Monday April 21, 2014 Jenner CA.
Checked out the Musk Rat nest too
The first critters I ran into today were this pair of mallard ducks taking it easy in the east end Penny Island channel.
They were in a good spot, so I hung out with them for about an hour taking it easy in the little channel.
A little fog was sneaking in up river, but it didn’t last. I’m headed on up the river here just above Penny Island.
I noticed this cormorant had some white feathers on it’s head. I think they get these in mating season and indicates they are male?
Turkey Vultures Social
Over by Paddy’s rock, I noticed a bunch of turkey vultures landing. I didn’t see them eating anything so I watched them for a bit. They seemed to be having some kind of social get together. Several birds sparred with other birds quickly, but nothing too drastic. There seemed to be some kind of picking order thing going on. Turkey vultures seem to have quite some kind of social thing going on. If you watch them long enough, you’ll see that they are well organized in some way and have more going on with them than meets the eye. And even though we think we are on the top of the food chain,……………… they are.
I left the vultures to whatever they were doing and headed across the river to Dead Deer Gulch, which is that spot under the trees, where I sat around and took it easy some more.
It was a nice day, a little bit of wind, but then it would settle down to a breeze for a bit and be real nice out. The wind went up and down that way all day, mostly nice.
The Rat nest
I moved on down to Rat Nest Beach as I wanted to check out the rat nest up close. I got out of my boat and went ashore to have a look. I wanted to see how big it’s entrance hole was to determine if it was a Pack Rat or a Musk Rat? The entrance is that hole to the right of center.
I think the entrance hole is larger than a Pack Rat would make, so I think this is a Musk Rat nest. The other evening, I saw several small critters in the water in front of this nest, but was too far away to make them out. They dived under the water and were gone. Too small for otters.
River’s mouth area
I paddled on down to the river’s mouth area taking my time. The mouth was open, but just barely. It was open shallow, which means the estuary water level is hold high and doesn’t follow the tides much when it’s like this.
A couple Brown Pelicans flew in and landed near by.
There were a bunch of Harbor Seals beached in the area. Not sure what that Pelican is doing up there? Those birds on the sand are mostly terns.
Turkey Vultures dine
On down past the mouth at the end of the river were some more Turkey Vultures. They were working on a dead seal, just getting started. Top of the food chain, they don’t even have to buy their food. :O)
I continued on down to the end of the river and sat around watching for awhile in this area.
From that spot, this was my view looking back up the river.
Around three PM, I headed on back to the take out. I paddled along the north side of Penny Island along here.
Took my boat out of the water and went on home for the day for a little nap.
Nice day kayaking Jenner.
