River Otters make their home at the mouth of the Gualala River...and other rivers and creeks on the Mendonoma Coast.

North American River Otters, Lontra canadensis, can only survive in unpolluted waters, a testament to the clean waters of the Mendonoma Coast. On our recent kayak trip, Rozann Grunig photographed a River Otter that had just climbed out of the Gualala River and onto the riverbank of the lagoon.

And below is a photo Siegfried Matull took of a River Otter with a fish in its mouth. 

Along with their favorite food, fish, River Otters have been seen cooperatively taking a Gull, or even a Brown Pelican, found resting on the river, unknowing there was danger.

River Otters have been seen playing - sliding down riverbanks or along kelp beds. They are part of the fabric that is the Mendonoma Coast.

Thanks to Rozann and Siegfried for allowing me to share their photos.

At low tide many treasures of the sea are revealed.

I always save the Independent Coast Observer's tide table and put it on my refrigerator door so I know when the low tides are. Peggy Berryhill keeps her eye on the low tides too. She went out recently and here's what she discovered - beautiful Sea Stars nestled in with mussels.

Sea Stars, often called Starfish, are in the class Asteroidea. There are over 2,000 species of Sea Stars living in the world's oceans. They are closely related to Sea Urchins and Sand Dollars. One strange fact about Sea Stars is that they have no brains and no blood; they use filtered sea water in place of blood.

And when the tide is low, their loveliness is revealed to all.

Thanks to Peggy for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

Water Striders mating, a magical photo by Ron LeValley

Ron LeValley photographed a pair of Water Striders mating on a pond. Look closely at the surface tension of the water - trees are reflected.

Water Striders are bugs that can literally walk on water. They eat insects on the surface of the water.

Beauty surrounds us if we but pause to notice. Lucky for us that Ron has allowed me to share his photo here. To see much more of  Ron's photography, here is his website: http://www.levalleyphoto.com/home/

Pileated Woodpecker - the biggest woodpecker on the Mendonoma Coast.

I often hear the unique call of a Pileated Woodpecker as they travel through the forest. Yesterday two of these distinctive birds landed on a tree in front of our house. Darla Buechner had one land just off her deck and she got some great photos.

Pileated Woodpeckers eat ants and other insects, drilling away in dead wood. They make rectangular holes, which is unique to them.

You can see pieces of wood to the right of the photo above. This is indicative of a Pileated hard at work.

In the photo above the Pileated is on a granary tree, a snag that Acorn Woodpeckers are using to store acorns in the round holes. Darla thought the Pileated might be stealing the acorns and I guess that could be true. But I think it more likely this bird was snacking on bugs attracted to the acorns.

Thanks to Darla for allowing me to share her photos with you here. To hear the sounds of a Pileated Woodpecker, here is the link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/pileated_woodpecker/sounds

And to see a cavity nest with two juvenile Pileateds taken by Nan Brichetto, here is the link: http://mendonomasightings.blogspot.com/2011/05/pileated-woodpecker-feeding-two-babies.html

The Salmon fishing off the Mendonoma Coast has been epic!

Salmon fishing hasn't been this good in well over thirty years. Salmon - big ones - seem to be there for the taking. Commercial fishers and recreational fishers are having the best luck lately. It's heartening to know these fish are back in such abundance.

Jack Likins went out from Point Arena with two friends. Here's what he had to say: 

"Ken Bailey, Pat Killen and I went out salmon fishing yesterday.  We arrived at the Point Arena Pier at 7 am and were 8th in line for launching our boat.  By the time we got our boat in the water at 8 am there were already people returning with their limits of salmon.  We had our limit (2 fish per person) by about noon.  It seemed like almost all the returning boats were limiting out with big fish."

Here's a photo of Pat holding a 22 pound Salmon. What a beauty!

 

Thanks to Jack for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

The white fawn is doing well on The Sea Ranch

Richard Kuehn recently photographed the white fawn with its normal colored sibling. Despite its lack of camouflage, it has survived and grown bigger. You can see it is coloring up just a bit.

The fawn can often be seen by the 8th and 9th holes of The Sea Ranch Golf Links. It does look like a magical being.

Thanks to Rich for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

Kayaking on the Gualala River - it's bliss!

On Saturday Rick and I finally kayaked the Gualala River, courtesy of Adventure Rents. They donated this trip to a popular fundraiser for Gualala Arts, called Art off the Wall. Along with art, there are various adventures. I chose this for my prize. Gualala Supermarket donated four delicious box lunches.

I am in the double kayak, awaiting my adventure, excited but just a little nervous.

We went with George and Rozann Grunig; they are in the yellow kayak. We are exploring the lagoon before heading up river, as advised by Wayne Harris of Adventure Rents. In summer months this river is closed to the ocean by a big sandbar, making kayaking very safe.

We found this group of Common Mergansers sunning themselves on a log.

We saw two River Otters. Rozann got a great photo, which I'll share another day. Can you spot the River Otter looking at me on the muddy riverbank?

Any nervousness is now gone and Rick & I are enjoying our first kayak ride.

 Passing under the Gualala River Bridge unveiled over a hundred Swallow nests.

 George and Rozann, more experienced than us, led the way. In two places we did have to get out and walk, as the river is low in spots. We had a dry winter/spring, which accounts for the lower levels. Jan Harris, of Adventure Rents, said, "Embrace your inner child" on the portages. We did and had fun doing it.

 And here Rick and I are, four hours later, happy with our day on the beautiful Gualala River.

Thanks to Rozann for allowing me to share her photos with you here, along with several I took.

To learn more about the river, visit Friends of the Gualala River at: http://gualalariver.org/

To see many beautiful photos of the river and to learn about kayaking, here's the website for Adventure Rents: http://www.adventurerents.com/

Also, I highly recommend the box lunches Surf Super is putting together. You can order your own custom design at http://surfsuper.com/Home.html