Thursday November 5, 2020 Jenner CA.
Yak day
It looked like the wind would be down today at Jenner so I headed out around noon.
I put the boat in the water at the boat ramp and headed on up the river going by here taking my time enjoying the day.
I noticed a bunch of birds resting on the gravel over by Paddy’s rock as I passed on by.
And these two horses getting some sun up on the hillside.
Sit spot
I paddled up to here and turned and sat in my boat and watched looking down river.
After awhile I crossed over to the other side of the river and noticed these buffle headed ducks have arrived from the north. Some of them spend the winter here in the estuary.
I paddled down along the side of Penny Island headed downriver to the river’s mouth area.
River’s mouth area
There were lots of birds up ahead on the water and on the beaches. I decided to skirt them to the left so as not to spook the ones on the water.
Pelicans and gulls all over the place, lots of them.
Lots of birds there eh.
And more birds.
The river’s mouth was open so I paddled into it a bit and looked out into the ocean past all the birds.
The birds were really packed in there.
Where’s the harbor seals
I was looking for the harbor seals as there’s usually over 200 of them down here but I didn’t see any.
So I paddled around the birds to the end of the river where I ran into about a dozen harbor seals on this submerged rock.
Dawned on me
I paddled back over into the open mouth area and it dawned on me why there’s not many seals down here. Can you see it?
It was almost 5 when I turned and headed back to the boat ramp and went on home. Almost sunset time as the sun settles over the Pacific ocean.
It’s not the forest fires
OK so why have most of the seals left. I noticed most of them were gone about the time all the forest fires started but that’s not the reason they have gone, no sir.
The reason they left
Most of my pictures today showed why they have left. They usually feed out in the ocean in the morning and come back here to rest and digest for the rest of the day, but.
How can one rest with all these birds taking things over and spooking into the air on occasion. Not a peaceful place to rest anymore and not much room to do it.
It’s interesting, people have been trying to protect the seals for a long time fr0m people but in the end, it’s mother nature that upset the cart.
Things change
I can see a lot of pluses for the big spawning fish that come into the river with less seals at the mouth. And I can see a lot of birds eating the smaller fish trying to get to the ocean and that many birds poo will certainly change the nutrients for good or bad in the estuary.
Anyway it was a nice day paddling. I loaded my boat on the car and went on home.
Since it’s getting dark early all the chickens were already on the roost for the night so I closed them in.
Then I got some fire wood and started the wood stove to warm the house up. It isn’t that cold so I just made a small fire to take the chill off the house.
And that was my day.
Nice day.
It is interesting how nature works things out. I’m a critter watcher and see changes all the time. I have never seen so many birds at one place though. That’s amazing!!