Seal Pups, Fog and a Little Hike Along the River

Monday April 27, 2015 Jenner CA.

Paddling Jenner

I saw Ray across the river in his kayak as I drove into Jenner this morning. It looked like it was going to be a nice day with the sun out and just a low wind. I joined Ray and we decided to head on down to check out the mouth area so we headed on down that way along the island’s edge.

This was our view as we headed down to the river’s mouth area, which is near the center of this picture.river

 

We paddled past this loon showing it’s stuff.loon

 

Seal pups

As we approached the open river’s mouth, I was taking a picture of these seals with their pups when I noticed the bald headed eagle sitting on the sand in the background.seals

 

The eagle flew into the air and was doing some diving around the river’s mouth entrance, but then flew away before I could get there to see what it was doing.

There were quite a few seal pups resting on the beach some with their moms and some without their moms. There moms sometimes leave the pups on land while they go off and feed and do things in the water, but they are usually not too far off. Because of this, there is always a lot of pups calling out for momma, as far as I can figure out. After awhile the calling out gets to ya and you want to get away from it all.

Here’s a momma seal with three pups near by, only one of them being hers.sealpups

 

We watched as this pup kept calling and moving along the shoreline until it’s mom joined it at this spot and they both disappeared into the water. It’s like mom said to stay on shore until I come back.pup

 

We stayed around the mouth area for an hour or so, then headed on up the river going up the back channel of Penny Island. We passed by these two big redwood tree stumps. The one on the left has been there for a long time. The stump on the right has just joined it. The sideways roots tend to stick them in the swallow gravels in this area. These are both natural stumps, not ones planted by the  Russian River Steelhead guys. One of the problems with the Steelhead guys planted stumps is they don’t have any of these side roots left on them, so they don’t stick well and tend to float out to the ocean because of it. Of course, I’m sure they have to use what stumps they can get a hold and most of those have their roots cut or broken off.stumps

 

Shore birds

I haven’t seen any shorebirds around lately. This one caught my eye just past the stumps. I think it might be a yellow legged willet?willit

 

We were paddling along the edge when we spotted this turtle on a log. I think it was the same one I saw a ways down river from this spot the other day. There aren’t usually many turtles down in the estuary, I think maybe they don’t like the salt water?turtle

 

A little walk along the shore

Ray wanted to go to shore for a little walk and get some exercise, so we went ashore at this spot, called Eagle’s landing. The fog is staring to creep in on us.fog

 

We walked up the trail that goes along the shorelines. I call it Poison oak alley for good reason as there is a bunch of it on the trail.

We walked about a quarter mile up when Ray says this is far enough, so we took a break in this spot before starting back. That’s Paddy’s rock out there.paddyrock

 

It’s spring time, so all the plants are growing and getting real lush, including the poison oak and the nettles. Some of the nettles get seven feet high. One got me in the hand which I still feel.

Ray going through the lush growth. There’s a trail in there somewhere.trail

 

Snake

When we got back to our boats I sat down for a break and Ray says there’s a snake in the rocks. This is the little snake I could see from where I was sitting. a harmless garter snake.snake

 

Light fog

We got back in our boats and were headed on back to the launch ramp paddling along this spot. The fog was coming in lightly as we paddled.jenner

 

As we approached the town of Jenner the fog thickened up a bit. It was a warm fog so not unpleasant at all.foggy

 

We made it to the boat ramp and headed on home for the day.  I had intentions of doing some yard work, but that little walk tired me out, so all I could do was rest up when I got home.

Nice day.

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