Friday August 19, 2016 Jenner CA.
Looks like a nice day for a paddle
It was a bit overcast and the wind was down as I put my boat in the water at Jenner this morning. I paddled over to the edge of Penny Island and looked down river. I could see lots of birds down that way.
I paddled on down the edge of the island going by these ducks feeding on the weeds in the water.
Just up ahead I could see a bunch of birds near the lower end of Penny island.
Mostly geese and an egret, maybe some ducks too.
These three terns were preening and resting on the gravel on at the lower end of the island.
And I went by these birds, some geese and some brown pelicans, mostly just taking it easy.
Ocean water dives under the river water
I paddled on over towards the open river’s mouth that was going to high tide, which means ocean water was coming into the river. I hit the foam which is caused when the cold, dense ocean water dives under the warmer less dense river water. Since bubbles don’t sink, it collects on the top and forms these foam rivers. Salt water to the left of the foam and fresh river water to the right of the foam. In other wards, the ocean water is diving under the river water forming layering of the waters in the estuary.
I sat in front of the open mouth watching things for awhile. Harbor seals and birds were resting on the sandy beach there. This is looking out into the ocean.
Eventually I paddled back up the river going up the island’s back channel where I went by these birds which were just resting on the shore.
Across from the town of Jenner
I sat here in this little channel looking across the river to the town of Jenner. A great blue heron was fishing in front of me by the stump.
I watched as the heron fished away.
I paddled up the channel and went by more birds.
The tease bird
A kingfisher stopped in front of me and did some preening so it sat still long enough for me to get a picture of it, which doesn’t happen often as they are a big tease and fly off just before you push the camera button.
I continued on around the upper end of the island and then crossed back over to the boat ramp and went on home for the day.
Wire splicing on the van project
After a nap, I went out and did some work on the van project. I needed to splice three old wires. I removed the old splices as I didn’t know how good they were and am redoing them. I used a metal connector which I crimped and then I soldered the joint to make sure things will stay good.
Two layers of heat shrink tubing finished up the splices.
Now that that was done, I started laying out the wires to the different places they went on the engine. I puttered with that until it got too dark to see, so I quit for the day.
Nice day.
Yes, the tease bird, the kingfisher. And taking pictures from the water isn’t as easy as one would think as the water is never really still, so there’s always movement. I haven’t seen the eagles around much lately, but I sometimes see them flying way up in the sky and if you weren’t paying attention, you’d never know it. A mature bald eagle is easy to spot in a tree as their white heads stand out really well. Sometimes the osprey, which is sometimes called a fish eagle can resemble the eagles too. Keep watching,
Bob
I spent last week at Duncan’s Mills Camping Club and saw that tease bird three days in a row as I kayaked and bird watched. I couldn’t get a good enough look to ID that tease and drove everyone bananas trying to figure it out. So grateful to find your blog and to see all your pictures after I was just there. I only tried to take pictures once and they weren’t very good. Still learning about birds and kayaks. Have you seen any eagles recently? I think I saw one high up in a redwood, but I only saw the body, not the beak, so I wasn’t sure. Definitely was upright like a raptor and not hunched forward like a turkey vulture. Anyway, thanks for the ID on the Kingfisher. :)