Tag: nature writing

Canada Geese Love Grapes

Tuesday, June 12, 2017   8 am

Rode my bike across the bridge this morning, so I missed the chicken’s morning serenade in Fair Oaks Village. Canada geese (all 70 of them) are roaming the grounds alongside Jim’s Bridge – now open! A visitor has marked the place by stacking rocks.

feeding, American River, Fair Oaks Bridge

American River, cyclist, bridge, feedingWhen I arrive at the boat launch ramp three mallards are sitting quietly at the far end barely in the water. A crowd of pigeons are standing on the road behind the ramp. They hear me come and with a flutter of feathers, they rise, scatter and fly away.

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A Perfect Sunday!

Sunday, June 17, 2017   745 am 71 degrees

 An ideal day to spend at the American River after a week of scorching heat all day and evening.

I approached Jim’s crossing over the river and see no waterfowl. Not a single one! Where are they? So much has changed since the winter floods to those who visit the river regularly and see the difference.

I ride to the boat launch ramp before riding up to the Fair Oaks Bridge. Fishermen are out in their boats, hoping to catch Shad Skippers. These men are the second group of fisherman out on the river in the past couple weeks trying their luck. Kayaks are launching into the river.

Two boats are already in the water with one more to launch. The boat sits in front of a backdrop composed of Canada Geese. From a distance it appears they are floating backwards. Maybe they are as the geese roll along with the current.Read more

Lizard Pushups a Morning Ritual

Thursday, June 22, 2017 710 am   83 degrees

My first view of the American River is watching Canada Geese glide lazily down the river on the current. Water tinted with shades of blues and greens shimmers in the morning sun.

I arrive on my bike at the boat launch ramp minutes after crossing Jim’s Bridge. No clouds visible in the deep blue sky. I throw grapes sliced in half to a duck who sees me tossing them. The duck not only refuses to eat the grapes, it complains about it with a rude quack, as if to say, “Where is the good stuff I can eat?” and waddles away.Read more

Bottoms Up!

The Boat launch ramp near Fair Oaks Bridge is an ideal site to watch Mallards and Canada Geese begin their mornings – eating and socializing. Are bobbing heads the way to say “Good Morning” in duck speak?
Bottoms up!

Some mornings are far busier than others. Other visitors tell me they have seen a beaver busily stripping the meat from a salmon, an otter family on a leisurely early morning swim and a wayward seal found its way up river.

The Scavengers

Monday, June 26, 2017   730 am 61 degrees

I approach Fair Oaks Village hoping to hear the morning serenade of resident chickens. Not today. A few  chickens wander quietly through the street.

Arriving at Fair Oaks Bridge, I feel a slight, cool breeze. The sun already sits high into the sky throwing intense heat. The sky is filled with white, puffy clouds. Half dozen pigeons circle the bridge for their morning ritual before resting on the bridge frame overhead. In an instant, the pigeons fly to the boat launch ramp nearby. The river sparkles, yet it is empty.

ducklings, Canada Geese, scavenger, boat launch ramp, Fair Oaks Bridge, Fair Oaks, American River, American River ParkwayMany of the Mallards and Canada Geese scour the rocky edge of the American River at Jim’s Bridge or other points farther west. When one duck sees food thrown into the air, soon two or four at a time, they all show up to snatch a free meal.

Egrets and Great Blue Herons remain absent from the former morning stations. They have moved to where they can find food.

Spider webs stretch across the bridge vertical rails as they always do. A few walkers and cyclists pass. Today, the river at Fair Oaks Bridge is so still and clear, I can see small, round rocks sitting on the bottom. As I sit watching the water, a lone Canada Goose floats by on the water. I walk down to the boat launch ramp to get a closer look of the morning activity and see half dozen geese approach me. Canada Geese are always looking for a handout. I tear up bits of lettuce and toss them on the ramp. They sniff, take a taste and walk away. They quietly begin morning cleaning rituals, scavenge the ground for food and shortly afterwards swim away. The river is empty once again.

 

A Cormorant Airs its Wings

Monday, July 10, 2017   8 am

A crowd of Canada Geese and Mallards are sitting at the foot of the boat launch ramp this morning, engaged in their morning rituals. Ducklings swim by. More Mallards fly in, arriving with a chorus of “quack, quack, quack.”

Cormorant, boat launch ramp, Fair Oaks, Fair Oaks Bridge, American RiverI watch carefully this morning as the ducks land in the water. They stretch out their legs at a slight angle, water ski as they touch the water for a second, then fold their legs and settle their bodies into the water. This morning I see a Cormorant with its characteristic yellow beak and huge wingspan. I have seen them now several times on my bike rides on the American River Parkway to Rossmoor Bar.

Coromorant, Fair Oaks, Fair Oaks Bridge, blat launch ramp, American River, morning, outdoors, nature, water, river
Airing wings to dry after flying

The Cormorant arrives at the boat launch ramp, ignoring all the other waterfowl. It stares out into the water, stretches its neck and spread one wing as if hanging it to dry. After a few minutes of airing its wing, I watch this new visitor to the American River walk back into the river and swim away.

Canada Geese arrive at the boat launch ramp, walking over to the ground behind the ramp, beaks down scavenging for breakfast bites. The geese always seem to be the last to come in the morning. Pigeons first, then Mallards, then the geese wake up and show themselves for breakfast.

I ride my bike to Rossmoor Bar and watch an army of ants crawl across the picnic table in view of the water. The sandbars are exposed once again and waterfowl rest on them. I sit and listen to the gentle sound of water rushing by at this place – the San Juan Rapids. I feel a cool breeze on my face. I watch the ducks swim in a small area of shallow water as geese stand guard on the sandbars.

Today, the river is relatively quiet. I rarely see rafters or kayakers. The snow in the Sierra has yet to melt and run down river. Will this area rage with floods again in the fall?

 

Two Turtles Sunbathe at the American River

Thursday, July 20, 2017, 715 am   68 degrees

Fair Oaks chickens, chickens, morning, Fair Oaks, Fair Oaks Bridge, water, I begin the day by listening to the chicken’s morning calls in Fair Oaks Village. I stop and enjoy their morning concert.

Today a pale blue, cloudless sky is tinged with gray at the horizon. A gentle breeze blows on Fair Oaks Bridge as sunlight glares on the water. I meet a couple looking over the side of the bridge and ask what they are looking at. They are looking for the beaver that was eating a salmon whole by stripping the meat right off the bones. They showed me where to look on the shoreline to find its home. I also found out they sighted two river otters and a seal that wandered far from its home turf into the American River one day.Read more

A Wild and Busy Morning

Saturday, July 22, 2017   7 am  68 degrees

 I hear what sounds like a foghorn repeated three times as I sit on Fair Oaks Bridge. What is that sound? Where is it coming from?

At Jim’s Bridge a few ducks are swimming and scavenging. I pass them by and ride on to the boat launch ramp where all is quiet.  One woman stands in a boat in the middle of the river channel and casts her fishing line. Birds are calling their morning song, even though I cannot see even one. I hear a chorus of tweets and rattles.  Pigeons roost on Fair Oaks Bridge.

Mallard, American River, Fair Oaks Bridge, river, morning, water, feeding, feedOne Mallard approaches me waiting to receive handfuls of breakfast treats.  As it poses for me and waits for a bite to eat, we  both hear a quack in the distance. The duck raises it neck and listens for the sound. After a few minutes of waiting for me to throw food and discovering, I have none to give, the duck wanders back into the water.

Another day at the river without even a strip of white clouds in the sky. Looking carefully, I see faint wisps of white, as if an artist used a very dry brush on a pale blue canvas. I hear a chicken call from the distance. The calm waters enhance this peaceful scene.  Out of the quiet, a cyclist at high speed races by, rumbling across the bridge deck as he passes.

Half dozen Canada Geese patrol a distant shore. Still no Egrets. No Great Blue Heron. I search for them every time I come and they must have gone elsewhere where food supply is plentiful. No turtles today hanging out on a branch to sunbathe.

I hear a persistent cough coming from an unseen person hiding on the riverbank directly under the bridge. I have heard these coughs several times during morning visits to the bridge and rarely see the source.

woodpecker,American river,The sun is high in the sky. The morning temperature is still cool. I ride west on the American River Parkway to  my usual morning stopping point – a picnic bench on a bluff overlooking sandbars on the river.  No waterfowl there. No cyclists on the bike trail yet.

woodpeckers, American River Parkway, home, treeOn my ride home I look for the tall and long dead tree where woodpecker families call home. I see a family of four  flying from one branch to another, sitting, drumming, joining others, flying off again, sitting in a line. I focus in for a photo and they fly away again.

 

 

Ducks Dance on the American River

  Thursday, July 27, 2017   1pm

Today I watched ducks dance in the river!

My daughter and son feed ducks pretzel sticks and fruit pieces. We walk across Fair Oaks Bridge and see Canada Geese on its west side. The water is very still, and shaded green as a huge reflective pool. Dragonflies land on a nearby bush. The solo white duck joins the Mallards in a quest for food. I watch one of the ducks climb the riverbank as if it were stairs. Finding no food or anything else interesting, it turns around and waddles down the hill into the water.

We spread our beach towels on a shady riverbank in sight of Fair Oaks Bridge. Rafts are inflated. We open lunch bags and enjoy simple snacks. A few people pass on their way somewhere else. We enjoy a peaceful afternoon with no one nearby. I walk into the river to cool off and enjoy a show of dancing ducks.

 

 

Webs, Wildlife and Wonder

Wednesday, August 2, 825 am 78 degrees

destinaton, chickens, Fair Oaks Village, Fair Oaks Bridge, morning
Morning stroll in Fair Oaks Village

Walking from the Fair Oaks Clubhouse, I hear chickens call their good morning song. Met a photographer on my way to Fair Oaks Bridge taking photos of bunnies hiding under bushes. We think someone left them here to live in the wild, instead of a home.

Two ducks swim in the American River to the boat launch ramp. A group of a dozen young women out for a morning run. A lone boater casts his line. Walkers stroll by. The water under the bridge is so clear, I can see the stones lining the river bottom.

As soon as I arrive at the bridge, a cyclist begins chatting on his phone with a friend about politics. Speaking loudly, pacing back and forth, I begin my daily observations and try to ignore him. Other people walk on the bridge and cross without stopping to look at the view. They remain engaged in conversation. Occasionally I point out intricate spider webs to people who say, “Good morning.” A group of three women walk past me and admire my colorful socks.Read more