocean today for some reason and not in the estuary.
Is that John
I saw this guy doing something over on the shoreline behind me. Could it be John the trash picker upper. He has some heart trouble and hadn’t been doing too good the last time I saw him but I wasn’t sure it was him as this guy looked like he had a beard. I approached and his beard turned into a mask and it was John so I sat in my boat and shot the bull with him for an hour or so while watching the goings on at the mouth.
More pelicans fly in
A big flock of brown pelicans flew in and and landed.
Pelican’s seemed to be most everywhere.
Lots of birds on the beach now.
Pelican sticks
Sometimes pelicans play with sticks as I’ve seen them do before and I noticed this one flying with a stick. I’ve seen them playing with sticks maneuvering them around in their big bills while sitting on the beach.
Heading back
Eventually I left the mouth area and started back up the river.
Now there were a bunch of pelicans that had landed on the lower end of Penny Island.
I moved in close for a photo or two.
And then headed in to the boat ramp and went on home for the day.
That was a lot of brown pelican’s today. They are fun birds to watch as they do their antics.
Once home it was nap time and that was pretty much my day.
Nice day paddling the estuary with the pelicans.
Pelicans! That stick play behavior is really interesting. I’m reading a book called, ‘The Bird Way’ (Jennifer Ackerman), about what it’s like to be a bird. The author goes into detail about birds playing, including ‘object play’ like with the sticks. It’s delightful to learn about bird behavior, but always more fun to see in person!
Lots of bait fish right now?
What an interesting yak today! You see so many pelicans and I’ve never seen one! It’s neat how they aren’t skittish when you paddle by. Their beaks must be really heavy as you never see them straight out or up in the air.
Interesting that they play with sticks, would be fun to watch.