A Dreamy Day On The Russian River

It was a slow, lazy glide down the Russian River yesterday. Carol and I slid our kayaks into the water on a cool, foggy morning at Steelhead Beach for the eight mile trip to Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville. One of the many benefits of retirement is being able to enjoy popular places in nature like the Russian River when the usual summer crowds are nonexistent. So it was yesterday. We saw just three other boaters at the put-in and not another person on the river until the last mile of our trip.

Bird life usually abounds here and yesterday was particularly rich in avian accompaniment. The co-stars of the show were tree swallows and black phoebes  Swallows are incredible acrobats, these small birds have short, pointed wings that enable them to perform the most wild arial maneuvers. Swallows dip and dive at lightening speeds as they hunt for flying insects, it’s a dizzying spectacle that’s a marvel to witness. For nearly our entire trip, swallows were everywhere. The black phoebe is a handsome bird with a gentle and inquisitive nature. I always see a few of these birds while on the river but their numbers yesterday were unprecedented. The phoebe is a master ambush predator. It typically sits on a perch, wagging its tail feathers up and down and scanning the air before it. In a flash it leaves the perch to snag an unsuspecting bug in mid-air, returning to the perch to consume its prize. Why there was such an abundance of these two species, I don’t know but we were happy beneficiaries of the show.

The Russian River is a thriving aquatic habitat that abounds with life, that it can support such a wide variety of avian predators is an indication of the vibrant health of the river and its surroundings. All the predators that I usually see here were present: herons, egrets, kingfishers and osprey.

The Great Blue Heron is a large, regal looking bird that stands over four feet tall, I usually spy it standing on its long, stilt-like legs on tree limbs, downed logs or along the shallow parts of the river. We saw two herons yesterday and both seemed to tolerate our presence, allowing our kayaks to glide close enough to them without flying away. Getting this close a look without the aid of binoculars was a rare gift.

We stopped for lunch on a small, rocky beach and were immediately joined by a Great Egret. Nearly as tall as a Great Blue Heron, this pure white bird slowly prowled the shoreline while we ate our sandwiches. When it sees a fish, it coils up its long neck into an “S” shape, then shoots it out like an arrow to grab the fish in its long, pointed bill. The egret was successful several times, all three of us ate our fill.

The Green Heron isn’t really green save for an olive-hued band around its eyes, it is a stunning looking bird though; the pattern of its feathers look like the brush strokes of an abstract painting. This is the smallest of our resident herons and a master of camouflage. It stands statue still among stream-side vegetation, your only hope of spotting it is when it moves. The green heron is quite skittish and spooks easily when approached.

The ratcheting chatter of a Belted Kingfisher usually proceeds any sighting of it. Its head and bill are disproportionately large compared to the rest of its body. Its white neck band and blue-gray feathers make it easy to spot among green vegetation.  I usually observe it chattering away in the branches of a riverside tree. If I’m lucky, I’ll see it dive from its perch to snatch an unsuspecting fish from the river, looking like a blue arrow in flight.

At the top of this list of avian predators is the majestic osprey. It can sometimes be seen perched atop a tall tree scanning the river for movement, most of the time though it’s circling in the air above calling out with unmistakable high pitched chirps. When it spots a fish an osprey will tuck its wings and go into a steep dive, leveling out at the last second and dropping its talons to snag its prey. Consider yourself fortunate if you ever get to witness this hunting behavior.

With all of these wondrous birds as our companions Carol and I had a dream like day on the river. About an hour into our five hour float the clouds cleared and a brilliant summer sun illuminated the scene, adding some extra sparkle to an already stellar day. The cherry atop this delicious sundae of an afternoon was the brief visit from a fox. We spied this lovely mammal walking along a rocky beach just ahead of us. When it paused in a patch of sunlight to take a drink from the river its lustrous, rust-colored coat literally glowed. As quickly as it appeared, the fox simply melted back into the forest.

Like clockwork the late afternoon wind kicked up so for the last mile of our trip we had to paddle hard in order to keep making headway. Needless to say by the time we pulled up at Johnson’s Beach we were tired, but it was that good kind of tired, the kind you get after a wonder filled day like this.